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Geography Of Botswana
Botswana is a landlocked country located in Southern Africa, north of South Africa. Botswana occupies an area of , of which are land. Botswana has land boundaries of combined length , of which the constituent boundaries are shared with Namibia, for ; South Africa ; Zimbabwe, and Zambia, . Much of the population of Botswana is concentrated in the eastern part of the country. Sunshine totals are high all year round although winter is the sunniest period. The whole country is windy and dusty during the dry season.General Survey of Climatology, Landsberg (ed.),Elsevier, 2001 Geography The land is predominantly flat to gently undulating tableland, although there is some hilly country, where mining is carried out. The Kalahari Desert is in the central and the southwest. The Okavango Delta, one of the world's largest inland deltas, is in the northwest and the Makgadikgadi Pans, a large salt pan lies in the north-central area. The Makgadikgadi has been established as an early habit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Botswana Map
Botswana (, ), officially the Republic of Botswana ( tn, Lefatshe la Botswana, label=Setswana, ), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory being the Kalahari Desert. It is bordered by South Africa to the south and southeast, Namibia to the west and north, and Zimbabwe to the northeast. It is connected to Zambia across the short Zambezi River border by the Kazungula Bridge. A country of slightly over 2.3 million people, Botswana is one of the most sparsely populated countries in the world. About 11.6 percent of the population lives in the capital and largest city, Gaborone. Formerly one of the world's poorest countries—with a GDP per capita of about US$70 per year in the late 1960s—it has since transformed itself into an upper-middle-income country, with one of the world's fastest-growing economies. Modern-day humans first inhabited the country over 200,000 years ago. The Tswana ethnic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Makgadikgadi Pans
The Makgadikgadi Pan (Tswana pronunciation ), a salt pan situated in the middle of the dry savanna of north-eastern Botswana, is one of the largest salt flats in the world. The pan is all that remains of the formerly enormous Lake Makgadikgadi, which once covered an area larger than Switzerland, but dried up tens of thousands of years ago. Recent studies of human mitochondrial DNA suggest that modern ''Homo sapiens'' first began to evolve in this region some 200,000 years ago, when it was a vast, exceptionally fertile area of lakes, rivers, marshes, woodlands and grasslands especially favorable for habitation by evolving hominins and other mammals. Location and description Lying southeast of the Okavango Delta and surrounded by the Kalahari Desert, Makgadikgadi is technically not a single pan, but many pans with sandy desert in between, the largest being the Sua (Sowa), Ntwetwe and Nxai Pans. The largest individual pan is about . In comparison, Salar de Uyuni in Bolivia i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park
Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park is a large wildlife preserve and conservation area in southern Africa. The park straddles the border between South Africa and Botswana and comprises two adjoining national parks: * Kalahari Gemsbok National Park in South Africa * Gemsbok National Park in Botswana The total area of the park is . Approximately three-quarters of the park lies in Botswana and one-quarter in South Africa. '' Kgalagadi'' means "place of thirst." In December 2015, media reports claimed that rights for gas-fracking in more than half of the Botswana portion of the park had been sold. The Botswana government later refuted these reports. Location and terrain The park is located largely within the southern Kalahari Desert. The terrain consists of red sand dunes, sparse vegetation, occasional trees, and the dry riverbeds of the Nossob and Auob Rivers. The rivers are said to flow only about once per century. However, water flows underground and provides life for grass and Vachelli ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nossob River
The Nossob (also Nosob or Nossop) River (''ǂnuse ǃab'', Khoikhoi for black river) is a dry river bed in eastern Namibia and the Kalahari region of South Africa and Botswana. It covers a distance of 740 km and last flooded in 1989. The river also lends its name to Nossob camp in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park. Course The Nossob has its origin in two main tributaries, the Swart-Nossob and Wit-Nossob, meaning black and white respectively. Both tributaries have their origins in the eastern slopes of the Otjihavera mountain range, east of Windhoek. Their sources are at 1,800 m and over 2,000 m above sea level respectively. The two river beds have their confluence some 80 km south of Gobabis, which is situated on the bank of the Swart-Nossob. From this confluence the river course passes the settlements of Leonardville and Aranos to arrive at Union's End, South Africa. From Union's End the river bed, forming the Botswana border, meanders through the Kgalagadi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Limpopo
Limpopo is the northernmost province of South Africa. It is named after the Limpopo River, which forms the province's western and northern borders. The capital and largest city in the province is Polokwane, while the provincial legislature is situated in Lebowakgomo. The province is made up of 3 former homelands of Lebowa, Gazankulu and Venda and the former parts of the Transvaal province. The Limpopo province was established as one of the new nine provinces after South Africa's first democratic election on the 27th of April 1994. The province's name was first "Northern Transvaal", later changed to "Northern Province" on the 28th of June 1995, together with two other provinces. The name was later changed again in 2002 to the Limpopo province. Limpopo is made up of 3 main ethnic groups namely; Pedi people, Tsonga and Venda people. Traditional leaders and chiefs still form a strong backbone of the province's political landscape. Established in terms of the Limpopo House of Tr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Okavango Basin
