HA5AO will be active as A25AO from Chobe National Bank, Botswana, 24 September - 4 October 2024.
He will operate on 80 - 6m, CW, SSB, FT8.
Recent DX Spots A25AO
A25AO Log search QSL via home call, OQRS.
Botswana
A country in the desert
About the states that are located in the southern part of the African continent, even avid Russian travelers know very little. Our compatriots visit this region of the globe rarely and in very small quantities, and not because it is not of any interest (rather - on the contrary), but because it is located far away, it takes a long time and is quite expensive to get there. And there are really many interesting countries there, and one of them is the Republic of Botswana.
In the south it borders with South Africa, in the east - with Zimbabwe, in the northeast - with Zambia, in the west and north - with Namibia. The total area of Botswana is 581,730 square kilometers, with 70% of it occupied by one of the largest deserts in the world - the Kalahari. The country is currently home to just over two million people, and the capital of this fairly young state is the city of Gaborone.
As for the climate, it is subtropical in Botswana, and of continental character. In the height of summer, that is in January, the average daily air temperature there is about +25 ° C, and in the middle of winter (respectively, in July) +15 ° C. There is very little precipitation in those lands, and in many areas in August powerful sandstorms are rampant.
Chobe National Park, Botswana. Author - Klaus Lang.
Some history of Botswana
Historians have established that people began to settle on the territory of modern Botswana approximately in the XVIII century BC, and they were engaged in hunting and gathering. In the first centuries A.D. there appeared Bantu tribes, who settled in the delta of the Okavango River (incidentally, which is the largest waterway of the country) and began to engage in agriculture. A little later, some other tribes moved into Botswana, among which the most successful were the Tswana. By the 16th century they were already dominant, although they had to expel the Kolo tribes in a rather difficult and bloody struggle.
In the first half of the XIX century, where Botswana now stretches, there were four independent states: Tswana, Ngwato, Kwena and Ngwaketse. The basis of their economy was farming, cattle breeding, and ivory trade (Botswana still has the world's largest population of African elephants). European missionaries began to appear in them, not without success in trying to convert the natives to Christianity. Local chiefs, for the most part, were allies of the British, who tried to capture the Boer republics of the Orange Free State and Transvaal, located a little to the south.
In the middle of the XIX century, gold placers were discovered in the territory of modern Botswana, and a little later - diamond deposits, which became the reason for the fact that quite active economic development of these territories began. In March 1885 Great Britain declared its protectorate over the Tswana lands, which asked for the protection of the empire from German colonizers. Thus the quasi-state of Bechuaneland was formed.
It should be noted that the British never managed to gain a firm foothold on its territory, not least because the local population was very actively opposed to the strengthening of their influence. Therefore, it was quite easy for them to officially allow the very possibility of declaring independence in 1964. This is exactly what happened in 1965, after which the country acquired its current name.
Chobe National Park, Botswana. Author - Tim Copeland.
From livestock to diamonds
Botswana is one of the very few African countries whose population has really benefited from independence. Back in the 60s of the last century, the main branch of its economy was agriculture (mainly cattle breeding), but after a few years the mining industry began to develop rapidly. However, the country has subsequently experienced several serious economic crises, but today it is probably the most economically successful country in Africa in the Southern Hemisphere (except, of course, for South Africa).
Chobe National Park, Botswana. Author - Francesca Bullet.
From cattle to diamonds
Botswana is one of the few African countries whose population really benefited from independence. Back in the 60s of the last century the main branch of its economy was agriculture (mainly cattle breeding), but after a few years the mining industry began to develop rapidly. However, the country subsequently experienced several serious economic crises, but today it is probably the most economically successful African country in the Southern Hemisphere (except, of course, for South Africa).
