04--Africa--Botswana

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Geographical Profile and Political Information
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 * **Location to other countries and absolute location:** 22* South 24* East, Botswana is North West of South Africa, The Kalahari Dessert is located in Botswana.
 * **Distance from Lancaster, Pa:** 7911.4 miles
 * **Size And Comparative Size to Other Countries in your Region:** Botswana is one of the smaller countries located in the southern part of Africa. It is the fourth smallest.
 * **Climate:** semiarid; warm winters and hot summers
 * **Physical Features:** Kalahari Dessert, Tsodilo Hills
 * **Cultural Characteristics:** foods:A major characteristic of the Botswana diet is that meat is very popular.Meat sources include chickens, goats and fish. The people of Botswana usually eat sorghum, rice, maize and other cereals together with meat. Vegetables such as spinach, carrots, onions, tomatoes, lettuce and cabbage are also abundant and can be found in most markets. Fruits such as marula, watermelons and other types of melons are also usually found on the market.Popular dishe in Botswana is the Chotlho, a meat dish usually cooked by men on special occasions. The meat is cooked in water and salt until it is tender and ready for eating. Serobe, on the other hand, is a dish cooked just like Chotlho but with the inside parts of a goat, sheep or cow. A popular way of cooking chicken is to cook it using an open fire, which is believed to bring out the best flavor of the meat. Bread has become popular in recent years and it has become part of the usual diet in Botswana. Most popular bread types are the matemekwane (dumplings), the diphaphatha (flat cakes) and the magwinya (fat cakes). Major Cities:
 * **Major Holidays:** New Year.Easter.Labour DayAscension Day.Sir Seretse Khama Day.President's Day.Botswana Day.Christmas.



Economic Information

 * **Currency and exchange rate against the U.S. Dollar-** Pulas per U.S. dollar-7.4632
 * **Natural Resources**- Diamonds, Cooper, Silver, Pot Ash, Iron Ore.
 * **Agricultural products-** Livestock, Maize, Millet, Beans, Millet, Beans, Sun Flowers, Ground Nuts
 * **Industries-** Diamonds, Cooper, Nickle, Salt, Soda Ash, Pot Ash, Live Stock Processing
 * **Imports and Import Partners-** Foodstuffs, Machinery, Fuel and Petroleum, Wood and Paper products.
 * **Exports and Export Partners-** Diamonds, Cooper, Nickle, Soda Ash, Meat, Textiles
 * **GDP:** 13 Bill in 2008 **GDP Per Capita:** 12,000
 * **HDI:** 0.694 **HDI Ranking** 125th
 * **Unemployment:** 7.5% in 2007

**Population Information**

 * **Current Population:** 1,990,876
 * **Population Density:** 3.4 People per square mile
 * **Age Distribution:** 0-14: 34.8% ( Males 352,399/ Females 340,058)
 * **Natural Rate Of Increase:** 13.52%
 * **How Long will it take for My Country's Population to Double in Size?** 5.2 Years
 * **Literacy Rate;** 81.2**%**
 * **Infant Mortality Rate Out Of 1000 Births:** 12.59 Deaths
 * **Life Expectancy at Age 1:** 60.93 Years
 * **Physical Quality Of life:** 76.06
 * **Ethnic Groups:** Tswana 79% Kalanga 11% Basarwana 3% Other 7%
 * **Chief Religions:** Christian 78.2% Badimo 6% Other 1.4% None 20.6%
 * **Main Language:** Setswana

Human Rights Information:
Botswana is a longstanding multiparty democracy. Constitutional power is shared between the President and a popularly elected National Assembly.Some of the main problems were that police sometimes beat or otherwise mistreated criminal suspects to obtain evidence or coerce confessions. Authorities took action in some cases against officials responsible for such abuses. Prison conditions were poor and in some cases life-threatening. The judicial system did not provide timely fair trials due to a serious and increasing backlog of cases. The Government continued to dominate domestic broadcasting and limited freedom of the press. Some citizens, including groups not numbered among the eight ethnic groups of the majority Tswana nation, remained marginalized in the political process. Violence and discrimination against women remained serious problems. Societal discrimination against ethnic Basarwa was a problem. Trade unions continued to face some legal restrictions, including those against the right to strike, and the Government did not always ensure that labor laws were observed in practice

**Decision Statement**
The Country that we choose is Sudan. We choose Sudan because Sudan is the largest country in the continent. It covers more than 900,000 sq miles making it one of the largest countries in Africa. It Boarders the red sea giving it easy access to imports and things like that. Sudan has had the same head of state or head of government, President Umar Hassan Ahmad al-BASHIR (since 16 October 1993) this shows he’s a liked guy and does things that support and are for the country. Sudan has a great amount of industrial growth in it. Some of Sudan’s major Industries are oil, cotton ginning, textiles, cement, edible oils, sugar, soap distilling, shoes, petroleum refining, pharmaceuticals, armaments, automobile/light truck assembly. Another good thing about Sudan is that it only has a unemployment Rate of 18.7%. A plus about Sudan is that one of their main languages is English, this will allow the people there to easily communicate with other people around the world where English is becoming the popular language.