Botswana in other languages: exonyms, Gaborone, ISO codes, districts
Botswana is Lefatshe la Botswana in Setswana and the Republic of Botswana in English, its two official languages; the ISO codes are BW, BWA and 072. The name follows in 169 languages and varieties and Gaborone in 54, then the districts, cities and towns of ISO 3166-2:BW with their Setswana names.
Official languagesSetswana; English
Checked
- alpha-2
- BW
- alpha-3
- BWA
- numeric
- 072
Lefatshe la Botswana
Republic of Botswana
- English
- BotswanaRepublic of Botswana
- Capital
- GaboroneGaborone
ISO 3166-1, checked 28 October 2026. Flag after the Wikimedia Commons drawing.
Botswana in other languages: list of exonyms
| Languages | ISO 639 | Name | Romanised |
|---|---|---|---|
| English, Afrikaans, Breton, Catalan, Czech, Cornish, Welsh, Danish, Estonian, Basque, Finnish, Kven, French, West Frisian, Haitian Creole, Hungarian, Igbo, Interlingua, Indonesian, Italian, Javanese, Jersey Norman French, Kinyarwanda, Kurmanji Kurdish, Limburgish, Lingala, Maltese, Dutch, Norwegian, Novial, Northern Sotho, Occitan, Polish, Romansh, Romanian, Rundi, Aromanian, Slovak, Northern Sami, Saterland Frisian, Swahili, Swedish, Silesian, Tswana, Võro, Wolof, Zazaki | eng / afr / bre / cat / ces / cor / cym / dan / est / eus / fin / fkv / fra / fry / hat / hun / ibo / ina / ind / ita / jav / jnf / kin / kur / lim / lin / mlt / nld / nor / nov / nso / oci / pol / roh / ron / run / rup / slk / sme / stq / swa / swe / szl / tsn / vor / wol / zza | Botswana | same as written |
| Asturian, Lower Sorbian, Scottish Gaelic, Galician, Upper Sorbian, Latin, Ladin, Sicilian, Spanish, Albanian, Tetum | ast / dsb / gla / glg / hsb / lat / lld / scn / spa / sqi / tet | Botsuana | same as written |
| Faroese, Icelandic, Lithuanian, Latgalian, Samogitian, Turkish | fao / isl / lit / ltg / smg / tur | Botsvana | same as written |
| Azerbaijani, Crimean Tatar, Gagauz, Karakalpak, Slovio | aze / crh / gag / kaa / slo | Botsvana / Ботсвана | Botsvana |
| German, Luxembourgish, Low German | deu / ltz / nds | Botsuana, Botswana | same as written |
| Aragonese, Portuguese | arg / por | Botsuana, Botswana | same as written |
| Croatian, Slovenian | hrv / slv | Bocvana | same as written |
| Moldovan, Turkmen | mol / tuk | Botswana / Ботсвана | Botswana |
| Bambara | bam | Bɔtisiwana | same as written |
| Bosnian | bos | Bocvana / Боцвана / بۉڄوانا | Bocvana |
| Esperanto | epo | Bocvano | same as written |
| Franco-Provençal | frp | Botsouana | same as written |
| Friulian | fur | Bozvane | same as written |
| Irish | gle | An Bhotsuáin / An Ḃotsuáin | same as written |
| Manx | glv | Yn Votswaan | same as written |
| Latvian | lav | Botsvāna | same as written |
| Malagasy | mlg | Botsoana | same as written |
| Malay | msa | Botswana / بوتسوانا | Botswana |
| Nahuatl | nah | Botzhuana | same as written |
| Norman French | nrm | Bossouana | same as written |
| Quechua | que | Butswana | same as written |
| Kalderash Romani | rmy | Botswana / बोत्स्वाना | Botswana |
| Samoan | smo | Potesuana | same as written |
| Somali | som | Botuswaana | same as written |
| Sardinian | srd | Botzuana | same as written |
| Uzbek | uzb | Botsvana / Ботсвана / باتسۋەنە | Botsvana |
