Botswana

Botswana is flat, and up to 70% is covered by the Kalahari Desert. It is bordered by South Africa to the south and southeast, Namibia to the west and north, and Zimbabwe to the northeast. Its border with Zambia to the north near Kazungula, is poorly defined but at most is a few hundred metres long.

A mid-sized country of just over two million people, Botswana is one of the most sparsely populated countries in the world. At 581,730 km² Botswana is the world's 48th-largest country. It is comparable in size to Madagascar, and is slightly smaller than the U.S. state of Texas and the Canadian province of Manitoba.

The Okavango Delta, one of the world's largest inland deltas, is in the northwest. The Makgadikgadi Pan, a large salt pan, lies in the north. The Limpopo River Basin, the major landform of all of southern Africa, lies partly in Botswana, with the basins of its tributaries, located in the eastern part of the country. The Chobe River lies to the north, providing a boundary between Botswana and Namibia's Zambezi Region.

Botswana has diverse areas of wildlife habitat. In addition to the delta and desert areas, there are grasslands and savannas, where Blue Wildebeest, antelopes, and other mammals and birds are found. Northern Botswana has one of the few remaining large populations of the endangered African Wild Dog. Chobe National Park, found in the Chobe District, has the world's largest concentration of African elephants.

The Chobe National Park and Moremi Game Reserve (in the Okavango Delta) are major tourist destinations.

Detailed information on Botswana National Parks.