KGASWE PRIMARY SCHOOL Situated at Morupule Power Station, 5 km west of Palapye, Botswana |
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The following notes were taken from the booklet The Shell Tourist Guide to Botswana by Veronica Roodt, published by Shell Oil Botswana in 1996. GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT BOTSWANA GEOGRAPHY Size Botswana is a country roughly the size of France or Kenya at 581 730 km2. The extreme distance from north to south is about 1 100 km and from east to west at its widest the distance is just under 1 000 km. Population The population is about 1,4 million, one of the lowest population densities in Africa. This figure can be misleading, however, since 80% of the population live in the eastern third of the country, which amounts to high localised population densities. This distribution pattern is due to two factors, namely that the Kalahari to the west is inhospitable and had very limited surface water. Secondly, the historical political organisation of the Tswana was such that central villages were surrounded by satellite villages that were never built too far from the central community. Botswana has one of the highest population growth rates in Africa, having officially been determined at 3,5% per annum. That is about 5,8 live births per female of child-bearing age. Compare the current population (1,4 million) with a population of 815 000 in 1980. Latitude and longitude Botswana is roughly situated between 20º00' E and 29º00' E and 18º15' S and 27º00' S. It is situated in the Southern African region and the northern two-thirds lie within the Tropics. The Tropic of Capricorn is situated just south of Mahalapye on the main road between Gaborone and Francistown. Main geographical features The Kalahari, which covers between 70% and 80% of the country; the Okavango Delta, which covers approximately 15 000 km2; the Makgadikgasi Pans, which cover about 12 000 km2; the Chobe River and Linyanti Swamp, which form the northern boundary; the Hardveld in the east where the landscape is decorated with sandstone, granite and dolerite ourcrops and bordered by the Shashe and Limpopo rivers; the Tsodilo Hillsand the Drotsky's Caverns in the north west of the country. All the above features are well protected and are either fully or partially incorporated into National Parks, Game Reserves or National Monuments. CLIMATE Rainfall The rainy season is between September and April, but mostly it only starts raining late in December and stops towards the end of February. During this time the rains are very intense. The average rainfall is about 450 mm per year, when the highest rainfall can be up to 650 mm in the north-east (Chobe) and as low as 250 mm in the south-west (Gemsbok National Park). Botswana is relatively low-lying and is land-locked by higher altitudes that separate it from the coase, which about 600 km away. The reason for the low rainfall in this country is that the moist air from the coast cannot penetrate the high atmospheric pressure that builds up over the country. Temperature From October to March temperatures can soar up to 44ºC, the average being between 35ºC and 40ºC during midday. Night temperatures seldom fall below 26ºC. During winter, day-time temperatures are about 27ºC, lowering to ± 6ºC at night. Occasionally it drops below freezing. Some Interesting Botswana sites on the Web |
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