A landlocked republic of southern Africa, Botswana is a member of the Commonwealth. Area: 581,730 sq km (224,607 sq mi). Pop. (1993 est.): 1,406,000. Cap.: Gaborone. Monetary unit: pula, with (Oct. 4, 1993) a free rate of 2.54 pula to U.S. $1 (3.84 pula = £1 sterling). President in 1993, Sir Ketumile Masire.
Remarkably for this troubled region, Botswana managed again in 1993 to maintain a low profile. The country had minimum internal unrest, a democratic system, and elections held regularly since independence in 1966. Yet, despite its relative prosperity (a per capita gross national product of $2,590), Botswana had some special problems of poverty. At the end of 1992 accusations of serious human rights abuses were leveled against wildlife personnel and the Botswana Wildlife and National Parks Department for their treatment of the Masarwa, a small, nomadic people of the Kalahari. Since the mid-1980s the Masarwa and other rural poor had been placed in designated "Remote Area Settlements" as part of a government plan to counteract the impact upon them of severe drought conditions.
Exports continued to be dominated by diamonds (80%), but through the recession-hit 1980s Botswana managed an average annual gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate of 9.8%. For two years, however, the economy had experienced a considerable downturn, with GDP falling 6.5% in 1991-92 (compared with 13.4% the previous year). This was principally the result of international recession, which affected the demand for Botswana’s primary exports.
This updates the article Botswana, history of.