Botswana, one of Africa's most stable countries, is the continent's longest continuous multi-party democracy. It is relatively free of corruption and has a good human rights record.
• Full name: The Republic of Botswana
• Population: 1.9 million (UN, 2010)
• Capital: Gaborone
• Area: 581,730 sq km (224,607 sq miles)
• Major languages: English (official), Setswana
• Major religions: Christianity, indigenous beliefs
• Life expectancy: 56 years (men), 55 years (women) (UN)
• Monetary unit: 1 Pula = 100 thebe
• Main exports: Diamonds, copper, nickel, beef
• GNI per capita: US $6,240 (World Bank, 2009)
• Internet domain: .bw
• International dialling code: +267
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It is also the world's largest producer of diamonds and the trade has transformed it into a middle-income nation.
Botswana protects some of Africa's largest areas of wilderness. It is sparsely populated, because it is so dry. The Kalahari desert, home to a dwindling band of Bushman hunter-gatherers, makes up much of the territory and most areas are too arid to sustain any agriculture other than cattle.
The advocacy group Survival International says Bushmen have been forced from the Central Kalahari Game Reserve since the discovery of diamonds there in the 1980s. And although they won a legal battle to go back in 2006, Survival says the government has been hindering their return.
''Unless they can return to their ancestral lands, their unique societies and way of life will be destroyed, and many of them will die,'' says Survival, which has urged a boycott of Botswanan diamonds.
BBC (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-13040376)