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government type:
parliamentary republic capital: gaborone administrative divisions: 9 districts and 5 town councils*; central. francistown*. gaborone*. ghanzi. jwaneng*. kgalagadi. kgatleng. kweneng. lobatse*. northwest. northeast. selebi-pikwe*. southeast. southern independence: 30 september 1966 (from uk) national holiday: independence day (botswana day). 30 september (1966) constitution: march 1965. effective 30 september 1966 legal system: based on roman-dutch law and local customary law; judicial review limited to matters of interpretation; has not accepted compulsory icj jurisdiction suffrage: 18 years of age; universal executive branch: chief of state: president festus g. mogae (since 1 april 1998) and vice president seretse ian khama (since 13 july 1998); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government head of government: president festus g. mogae (since 1 april 1998) and vice president seretse ian khama (since 13 july 1998); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government cabinet: cabinet appointed by the president elections: president indirectly elected for a five-year term; election last held 20 october 2004 (next to be held na 2009); vice president appointed by the president election results: festus g. mogae elected president; percent of national assembly vote - 52% legislative branch: bicameral parliament consists of the house of chiefs (a largely advisory 15-member body consisting of the chiefs of the eight principal tribes. four elected subchiefs. and three members selected by the other 12 members) and the national assembly (61 seats. 57 members are directly elected by popular vote and four are appointed by the majority party; members serve five-year terms) elections: national assembly elections last held 30 october 2004 (next to be held october 2009) election results: percent of vote by party - bdp 52%. bnf 26%. bcp 17%. other 5%; seats by party - bdp 44. bnf 12. bcp 1 judicial branch: high court; court of appeal; magistrates' courts (one in each district) political parties and leaders: botswana democratic party or bdp [festus g. mogae]; botswana national front or bnf [otswoletse moupo]; botswana congress party or bcp [otlaadisa koosaletse]; botswana alliance movement or bam [ephraim lepetu setshwaelo] note: a number of minor parties joined forces in 1999 to form the bam but did not capture any parliamentary seats; the bam parties are: the united action party [ephraim lepetu setshwaelo]; the independence freedom party or ifp [motsamai mpho]; and the botswana progressive union [d. k. kwele] political pressure groups and leaders: na international organization participation: acp. afdb. au. c. fao. g-77. iaea. ibrd. icao. icct. icftu. icrm. ida. ifad. ifc. ifrcs. ilo. imf. interpol. ioc. iso. itu. miga. nam. opcw. sacu. sadc. un. unctad. unesco. unido. upu. wco. wftu. who. wipo. wmo. wtoo. wto diplomatic representation in the us: chief of mission: ambassador lapologang caesar lekoa chancery: 1531-1533 new hampshire avenue nw. washington. dc 20036 telephone: [1] (202) 244-4990 fax: [1] (202) 244-4164 diplomatic representation from the us: chief of mission: ambassador joseph huggins embassy: address na. gaborone mailing address: embassy enclave. p. o. box 90. gaborone telephone: [267] 353982 fax: [267] 312782 flag description: light blue with a horizontal white-edged black stripe in the center economy - overview: botswana has maintained one of the world's highest economic growth rates since independence in 1966. through fiscal discipline and sound management. botswana has transformed itself from one of the poorest countries in the world to a middle-income country with a per capita gdp of $10.100 in 2005. two major investment services rank botswana as the best credit risk in africa. diamond mining has fueled much of the expansion and currently accounts for more than one-third of gdp and for 70-80% of export earnings. tourism. financial services. subsistence farming. and cattle raising are other key sectors. on the downside. the government must deal with high rates of unemployment and poverty. unemployment officially is 23.8%. but unofficial estimates place it closer to 40%. hiv/aids infection rates are the second highest in the world and threaten botswana's impressive economic gains. an expected leveling off in diamond mining production overshadow long-term prospects. gdp (purchasing power parity): $16.64 billion (2005 est.) gdp (official exchange rate): $9.594 billion (2005 est.) gdp - real growth rate: 4.5% (2005 est.) gdp - per