Botswana pula
official currency of Botswana
The pula is the currency of Botswana. It has the ISO 4217 code BWP and is subdivided into 100 thebe. Pula literally means "rain" in Setswana, because rain is very scarce in Botswana—home to much of the Kalahari Desert— playing a major role in rites of traditional Tswana belief; therefore valuable and the word extends its meaning as "blessing" or "fortune". The word also serves as the national motto of the country.
A sub-unit of the currency is known as thebe, or "shield", and represents defence. The names were picked with the help of the public.
History
The pula was introduced on 23 August 1976, subsequently known as "Pula Day", replacing the rand at par. One hundred days after the pula was introduced, the rand ceased to be legal tender in Botswana.
At its introduction, the pula was pegged to the US dollar. In January 1979, the pula was changed to a floating, unpegged currency.
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This entry incorporates text from “Botswana pula” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.