{"population":2480244,"blurb":{"text":"Botswana, officially the Republic of Botswana, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70% of its territory being a part of the Kalahari Desert. It is bordered by South Africa to the south and southeast, Namibia to the west and north, Zambia to the north, and Zimbabwe to the northeast. With a population of slightly over 2.4 million people and a comparable land area to France, Botswana is one of the most sparsely populated countries in the world. While it is not enshrined by statutory law, Botswana is de facto the nation state of the Batswana people, who constitute nearly 80% of the population while legally undistinguished Kalanga people, who account for another 11%, are the single largest ethnic minority.","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Botswana"},"vexillology":{"text":"The national flag of Botswana consists of a sky blue field cut horizontally in the centre by a black stripe with a thin white frame. Adopted in 1966 to replace the Union Jack, it has been the flag of the Republic of Botswana since the country gained independence that year. It is one of the few African flags that utilises neither the colours of the Pan-Africanist movement nor the colours of the country's leading political party.","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Botswana"},"flagDesign":{"text":"The azure blue background represents water and rainfall, a resource crucial to the agriculture of the arid nation, whilst the black central stripe bordered by two white stripes represents racial harmony. The flag's adoption was a symbolic rejection of the system of apartheid, where its themes of racial equality contrasted with policies of racial hierarchy seen in South Africa and Rhodesia at the time. While talking about the flag in 2003, president Festus Mogae described the flag as \"a symbol of [Batswana] fortitude and confidence... [their] very existence as an independent and sovereign people.\" The rectangular flag is defined as having a 2:3 ratio. The flag is one of few African flags that do not use the Pan-African colours featured on Ethiopia's flag from 1991–1996.\n\nThe flags construction is outlined in Part II: Design of the National Flag of Botswana, of the Botswana Emblems Law.\n\nThis law also does not provide any exact colour specifications; but the Botswana Bureau of Standards specifies the blue as Pantone 15-4225 TCX.","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Botswana"},"photos":["https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2f/1960_6d_Bechuanaland_Protectorate_stamp.jpg/500px-1960_6d_Bechuanaland_Protectorate_stamp.jpg","https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/ca/Bosquimanos-Grassland_Bushmen_Lodge%2C_Botswana_04.jpg/500px-Bosquimanos-Grassland_Bushmen_Lodge%2C_Botswana_04.jpg","https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5b/Cebras_de_Burchell_%28Equus_quagga_burchellii%29%2C_vista_a%C3%A9rea_del_delta_del_Okavango%2C_Botsuana%2C_2018-08-01%2C_DD_28.jpg/500px-Cebras_de_Burchell_%28Equus_quagga_burchellii%29%2C_vista_a%C3%A9rea_del_delta_del_Okavango%2C_Botsuana%2C_2018-08-01%2C_DD_28.jpg","https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e5/Dikgosis_on_the_3_dikgosi_monument.jpg/500px-Dikgosis_on_the_3_dikgosi_monument.jpg"]}