Natural hazards: periodic droughts; seasonal August winds blow from the west, carrying sand and dust across the country, which can obscure visibility
Environment - current issues: overgrazing; desertification; limited fresh water resources
Environment - international agreements: party to: Biodiversity,
Climate Change, 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
Geography - note: landlocked; population concentrated in eastern part of the country
Botswana People
Population: 1,586,119
note: estimates for this country explicitly take into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality and death rates, lower population and growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (July 2001 est.)
Age structure: 0-14 years: 40.3% (male 321,164; female 318,007)
15-64 years: 55.56% (male 423,954; female 457,227)