| Vietnamese | vie | Bốt-xoa-na | same as written |
| Volapük | vol | Zvanän | same as written |
| Walloon | wln | Boswana | same as written |
| Zulu | zul | iButswana | same as written |
| Abkhaz, Abaza, Altai, Khakas, Komi, Karachay-Balkar, Kumyk, Lezgi, Meadow Mari, Rusyn, Russian, Tuvan, Udmurt, Ukrainian, Kalmyk | abk / abq / alt / kjh / kom / krc / kum / lez / mhr / rue / rus / tyv / udm / ukr / xal | Ботсвана | Botsvana |
| Bashkir, Chechen | bak / che | Ботсвана / Botsvana | Botsvana |
| Bulgarian, Yakut | bul / sah | Ботсуана | Botsuana |
| Avar | ava | Ботсвана | Botswana |
| Belarusian | bel | Батсвана / Batsvana, Бацвана / Bacvana | Batsvana, Bacvana |
| Chuvash | chv | Ботсванӑ | Botsvană |
| Kazakh | kaz | Ботсвана / بوتسۆانا / Botsvana | Botsvana |
| Kabardian | kbd | Ботсванэ | Botsvană |
| Kyrgyz | kir | Ботсвана / بوتسۋانا / Botsvana | Botsvana |
| Kurdish (Caucasus, Cyrillic) | kmr | Ботсԝана / Botswana, Ботсвана / Botsvana | Botswana, Botsvana |
| Macedonian | mkd | Боцвана | Bocvana |
| Mongolian | mon | Ботсван | Botsvan |
| Ossetian | oss | Ботсванӕ | Botsvanä |
| Serbian | srp | Боцвана / Bocvana | Bocvana |
| Tatar | tat | Ботсвана / Botsvana / بوتسۋانا | Botsvana |
| Tajik | tgk | Ботсвана / باتسونه / Botsvana | Botsvana |
| Arabic | ara | بوتسوانا, بتسوانا | Būtsuwānā, Butsuwānā |
| South Azerbaijani | azb | بوتسوانا / Botsvana | Botsvana |
| Sorani Kurdish | ckb | بۆتسوانا / Botswana | Botswana |
| Persian | fas | بوتسوانا / Botsvânâ | Botsvânâ |
| Western Punjabi | pnb | بوٹسوانا | Bōṫsvānā |
| Dari | prs | بوتسوانا | Bōtsvānā |
| Pashto | pus | بوټسوانا, بوتسوانا | Bōṫswānā, Bōtswānā |
| Uyghur | uig | بوتسۋانا / Botswana / Ботсвана | Botswana |
| Urdu | urd | بوٹسوانا | Bōṫsvānā |
| Dhivehi | div | ބޮޓްސްވާނާ, ބޮޓުސްވާނާ | Boṫsvānā, Boṫusvānā |
| Hebrew | heb | בוצואנה, בוטסואנה | Bōʦūʾanah, Bōṭsūʾanah |
| Ladino | lad | בוטסבﬞאנה / Botsvana | Botsvana |
| Yiddish | yid | באָצװאַנע | Boʦvane |
| Kabyle | kab | ⴱⵓⵜⵙⵡⴰⵏⴰ / Botswana | Botswana |
| Amharic | amh | ቦትስዋና | Botswana |
| Greek | ell | Μποτσουάνα | Mpotsoyána |
| Armenian | hye | Բոտսվանա, Բոթսվանա | Botsvana, Bot̕svana |
| Georgian, Mingrelian | kat / xmf | ბოტსვანა | Botsvana |
| Laz | lzz | ბოტსვანა / Bot’svana | Bot’svana |
| Hindi | hin | बोत्स्वाना / बोत्सवाना | Botsvānā |
| Marathi | mar | बोट्स्वाना | Boṭsvānā |
| Bengali | ben | বতসোয়ানা, বোত্সুয়ানা, বোৎসোয়ানা | Bôtsoyānā, Botsuyānā, Botsoyānā |
| Gujarati | guj | બોટ્સવાના | Boṭsvānā |
| Oriya | ori | ବୋତ୍ସ୍ବାନା | Botsbānā |
| Punjabi | pan | ਬੋਟਸਵਾਨਾ | Boṭsvānā |
| Sinhala | sin | බොට්ස්වානා | Boṭsvānā |
| Kannada | kan | ಬೋಟ್ಸ್ವಾನ | Bōṭsvāna |
| Malayalam | mal | ബോട്സ്വാന | Bōṭsvāna |
| Tamil | tam | போட்ஸ்வானா, பொட்ஸ்வானா | Pōṭsvāṉā, Poṭsvāṉā |
| Telugu | tel | బోత్సువానా | Bōtsuvānā |
| Chinese | zho | 博茨瓦納/博茨瓦纳 | Bócíwǎnà |
| Japanese | jpn | ボツワナ | Botsuwana |
| Korean | kor | 보츠와나 | Bocheuwana |
| Tibetan | bod | བྷོ་ཙི་ཝ་ན། | Bō.ʦi.wa.na |
| Burmese | mya | ဘော့ဆွာနာ | Bʰɔ́sʰwana |
| Thai | tha | บอตสวานา | Bɔ̄tswānā |
| Khmer | khm | បុតស្វាណា, បូសស្វានណា | Butsvāṇā, Būssvānṇā |
Belarusian and Kurdish give two spellings each, and Irish shows the standard and the older Gaelic type.
