Demographics of Botswana

This article is about the demographic features of the population of Botswana, including population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population.

Botswana, like many nations in southern Africa, suffers from a high HIV infection rate, estimated among adults ages 15 to 49 to be 24.8%.

The seven censuses of Botswana before its independence happened irregularly. Due to the Anglo-Boer War, the first census of Bechuanaland Protectorate, originally set to occur in 1901, took place on 17 April 1904. The 1931 census was postponed to 1936 because of the Great Depression. The early censuses were unreliable and took several years to tabulate; the results were outdated by the time they were calculated.

There have been five censuses after the independence of Botswana, each occurring every ten years in the year ending in 1 (i.e. 1971, 1981, 1991, 2001, and 2011). The 1971 census was the first census in Botswana to use de facto enumeration; this method counts people based on how many people spent census night at a specific location. Previously, the citizens were counted based on their usual place of residence. The 2001 census was the first census in Botswana to comply with the SADC 2000 Census Project, the guidelines of which unify the demographic statistics in southern Africa. The most recent census was the 2011 Botswana Population and Housing Census, which occurred in August 2011.

According to the 2010 revision of the World Population Prospects the total population was 2,007,000 in 2010, compared to only 413,000 in 1950. The proportion of children below the age of 15 in 2010 was 32.6%, 63.4% was between 15 and 65 years of age, while 4% was 65 years or older.

Registration of vital events is in Botswana not complete. The Population Departement of the United Nations prepared the following estimates.

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