Botswana

[ bot-swah-nuh ]

noun
  1. a republic in southern Africa: formerly a British protectorate; gained independence 1966; member of the Commonwealth of Nations. 275,000 sq. mi. (712,250 sq. km). Capital: Gaborone.

  • Official name Republic of Botswana .
  • Formerly Bech·u·a·na·land [bech-oo-ah-nuh-land, bek-yoo-] /ˌbɛtʃ uˈɑ nəˌlænd, ˌbɛk yu-/ .

Words Nearby Botswana

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British Dictionary definitions for Botswana

Botswana

/ (bʊˈtʃwɑːnə, bʊtˈswɑːnə, bɒt-) /


noun
  1. a republic in southern Africa: established as the British protectorate of Bechuanaland in 1885 as a defence against the Boers; became an independent state within the Commonwealth in 1966; consists mostly of a plateau averaging 1000 m (3300 ft), with the extensive Okavango swamps in the northwest and the Kalahari Desert in the southwest. Languages: English and Tswana. Religion: animist majority. Currency: pula. Capital: Gaborone. Pop: 2 127 825 (2013 est). Area: about 570 000 sq km (220 000 sq miles)

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Cultural definitions for Botswana

Botswana

[ (bot-swah-nuh) ]


Republic in south-central Africa, bordered on the south by South Africa, the west by Namibia, the north by Angola and Zambia, and the northeast by Zimbabwe; formerly called Bechuanaland. The capital and largest city is Gaborone.

Notes for Botswana

Botswana became independent from British control in the 1960s.

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.