Capital: Gaborone
Currency: Botswana Pula
Ethnic organization: Tswana (or Setswana) seventy-nine %, Kalanga 11%, Basarwa three%, different, inclusive of Kgalagadi and white 7%
Languages: Setswana 77.3%, Sekalanga 7.Four, Shekgalagadi 3. Four, English (reputable) 2.Eight%, Zezuru/Shona 2%, Sesarwa 1.7%, Sembukushu 1.6%, Ndebele 1%, different 2.Eight% (2011 est.)
Religions: Christian seventy-nine.1%, Badimo four.1%, Other 1. Four (includes Baha’i, Hindu, Muslim, Rastafarian), none 15.2%, unspecified 0.Three% (2011 est.)
WEATHER AND CLIMATE: The landlocked Botswana is semi-arid and has two important seasons: moist and dry. The dry season is from May to October. This is the height season for flora and fauna safari. Temperatures are around 25°C. However, they’re at least ten ranges cooler within the south. The Kalahari Desert, within the southwest, can also experience bloodless and frosty early mornings and evenings. The wet season is from November to April. November can be particularly warm and humid, even as January and February are the wettest months. Some safari hotels and camps are closed in the course of this era too.
SECULAR CELEBRATIONS: Public vacations are scheduled for four-day weekends. Secular vacations include President’s Day in mid-July, and Botswana Day on 30 September, which celebrates independence. Other vacations are New Year’s Day, Easter, Labour Day, Ascension Day, Sir Seretse Khama Day, Christmas Day, and Boxing Day.
FOOD AND DRINK: Most of Botswana’s safari resorts and camps serve excellent international-fashion delicacies that contain nearby effects inclusive of recreation meats or traditional maize or sorghum-based Botswanan staples. Good restaurants and bars may be discovered in maximum primary cities and cities, regularly in the motels. In rural villages and much less developed regions, meals are usually more basic, typically inclusive of a stiff maize-based total porridge (pap) with a few forms of stew. Goat, beef, chook, and river fish are all common assets of protein for locals. There are lots of regionally grown veggies and results to be had at local markets, which include the interesting marula fruit and engaging local wild spinach. Watermelons are also believed to have originated in Botswana. Some of the specialties are Seswaa, Kalahari trues, Mopane worms, Morongo, Vetkoek, Serobe, Biltong, Dikgobe, and Bojalwa.
INDIAN PRESENCE: There are kind of 10,000 to 11,000 human beings of Indian origin settled in Botswana, out of which approximately 3000 to 4,000 humans have acquired the Botswana nationality. The Indian network in Botswana is usually engaged in the services sectors, particularly, retail, coaching, and accounting professions. They also are engaged in the production quarter. Most of the Indian immigrants have migrated from the States of Gujarat and the Southern Indian States of Kerala, Andhra, and Tamil Nadu. They have maintained their linguistic, non-secular, and cultural traditions.
COMMERCIAL RELATIONS: Botswana offers an enterprise-friendly environment and welcomes overseas funding. Botswana is closely dependent on diamonds which forms approx. 40% of its GDP and nearly 70% of its export income come from this single herbal useful resource. Bilateral exchange for the year 2017- 18, April 2017 alternate figures stood at 382.15 million. The predominant objects of exports from India in recent years have been synthetic items, metals, machinery and gadgets, cotton yarn, fabric, ready-made clothes, pills and pharmaceuticals, and shipping equipment. The establishment of Botswana’s Mission in New Delhi in 2006 and Botswana Export Development and Investment Authority (BEDIA), now called BITC consultant office in Mumbai in 2010 gave impetus to the bilateral exchange and investment. The first branch of the Bank of India became an installation in Gaborone on 9 August 2013; while the State Bank of India opened its branch on 26 November 2013 in Gaborone. Bank of Baroda has been running in Botswana for the reason that 2001. The Indian diamond corporations and businessmen, in particular from Gujarat (Surat) have constantly proven eager interest in buying tough diamonds in addition to in funding in the downstream industries in the diamond area, in particular inside the slicing and polishing of the difficult diamonds. At present, two predominant Indian agencies, Blue Star and KGK Diamonds have offices and factories in Botswana. Besides, diamonds, Botswana additionally has massive deposits of coal, copper, nickel, soda ash, salt, and uranium. The mineral zone kind of forms 23% of its economy. With massive coal deposits, the Government of Botswana announced a “Coal Roadmap” in early 2012. A range of Indian groups has shown interest in exploring the capacity for possible funding within the mining region for the export of coal to India for energy technology. M/s Jindal Steel and Power Limited (JSPL) took over CIC Energy (a Canadian agency) for beneficiation of coal mining and power manufacturing. JSPL has plans to set up coal-fired 300 MW energy in the Mamambula coal blocks areas in which massive coal deposits had been located.
