Name of country:
conventional long form: Republic of Botswana
conventional short form: Botswana
former: Bechuanaland
Data code: BC
Type of government: parliamentary republic
Capital: Gaborone
Administrative divisions: 10 districts and four town councils*;
Central, Chobe, Francistown*, Gaborone*,Ghanzi, Kgalagadi, Kgatleng,
Kweneng, Lobatse*, Ngamiland, North-East, Selebi-Phikwe*,
South-East, Southern,
Independence: 30 September 1966 (from UK)
National holiday: Independence Day, 30 September (1966)
Constitution: March 1965, effective 30 September 1966
Legal system: based on Roman-Dutch law and local customary law; judicial review limited to matters of interpretation; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
Suffrage: 21 years of age; universal