Botswana trivia: 45 questions and answers

Gaborone. Gaborone is the capital and largest city. It was built as a new capital in the mid-1960s, just before independence.

False. False. Botswana is landlocked. Its neighbours are South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe and Zambia.

Pula. The pula, divided into 100 thebe, replaced the South African rand in 1976. The kwacha is used in Zambia and Malawi, and the naira in Nigeria.

True. True. Botswana drives on the left, like its neighbours South Africa, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Cecil Rhodes's British South Africa Company. Khama III, Sebele I and Bathoen I persuaded the British government not to give the protectorate to Cecil Rhodes's British South Africa Company.

Seretse Khama. Seretse Khama, heir to the Bamangwato chieftainship, led the country from 1966. Khama III, Sechele I and Bathoen I were 19th-century chiefs.

True. True. The protectorate was run from Mafeking, now Mahikeng in South Africa, until the capital moved to the new town of Gaberones, today's Gaborone, in 1965.

Orapa. De Beers geologists found diamonds at Orapa in 1967. Jwaneng was found later, in 1973, and opened in 1982.

False. False. Letsile Tebogo won Botswana's first Olympic gold in the 200 metres, at the Paris Olympics in 2024.

The Battle of Dimawe. The Battle of Dimawe was fought in 1852 near today's Gaborone. Isandlwana and Blood River were fought in today's South Africa, and Adwa in Ethiopia.

Seswaa. Seswaa is meat boiled with just salt for hours and then pounded. Serobe is tripe, dikgobe is samp and beans, and magwinya are fat cakes.

Caterpillars of the mopane moth. Phane are caterpillars of the mopane moth, the mopane emperor moth. They are cleaned, boiled and dried, and are rich in protein.

True. True. Lerotse is a yellow cooking melon, and the porridge is a traditional wedding dish, often made with sour milk too.

A sour porridge made from fermented sorghum or maize. Ting is a sour porridge made from fermented sorghum or maize: the meal is fermented for a few days before cooking. With milk and sugar it is eaten for breakfast.

False. False. Seswaa is cooked with little more than water and salt. Its flavour comes from long, slow cooking.

A three-legged iron pot. Seswaa is simmered in a three-legged iron pot over a wood fire, usually by the men.

Sorghum. Mabele means sorghum, the traditional grain of Botswana. Maize and millet are also used, but rice, wheat and barley are not traditional.

Francistown. Francistown grew up near the Tati goldfields and is named after the prospector Daniel Francis.

True. True. Maun has grown into a busy tourist town but is still officially a village, the second largest in Botswana.

The Okavango Delta. The Okavango Delta was inscribed on 22 June 2014. The Tsodilo Hills were listed in 2001; the Central Kalahari and Chobe are not World Heritage Sites.

More than 4,500 rock paintings. UNESCO estimates there are more than 4,500 rock paintings at Tsodilo, many made by ancestors of the San.

True. True. The reserve covers 52,800 km², larger than the Netherlands and almost a tenth of Botswana.

Gaborone. The bronze statues of Khama III, Sebele I and Bathoen I stand in Gaborone's Central Business District.

Nxai Pan National Park. Baines' Baobabs grow in Nxai Pan National Park, on a small island in Kudiakam Pan, and are named after the artist Thomas Baines, who painted them in 1862.

2. Botswana has 2 World Heritage Sites as of September 2026: Tsodilo (2001) and the Okavango Delta (2014).

A dugout-style canoe. A mokoro is a dugout-style canoe, narrow and pushed along with a pole through the shallow channels of the delta.

Rain. Pula means rain, precious in a dry country. It is the name of the currency, the national motto and a popular toast.

True. True. The survey estimated 131,909 elephants in Botswana, the largest number of any country.

Inland, in the Okavango Delta. The Okavango never reaches the sea. It ends inland, in the Okavango Delta, where almost all its water evaporates or is used by plants.

Land of the Tswana. Botswana means 'land of the Tswana', the country's largest ethnic group.

True. True. The salt pans are what is left of Lake Makgadikgadi, which was once larger than Switzerland.

Orapa. Orapa is the largest diamond mine by area. Jwaneng is often called the richest, Selebi-Phikwe mined copper and nickel, and Morupule is a coal mine.

Elephant. Tlou means elephant. Lion is tau, cow is kgomo and crocodile is kwena.

A village assembly and meeting place. The kgotla is a village assembly and meeting place, where the chief and the community meet to discuss matters and settle disputes.

True. True. Mma means mother or madam, and rra means father or sir. People add them to greetings and thanks.

Chief. A kgosi is a chief; the plural is dikgosi, as in the Three Dikgosi Monument.

Dumela rra. Dumela rra greets a man and dumela mma a woman. Sala sentle is goodbye and ke a leboga is thank you.

Thank you. Ke a leboga means thank you; add rra or mma to be extra polite.

False. False. Tsamaya sentle means 'go well' and is said to someone who is leaving.

How did you wake up?. O tsogile jang means 'how did you wake up?', the usual way to ask how someone is. The answer is 'Ke tsogile sentle', I am well.

999. 999 is the police. 997 is the ambulance, 998 the fire service, and 10111 is the police number in South Africa.

True. True. Gaborone has no malaria transmission, but the north, including the Okavango and Chobe areas, does, and preventive tablets are recommended there.

Greet them first, for example 'Dumela rra'. Greet them first, for example 'Dumela rra' or 'Dumela mma'. Going straight to a question without greeting is considered rude.

Military and government installations. Photographing military and government installations is against the law. For people, always ask first.

False. False. Crocodiles and hippos live in the rivers and lagoons, and the water can carry disease, so do not swim in them.