GABORONE, Oct. 21 -- Southern African country Botswana is set to hold its 11th general elections on Oct. 24. The following are some basic facts about Botswana.
Botswana is a landlocked country bordered by South Africa to the south and southeast, Namibia to the west and north, and Zimbabwe to the northeast, covering an area of about 582,000 square kilometers with an average elevation of 1000 meters. The terrain is predominantly flat to gently rolling tableland and up to 70 percent of Botswana is covered by the Kalahari Desert.
One of southern Africa's longest rivers, the Okavango, flows into the north-western part of the country, forming the UNESCO World Heritage Site Okavango Delta.
Gaborone is the capital city of Botswana, located southeast of the country. Other major cities and towns include Francistown, Lobatse, Selebi-Phikwe and Jwaneng.
Botswana has predominantly sub-tropical climate. As a result, the country is largely arid to semi-arid. The rainfall season is in the summer months which start from October to march of the following year. The winter months are from May to August. The winter is dry with peak of the winds in August. September and April are the transition months.
The total population are 2,024,904 according to the 2011 Census. The population is concentrated in the eastern parts of the country. The official language is English, while Setswana is the national language.
The country's major political parties include the ruling party Botswana Democratic Party (BDP), Botswana Congress Party (BCP) and Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC), which is a coalition of Botswana National Front (BNF) and Botswana Movement for Democracy (BMD).
The current president of Botswana is Ian Khama, succeeded the former president Festus Mogae in 2008 following the latter's retirement, then was elected as the president during the 2009 general elections.
In the late 1800s, Britain formed the protectorate of Bechuanaland, preventing territorial encroachment of Boers from the Transvaal and German expansion from Southwest Africa. In 1966 Bechuanaland became independent as Botswana.
Botswana is among the African continent's most stable countries, relatively free of corruption. It is also among the world's biggest diamond producers and protects some of the continent's largest areas of wilderness.
Botswana has maintained one of the world's highest economy growth rates since independence in 1966. It has transformed itself from one of the poorest countries in the world to a middle-income country. Diamond mining has fueled much of the economic expansion and currently accounts for about one-third of GDP.
The country has been hit very hard by the AIDS pandemic. It has one of the world's highest known rates of HIV/AIDS infection, but also one of Africa's most progressive and comprehensive programs for dealing with the disease.
