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60 free Botswana trivia questions with answers — geography quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
Botswana went from one of the poorest countries on Earth at independence in 1966 to one of Africa's success stories, and it did it on diamonds, cattle and a democracy that has never been interrupted. It is home to the largest elephant population in the world, an inland delta that never reaches the sea, 70% Kalahari sand, and a currency literally named after rain. This quiz covers geography (Okavango, Makgadikgadi, Chobe, the four-country meeting point on the Zambezi), history (Khama III, Bechuanaland, the marriage that made Seretse Khama an exile, the 2024 change of government), symbols (why the flag is blue, black and white), economy (Debswana, Jwaneng, beef), culture (seswaa, the kgotla, Mma Ramotswe) and sport (Nijel Amos, Letsile Tebogo's Olympic gold). Questions run from easy to expert. Every answer was checked against Wikipedia and other reference pages before publishing.
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Q 01What is the capital and largest city of Botswana?
Gaborone
It was purpose-built in the mid-1960s because the colonial capital, Mafeking, was actually across the border.
Q 02Roughly what share of Botswana's territory is part of the Kalahari Desert?
About 70%
Kalahari comes from a Tswana word meaning "the great thirst"; the desert is really a semi-arid sandy savanna.
Q 03Which country produces more diamonds than any other?
Botswana
Mining supplies about 40% of government revenue; the state owns half of the Debswana mining company.
Q 04Botswana's currency, the pula, takes its name from the Setswana word for what?
Rain
Rain is so precious in the Kalahari that pula also means "blessing"; the sub-unit thebe means "shield".
Q 05What do the blue field and the black-and-white stripe on Botswana's flag represent?
Water and rainfall; racial harmony
Designed by a British colonial administrator, it was first hoisted at midnight on independence day, 30 September 1966.
Q 06Botswana gained independence from Britain on 30 September of which year?
1966
Until then it had been a British protectorate since 1885.
Q 07Under what name was Botswana a British protectorate from 1885 until independence?
Bechuanaland
Unusually, it was administered from Mafeking, a town outside its own borders.
Q 08Who was Botswana's first president, serving from 1966 until his death in 1980?
Seretse Khama
Britain had exiled him in the 1950s for marrying an Englishwoman, a story told in a 2016 film.
Q 09Botswana's future first president married Ruth Williams in 1948. Objections from which government caused a crisis?
Apartheid South Africa
Britain kept him in exile in England to avoid souring relations with Pretoria.
Q 10Which 2016 film starring David Oyelowo dramatised the marriage of Seretse and Ruth Khama?
A United Kingdom
Ruth served as Botswana's first First Lady from 1966 to 1980.
Q 11Botswana is often called Africa's longest what?
Uninterrupted democracy
Elections have been held every five years since 1965; power changed hands peacefully for the first time in 2024.
Q 12In 2024 Duma Boko became the first president from outside which party, in power since independence?
The BDP (Democratic Party)
Boko, a Harvard-trained lawyer, led the opposition Umbrella for Democratic Change to victory.
Q 13The Okavango Delta is unusual among the world's great deltas because it does what?
Never reaches the sea
Q 21Botswana's first Olympic medal of any colour came in 2012 when Nijel Amos took silver in which event?
800 m
His time was also a world under-20 record; he was later handed a three-year doping ban.
Q 22Amantle Montsho won Botswana's first world athletics title in 2011 in which event?
400 m
Isaac Makwala later won Commonwealth gold in the same event in 2018.
Q 23Botswana's national football team is nicknamed what?
The Zebras
They qualified for the Africa Cup of Nations for the first time in 2012 and again in 2025.
Seswaa, the national dish of Botswana, is what?
Its water floods in from the north and evaporates in the Kalahari; it became the 1,000th World Heritage Site in 2014.
Q 14In June 2014 the Okavango Delta earned what milestone on the UNESCO World Heritage List?
It became the 1,000th site inscribed
It was also named one of the Seven Natural Wonders of Africa in 2013.
Q 15Chobe National Park in Botswana has the world's largest concentration of which animal?
African elephants
Around 50,000 elephants roam the park, in the biggest herds of any known elephant population.
Q 16Botswana's Makgadikgadi Pan, one of the largest salt-flat complexes on Earth, is the remnant of what?
An ancient lake larger than Switzerland
DNA studies suggest modern humans may first have evolved around this once-fertile basin some 200,000 years ago.
Q 17The Tsodilo Hills, with over 4,500 rock paintings, are nicknamed what?
The Louvre of the Desert
They became a World Heritage Site in 2001; the four hills are called Male, Female, Child and an unnamed knoll.
Q 18Which Botswana mine, opened in 1982, is the richest diamond mine in the world by value?
Jwaneng
Orapa, opened in 1971, is the largest by area; both are run by Debswana.
Q 19Debswana, the top diamond producer by value, is a 50-50 venture between Botswana's government and which company?
De Beers
It was formed in 1968 after De Beers geologists found diamonds at Orapa, a year after independence.
Q 20Which sprinter won Botswana's first Olympic gold medal, in the 200 m at Paris 2024?
Letsile Tebogo
He was also the first African to win the Olympic 200 m; the country declared a public holiday.
Pounded boiled beef or goat
It is cooked with just enough salt in a three-legged pot and served with bogobe porridge at celebrations.
Q 25A kgotla, central to Botswana's political culture, is what?
A village assembly and traditional court
Decisions there are reached by consensus under the chief; the word simply means "court" in Setswana.
Q 26Mma Precious Ramotswe, heroine of a best-selling series set in Botswana, runs what business?
The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency
Alexander McCall Smith has published 26 books in the series since 1998.
Q 27Which people were controversially evicted from Botswana's Central Kalahari Game Reserve?
The San (Bushmen)
A 2006 court ruled the removals illegal; their lands lie over the world's richest diamond field.
Q 28Which two languages are Botswana's official language and its national lingua franca?
English and Setswana
Setswana is a Bantu language whose prefixes give the country (Bo-), people (Ba-) and language (Se-) their names.
Q 29Botswana's name literally means what?
Land of the Tswana
One citizen is a Motswana; several are Batswana, a term now used for all nationals.
Q 30Botswana is roughly the size of which European country?
France
With only about 2.4 million people, it is one of the most sparsely populated countries on Earth.