Batswana, Motswana, Setswana: the land of the Tswana
Botswana means the land of the Tswana. The word is built the way Setswana builds most of its vocabulary, from a stem and a class prefix: the people are Batswana, one person is a Motswana, the language Setswana. Motswana also serves as the adjective, and Batswana has come to mean every citizen of the country, not only the Tswana. Under British rule from 1885 the territory was the Bechuanaland Protectorate, and it took its present name at independence on 30 September 1966. In Setswana the state is Lefatshe la Botswana, the country of Botswana.
Most languages keep the w or turn it into a v or u. German, Spanish and Portuguese write Botsuana, Russian Ботсвана, Icelandic and Lithuanian Botsvana. Croatian, Slovenian and Macedonian write the ts as one letter, Bocvana and Боцвана. Esperanto makes it Botsvano and Volapük shortens it to Zvanän; Zulu writes iButswana, with its own noun prefix in front.
Gaborone in other languages
| Languages | ISO 639 | Name | Romanised |
|---|---|---|---|
| English, French, Latvian, Tswana | eng / fra / lav / tsn | Gaborone | same as written |
| German, Luxembourgish, Low German | deu / ltz / nds | Gaborone | same as written |
| Moldovan, Turkmen | mol / tuk | Gaborone / Габороне | Gaborone |
| Azerbaijani | aze | Qaborone / Габороне | Qaborone |
| Bosnian | bos | Gaborone / Габороне / غابۉرۉنە | Gaborone |
| Esperanto | epo | Gaborono | same as written |
| Irish | gle | Gaborone | same as written |
| Icelandic | isl | Gaboróne | same as written |
| Lithuanian | lit | Gaboronas | same as written |
| Malay | msa | Gaborone / ݢابوروني | Gaborone |
| Samogitian | smg | Gaboruons | same as written |
| Uzbek | uzb | Gaborone / Габороне / گەبارانې | Gaborone |
| Bulgarian, Mongolian, Russian | bul / mon / rus | Габороне | Gaborone |
| Bashkir, Serbian | bak / srp | Габороне / Gaborone | Gaborone |
| Belarusian | bel | Габароне / Habaronie, Габаронэ / Habarone | Habaronie, Habarone |
| Kazakh | kaz | Габороне / گابورونە / Gaborone | Gaborone |
| Kyrgyz | kir | Габороне / گابورونە / Gaborone | Gaborone |
| Tatar | tat | Габороне / Gaborone / گابورونې | Gaborone |
| Tajik | tgk | Габороне / گبارانه / Gaborone | Gaborone |
| Ukrainian | ukr | Ґабороне | Gaborone |
| Arabic | ara | غابورون, غابرون, غابوروني, جابورون, جابرون, جابوروني | Ġābūrūn, Ġāburūn, Ġābūrūnī, Gābūrūn, Gāburūn, Gābūrūnī |
| South Azerbaijani | azb | قابورونئ / Qaborone | Qaborone |
| Persian | fas | گابرون / گابورون / Gâboron | Gâboron |
| Western Punjabi | pnb | گیبورون | Gēbōrōn |
| Pashto | pus | ګابورونې | Gābōrōne |
| Uyghur | uig | گابورونې / Gaboroné / Габороне | Gaboroné |
| Urdu | urd | گبرون | Gabarōn |
| Hebrew | heb | גבורון, גאבורון | Gabōrōn, Gābōrōn |
| Yiddish | yid | גאַבאָראָנע | Gaborone |
| Amharic | amh | ጋቦሮኔ, ጋበሮኔ | Gaborone, Gabärone |
| Greek | ell | Γκαμπορόνε, Γκαμπορόν | Gkamporóne, Gkamporón |
| Armenian | hye | Գաբորոնե | Gaborone |
| Georgian | kat | გაბორონე | Gaborone |
| Hindi | hin | गाबोरोन | Gāboron |
| Bengali | ben | গাবোরোন, গাবোরোনে | Gāboron, Gāborone |
| Punjabi | pan | ਗਾਬੋਰੋਨ | Gāboron |
| Kannada | kan | ಗಾಬೊರೋನ್ | Gāborōn |
| Malayalam | mal | ഗബൊറോൺ | Gaboṟōṇ |
| Tamil | tam | கபோரோன், காபரோன் | Kapōrōṉ, Kāparōṉ |
| Telugu | tel | గబొరొనె | Gaborone |
| Chinese | zho | 哈博羅內/哈博罗内 | Hǎbóluōnèi |
| Japanese | jpn | ハボロネ, ハボローネ | Haborone, Haborōne |
| Korean | kor | 가보로네 | Gaborone |
| Thai | tha | กาโบโรน, กาโบโรเน | Kābōrōn, Kābōrōnē |
| Khmer | khm | ហ្គាបូរូន, កាបូរូន | Hkābūrūn, Kābūrūn |
Chinese and Japanese begin the name with an h, 哈博羅內 (Hǎbóluōnèi) and ハボロネ (Haborone), closer to the Setswana pronunciation, which starts with a velar fricative, than to the spelling.
