AFRICAN
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PROFILE
ON BOTSWANA
Relief
Map of Botswana - 181 K
Botswana is a land-locked country, bordered by Namibia to the west, by the
latter's Caprivi Strip to the north, by Zimbabwe to the north-east, and by
South Africa to the south and south-east. It occupies about 582,00 sq. km
(224,711 sq. miles) of the downwarped Kalahari Basin of the great southern
African plateau, which has here an average altitude of 900m above
sea-level.
Gentle undulations to flat surfaces, consisting of Kalahari sands overlying
Archean rocks are characteristic of most of the country but the east is more
hilly and broken. Most of southern Botswana is without surface drainage and,
apart from the bordering Limpopo and Chobe rivers, the rest of the country's
drainage is interior and does not reach the sea. Flowing into the
north-west from the Angolan highlands, the perennial Okavango river is Botswana's
major system. The Okavango drains into a depression in the plateau,
145 km from the border, to form the Okavango swamps and the ephemeral Lake
Ngami. From this vast marsh covering 16,000 sq. km there is a seasonal flow
of water eastwards along the Botletle river to Lake Xau and thence into the
Makarakari salt pan. Most of the water brought into Botswana is lost through
evaporation and transpiration in the swamps.
The Kalahari Desert dominates southern and western Botswana. This is a sparesely
thornvelded near-desert which eventually gives way to the dry woodland savannah
of the north and east and the infertile sands give way eastwards to better
soils developed on granitic and sedimentary rocks.
Plant and animal life
The Kalahari sandveld has often been called "thirstland" to distinguish it
from true desert. Even in its southwestern corner, where there are some bare
sand dunes, the vegetation is more characteristic of dry steppe than desert.
The general vegetation of the country is savanna grassland with yellow or
light brown grass cover (turning green after rains) and woody plants.
The savanna ranges from acacia shrub savanna in the southwest through acacia
thornbush and tree savanna "parkland" into denser woodland and eventually
forest as one moves north and east. Croton and Combretum tree savanna is
found on the rocky hills of the eastern hardveld. Acacia tree savanna merges
northward into mopane (African ironwood) savanna woodland. Mopane woodland
covers most of the northern and eastern third of the country, with the exception
of the open grasslands immediately surrounding the Okavango delta and
Makgadikgadi Pans.
Animal life is extremely varied in a thirstland environment. About 150 species
of mammals are found in Botswana. These range from 30 species of bats and
27 of rodents to more than 30 species of large mammals. Birdlife is prolific,
with more than 460 species. Botswana has a great variety of reptiles and
amphibians, of which more than 200 species have been described in detail.
The principal fish, in the rivers of the north, are tilapia (African bream),
catfish, and the tigerfish, which is famous for its ferocious resistance
to being caught on a line.
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