Botswana is a landlocked country in Southern Africa about the size of Texas, but with a population of only 1.5 million people. To put that into perspective, the tiny capital of Liberia, Monrovia, has a population size equal to the entire population of Botswana. As a result, Botswana has one of the highest per capita incomes in Africa and an average standard of living higher than in Brazil [1]. Diamonds have fueled one of highest economic growth rates in the world, with an impressive 9% average growth rate per year between 1966 and 1999. Botswana has transformed itself from one of the poorest countries in the world after its independence in 1966 to a middle-income country in less than 40 years.
In contrast, Botswana was hit really hard by the AIDS pandemic. In 2007, the estimated adult prevalence of HIV/AIDS was the second highest in the world (24%) and life expectancy at birth had dropped from 65 to 35 years [2]. Having unprotected sex here is like a Russian roulette… I will call it a Botswanan roulette.
[1] http://www.nationsonline.org/oneworld/GNI_PPP_of_countries.htm
[2] http://www.unaids.org/en/KnowledgeCentre/HIVData/GlobalReport/2006/
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