The Kalahari Basin, also known as the Kalahari Depression, Okavango Basin or the Makgadikgadi basin, is an endorheic basin and large lowland area covering approximately 725,293 km2 covering most of Botswana and Namibia, as well as parts of Angola, South Africa, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. The outstanding physical feature in the basin, and occupying the centre, is the large Kalahari Desert. The perennial river bifurcation of Selinda Spillway (or Magweggana River), on the Cuando River, connects the Kalahari basin to the Zambezi Basin.Is this Harry and Meghan's honeymoon hotel? The Telegraph. 29 may 2018. General characteristics of the basin The |
Zambezi
The Zambezi River (also spelled Zambeze and Zambesi) is the fourth-longest river in Africa, the longest east-flowing river in Africa and the largest flowing into the Indian Ocean from Africa. Its drainage basin covers , slightly less than half of the Nile's. The river rises in Zambia and flows through eastern Angola, along the north-eastern border of Namibia and the northern border of Botswana, then along the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe to Mozambique, where it crosses the country to empty into the Indian Ocean. The Zambezi's most noted feature is Victoria Falls. Its other falls include the Chavuma Falls at the border between Zambia and Angola, and Ngonye Falls near Sioma in western Zambia. The two main sources of hydroelectric power on the river are the Kariba Dam, which provides power to Zambia and Zimbabwe, and the Cahora Bassa Dam in Mozambique, which provides power to Mozambique and South Africa. Additionally, two smaller power stations are along the Zambezi Riv ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Caprivi Strip
The Caprivi Strip, also known simply as Caprivi, is a geographic salient protruding from the northeastern corner of Namibia. It is surrounded by Botswana to the south and Angola and Zambia to the north. Namibia, Botswana and Zambia meet at a single point at the eastern tip of the Strip, which also comes within of Zimbabwe thus nearly forming a quadripoint. Botswana and Zambia share a border at the crossing of Kazungula. The territory was acquired by then-German South West Africa in order to provide access to the Zambezi River and consequently a route to the east coast of the continent and German East Africa. The route was later found not to be navigable because about east of the Caprivi Strip is Victoria Falls, one of the world's largest waterfalls. Within Namibia, the Strip is divided administratively between Kavango East and Zambezi regions. It is crossed by the Okavango River. The Cuando River forms part of its border with Botswana, and the Zambezi River forms a part of it ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chobe River
The Cuando River (or Kwando in the non-colonial spelling) is a river in south-central Africa flowing through Angola and Namibia's Caprivi Strip and into the Linyanti Swamp on the northern border of Botswana. Below the swamp, the river is called the Linyanti River and, farther east, the Chobe River, before it flows into the Zambezi River. Course The Cuando rises in the central plateau of Angola on the slopes of Mount Tembo, thence flowing southeast along the Zambian border. Along this reach it flows in a maze of channels in a swampy corridor 5–10 km wide (map 1: the border with Zambia is the eastern bank of this floodplain, not the river channel). As with all rivers in south-central Africa its flow varies enormously between the rainy season when it floods and may be several kilometres wide, and the dry season when it may disappear into marshes. The Cuando continues in its marshy channel across the neck of the Caprivi Strip of Namibia (map, 2) and then forms the bord ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Monalanong Hill
Monalanong Hill is a mountain often considered the highest point of Botswana, with an altitude derived from SRTM data of 1,494 metres (4,900 feet). The Otse Hill (at a reported altitude of 1,491 metres - 4,891 feet) or the Tsodilo Hills (at an altitude of about 1,400 metres - 4,593 feet) are also often cited as the highest point in Botswana. , World Heritage Site, accessed on April 10, 2009. References * Elevation data supplied by theShuttle Radar Topography Mission
The Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) is an international research effort that obtained digital elevation models on a near-global ...
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Nxai Pan
Nxai Pan is a large salt pan topographic depression which is part of the larger Makgadikgadi Pans in northeastern Botswana. It lies on the old Pandamatenga Trail, which until the 1960s was used for overland cattle drives. The area is speckled with umbrella acacias and is said to resemble the Serengeti in Tanzania. The Nxai Pan was added to the National Park System to augment the Makgadikgadi Pans National Park, thus providing an enlarged contiguous area of natural protection. The 'x' represents a palatal click sound. Click sounds are typical of the Khoisan languages and some southern Bantu languages. Wildlife This landform is a major part of the Nxai Pan National Park, and is a seasonal home to large herds of zebra and wildebeest. In the rainy season between December and April the pan becomes grassy and attracts these animals in their tens of thousands, along with smaller numbers of gemsbok, eland and red hartebeest. See also * Nwetwe Pan * Sua Pan The Sua Pan or Sowa Pan is ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sua Pan
The Sua Pan or Sowa Pan is a large natural topographic depression within the Makgadikgadi region of Botswana. It is located near the village of ''Sowa'', whose name means salt in the language of the San. The Sua salt pan is one of three large pans within the Makgadikgadi, the other two being Nxai Pan and Nwetwe Pan. The Sua Pan was first described to the European world by David Livingstone, pursuant to his explorations in this region. Significant archaeological recoveries have been made within the Nwetwe Pan, featuring Stone-Age tools from peoples who lived in this area when a large year-round lake occupied the Sua and Nwetwe Pans. The Brines of Sua Pan being one of the largest playa lakes in the world spans approximately 24000 square kilometers. While sodium chloride is the prime constituent, there are many other salts found within this area such as sodium carbonate, sodium bicarbonate, sodium sulfate, and minor amounts of potassium chloride (potash). Currently, Sua Pan is ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
