<text><span class="style42"></span><span class="style12">BOTSWANA</span><span class="style14"></span><span class="style42">Official name: </span><span class="style13">The Republic of Botswana</span><span class="style42">Member of:</span><span class="style13"> UN, OAU, Commonwealth</span><span class="style42">Area: </span><span class="style13">581730 km2 (224606 sq mi)</span><span class="style42">Population: </span><span class="style13">1406000 (1993 est)</span><span class="style42">Capital: </span><span class="style13">Gaborone 134000 (1991 est)</span><span class="style42">Languages: </span><span class="style13">English (official), Setswana (majority; national)</span><span class="style42">Religions: </span><span class="style13">Animist (over 50%), various Protestant ChurchesGOVERNMENTThirty-four of the 40 members of the National Assembly are elected by universal adult suffrage for five years. Of the remainder, four are nominated by the President; the Speaker and Attorney General are non-voting members. The President, who chairs and appoints a Cabinet, is elected for five years by the Assembly.</span><span class="style42">GEOGRAPHY</span><span class="style13">A central plateau divides a flat near-desert in the east of Botswana from the Kalahari Desert and Okavango Swamps in the west. </span><span class="style42">Climate: </span><span class="style13">The climate is subtropical with extremes of heat and occasionally temperatures below freezing. Much of Botswana suffers drought.</span><span class="style42">ECONOMY</span><span class="style13">Nomadic cattle herding and the cultivation of subsistence crops occupies the majority of the labor force. The mainstay of the economy is mining for diamonds, copper-nickel and coal. </span><span class="style42">Currency: </span><span class="style13">Pula.</span><span class="style42">HISTORY</span><span class="style13">British missionaries had been active since 1813 in the area, which became the British protectorate of Bechuanaland in 1885. Development was slow, and many Africans had to seek work in South Africa. Nationalism was late to develop, and independence ΓÇô as Botswana ΓÇô was granted without a struggle in 1966. Under the first president, Sir Seretse Khama, and his successor, Botswana has succeeded in remaining a democracy.</span></text>