Botswana Environment - 2024

GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES 

Environment - current issues

overgrazing; desertification; limited freshwater resources; air pollution

Environment - international agreements

party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Climate Change-Paris Agreement, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Wetlands

signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

Climate

semiarid; warm winters and hot summers

Land use

agricultural land: 45.8% (2018 est.)

arable land: 0.6% (2018 est.)

permanent crops: 0% (2018 est.)

permanent pasture: 45.2% (2018 est.)

forest: 19.8% (2018 est.)

other: 34.4% (2018 est.)

Urbanization

urban population: 72.9% of total population (2023)

rate of urbanization: 2.47% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)

Revenue from forest resources

0.23% of GDP (2018 est.)

Revenue from coal

0.45% of GDP (2018 est.)

Air pollutants

particulate matter emissions: 12.82 micrograms per cubic meter (2019 est.)

carbon dioxide emissions: 6.34 megatons (2016 est.)

methane emissions: 5.73 megatons (2020 est.)

Waste and recycling

municipal solid waste generated annually: 210,854 tons (2010 est.)

municipal solid waste recycled annually: 2,109 tons (2005 est.)

percent of municipal solid waste recycled: 1% (2005 est.)

Major rivers (by length in km)

Zambezi (shared with Zambia [s]), Angola, Namibia, Zimbabwe, and Mozambique [m]) - 2,740 km; Limpopo (shared with South Africa [s], Zimbabwe, and Mozambique [m]) - 1,800 km; Okavango river mouth (shared with Angola [s], and Namibia) - 1,600 km
note – [s] after country name indicates river source; [m] after country name indicates river mouth

Major watersheds (area sq km)

Atlantic Ocean drainage: Orange (941,351 sq km)
Indian Ocean drainage: Zambezi (1,332,412 sq km)
Internal (endorheic basin) drainage: Okavango Basin (863,866 sq km)

Major aquifers

Lower Kalahari-Stampriet Basin, Upper Kalahari-Cuvelai-Upper Zambezi Basin

Total water withdrawal

municipal: 110 million cubic meters (2020 est.)

industrial: 30 million cubic meters (2020 est.)

agricultural: 80 million cubic meters (2020 est.)

Total renewable water resources

12.24 billion cubic meters (2020 est.)

NOTE: The information regarding Botswana on this page is re-published from the 2024 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency and other sources. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Botswana 2024 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Botswana 2024 should be addressed to the CIA or the source cited on each page.