The 10 districts, 2 cities and 4 towns of Botswana with ISO 3166-2 codes
ISO 3166-2:BW lists ten districts (dikgaolo, singular kgaolo) and six urban units: the cities of Gaborone and Francistown and the towns of Jwaneng, Lobatse, Selibe Phikwe and Sowa. Districts carry their Setswana name and their administrative centre.
| ISO 3166-2 | Setswana | English | Administrative centre | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Districts, cities and towns dikgaolo16 | ||||
| BW-CE | Kgaolo ya Legare | Central | SeroweSerowe | |
| BW-CH | Chobe | Chobe | KasaneKasane | 2014 Merged into BW-NW in 2003; listed again as a district since 2014 |
| BW-FR | Francistown | Francistown | 2014 City, added by ISO | |
| BW-GA | Gaborone | Gaborone | 2014 City, added by ISO | |
| BW-GH | Kgaolo ya Ghanzi | Ghanzi | GhanziGhanzi | |
| BW-JW | Jwaneng | Jwaneng | 2014 Town, added by ISO | |
| BW-KG | Kgaolo ya Kgalagadi | Kgalagadi | TsabongTsabong | |
| BW-KL | Kgaolo ya Kgatleng | Kgatleng | MochudiMochudi | |
| BW-KW | Kgaolo ya Kweneng | Kweneng | MolepololeMolepolole | |
| BW-LO | Lobatse | Lobatse | 2014 Town, added by ISO | |
| BW-NE | Kgaolo ya Bokone Botlhaba | North East | MasungaMasunga | 2014 ISO spelling North-East changed to North East |
| BW-NWwas BW-NG | Kgaolo ya Bokone Bophirima | North West | MaunMaun | 2003 Code BW-NG Ngamiland replaced by BW-NW; hyphen dropped in 2014 |
| BW-SP | Selibe Phikwe | Selibe Phikwe | 2014 Town, added by ISO | |
| BW-SE | Kgaolo ya Borwa Botlhaba | South East | RamotswaRamotswa | 2014 ISO spelling South-East changed to South East |
| BW-SO | Kgaolo ya Borwa | Southern | KanyeKanye | |
| BW-ST | Sowa Town | Sowa Town | 2014 Town, added by ISO | |
Codes, names and change history: ISO 3166-2:BW on the ISO Online Browsing Platform (Newsletter I-5 of 5 September 2003; OBP update of 29 October 2014), as tabulated in Wikipedia’s ISO 3166-2:BW, checked 28 October 2026. Seat of Chobe: Wikipedia, Chobe District. The Setswana form of the Chobe district name is not given; cities and towns are written the same in Setswana and English.
Gaborone and the districts since 2003
Gaborone is named after Kgosi Gaborone, a chief of the Tlokwa. The colonial spelling was Gaberones until 1969, and the town was built from 1964 as the capital of the coming state. Its spelling hardly changes abroad. Russian and Bulgarian write Габороне, Arabic غابورون among six variants, and Chinese 哈博羅內.
The district list has changed twice. In 2003 ISO merged Chobe into the North-West District and replaced the code BW-NG, for Ngamiland, with BW-NW; nine districts remained, and they are the ones the Setswana names come from: Bokone Bophirima for the north-west, Bokone Botlhaba for the north-east, Borwa for the south and Legare for the Central District. In 2014 Chobe returned as a district, the hyphens left the compass names, and Gaborone, Francistown and four towns were added as units of their own.
Questions about the names and districts of Botswana
What does Botswana mean?
Land of the Tswana. The people are Batswana, one person a Motswana and the language Setswana.
How many districts does Botswana have?
Ten in ISO 3166-2:BW, from Central to Southern, plus the cities of Gaborone and Francistown and four towns with codes of their own.
What are the ISO codes of Botswana?
BW (alpha-2), BWA (alpha-3) and 072 (numeric) in ISO 3166-1.