capita: purchasing power parity - $10.100 (2005 est.) gdp - composition by sector: agriculture: 2.4% industry: 46.9% (including 36% mining) services: 50.7% (2003 est.) labor force: 288.400 formal sector employees (2004) labor force - by occupation: na unemployment rate: 23.8% (2004) population below poverty line: 30.3% 47% (2003) household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%: na highest 10%: na inflation rate (consumer prices): 8.3% (2005 est.) investment (gross fixed): 23.6% of gdp (2005 est.) budget: revenues: $3.766 billion expenditures: $3.767 billion. including capital expenditures of na (2005 est.) public debt: 7.3% of gdp (2005 est.) agriculture - products: livestock. sorghum. maize. millet. beans. sunflowers. groundnuts industries: diamonds. copper. nickel. salt. soda ash. potash; livestock processing; textiles industrial production growth rate: 3.4% (2005 est.) electricity - production: 891 million kwh (2004) electricity - production by source: fossil fuel: 100% hydro: 0% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (2001) electricity - consumption: 2.641 billion kwh (2004) electricity - exports: 0 kwh (2002) electricity - imports: 1.39 billion kwh (2002) oil - production: 0 bbl/day (2003) oil - consumption: 12.000 bbl/day (2003 est.) oil - exports: na (2001) oil - imports: 16.000 bbl/day na (2001) current account balance: $562 million (2005 est.) exports: $3.68 billion f.o.b. (2005 est.) exports - partners: european free trade association (efta) 87%. southern african customs union (sacu) 7%. zimbabwe 4% (2004) imports: $3.37 billion f.o.b. (2005 est.) imports - partners: southern african customs union (sacu) 74%. efta 17%. zimbabwe 4% (2004) reserves of foreign exchange and gold: $6.12 billion (2005 est.) debt - external: $556 million (2005 est.) economic aid - recipient: $73 million (1995) currency (code): pula (bwp) currency code: bwp exchange rates: pulas per us dollar - 5.16 (2005). 4.6929 (2004). 4.9499 (2003). 6.3278 (2002). 5.8412 (2001) fiscal year: 1 april - 31 march telephones - main lines in use: 142.400 (2002) telephones - mobile cellular: 435.000 (2002) telephone system: general assessment: the system is expanding with the growth of mobile cellular service and participation in regional development domestic: small system of open-wire lines. microwave radio relay links. and a few radiotelephone communication stations; mobile cellular service is growing fast international: country code - 267; two international exchanges; digital microwave radio relay links to namibia. zambia. zimbabwe. and south africa; satellite earth station - 1 intelsat (indian ocean) radio broadcast stations: am 8. fm 13. shortwave 4 (2001) radios: 252.720 (2000) television broadcast stations: 1 (2001) televisions: 31.000 (1997) internet country code: .bw internet hosts: 1.920 (2003) internet service providers (isps): 11 (2001) internet users: 60.000 (2002) airports: 85 (2004 est.) airports - with paved runways: total: 10 2.438 to 3.047 m: 2 1.524 to 2.437 m: 7 914 to 1.523 m: 1 (2005 est.) airports - with unpaved runways: total: 75 1.524 to 2.437 m: 3 914 to 1.523 m: 55 under 914 m: 17 (2005 est.) railways: total: 888 km narrow gauge: 888 km 1.067-m gauge (2004) roadways: total: 25.233 km paved: 8.867 km unpaved: 16.366 km (2003) military branches: botswana defense force (includes an air wing) military service age and obligation: 18 is the apparent age of voluntary military service; the official qualifications for determining minimum age are unknown (2001) manpower available for military service: males age 18-49: 350.649 (2005 est.) manpower fit for military service: males age 18-49: 136.322 (2005 est.) manpower reaching military service age annually: males: 21.103 (2005 est.) military expenditures - dollar figure: $338.5 million (2004) military expenditures - percent of gdp: 3.9% (2004) disputes - international: commission established with namibia has yet to resolve small residual disputes along the caprivi strip. including the situngu marshlands along the linyanti river; downstream botswana residents protest namibia's planned construction of the okavango hydroelectric dam at popavalle (popa falls); botswana has built electric fences to stem the thousands of zimbabweans who flee to find work and escape political persecution; namibia has long supported and in 2004 zimbabwe dropped objections to plans between botswana and zambia to build a bridge over the zambezi river. thereby de facto recognizing their short. but not clearly delimited botswana-zambia boundary
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