Fast Facts About Botswana

Size At 581,730 square km (224,607 square miles), it's roughly the size of France or Texas.

Capital Gaborone.

Number of National Parks Seven. Chobe National Park (including the Savuti and Linyanti areas); Moremi Game Reserve; Central Kalahari Game Reserve; Khutse Game Reserve; Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park; Magkadikgadi Pans National Park; Nxai Pan National Park.

Number of Private Reserves As new private reserves or concessions are established regularly, it's difficult to estimate. Outside of Moremi Game Reserve, the Okavango Delta is made up of a large number of private concessions and this system of leased land allocation is used throughout the country, mostly as buffer zones surrounding the national parks.

Population 2 million.

Big Five All here, although rhinos have only been reintroduced relatively recently through the collaborative efforts of the government, Wilderness, &Beyond, and Desert & Delta Safaris.

Language The national language is Setswana, but English is the official language and is spoken nearly everywhere.

Time Botswana is on CAST (Central African Standard Time), which is two hours ahead of Greenwich Mean Time and seven hours ahead of North American Eastern Standard Time.