Which desert covers much of Botswana?

The desert covering much of Botswana is the Kalahari Desert.

The Kalahari is a large, semi-arid sandy region in Southern Africa, extending across much of Botswana and parts of Namibia and South Africa. It is often pictured as a sea of red sand, but the landscape also includes grasslands, shrubland, woodland, seasonal pans and wetlands.

Unlike the extremely barren image associated with some deserts, the Kalahari supports abundant wildlife after seasonal rains. Lions, cheetahs, brown hyenas, gemsbok, springbok and African wild dogs live in the region. The Okavango River reaches the Kalahari Basin in northern Botswana, where it forms the inland Okavango Delta rather than flowing to the sea.

The name Kalahari is linked to Tswana words meaning “the great thirst” or “a waterless place.” The region was wetter in the past: geological evidence indicates that ancient lakes and river systems once occupied parts of the basin. The Kalahari is therefore best understood as a broad semi-arid ecosystem, not simply a uniformly dry field of dunes.