The Botswana pula
Currency · BWP · P · 1 country
The Bank of Botswana launched the pula on 23 August 1976, a date since known as Pula Day, and took in the South African rand at par. Botswana had announced on 6 September 1974 that it would leave the Rand Monetary Area. Pula means rain, or blessings, in Setswana, and each pula divides into 100 thebe, shields.
The abbreviation
The sign is the letter P, for pula, written before the amount with no space: the Bank of Botswana lists its first notes as P1, P2, P5 and P10. Thebe take a small t after the figure, as in 25t.
- ISO code
- BWP
- ISO number
- 072
- Subunit
- thebe, 1/100
An amount, written out
P 1,234.50
- P 1,234.50EnglishBotswana
Where the Botswanan pula is the official currency
Botswana alone uses the pula. The rand stopped being legal tender there once the 100 days of exchange after Pula Day ran out.
About the Botswanan pula
Why Botswana gave up the rand
Botswana came to independence in 1966 as a member of the Rand Monetary Area, with the South African rand as its money. Withdrawal, announced on 6 September 1974, meant building a currency from nothing: a name, a quantity, a set of denominations. A poll of public opinion settled the names. Thomas de la Rue and Company, of Britain, was chosen to design and supply the notes, and the Royal Mint the coins.
How the rand was swapped out
The exchange window ran for 100 days from Pula Day, and for that period the Bank of Botswana guaranteed parity between the two currencies. It also put standby arrangements in place to supply foreign exchange in case the conversion dragged. They were soon cancelled. According to the bank, a large share of the rand circulating in Botswana was exchanged within a few weeks, and the rand stopped being legal tender there once the 100 days were over.
The first issue was four notes, of 1, 2, 5 and 10 pula, with coins of 1, 5, 10, 25 and 50 thebe.
What the pula has been pegged to
At launch the pula was fixed to the US dollar at P1 to USD1.15. The two accounts of what happened next do not match. The Bank of Botswana's timeline takes the pula off the dollar peg on 6 November 1980 and introduces the Pula Basket that day, made up of the IMF's special drawing rights and the South African rand. Wikipedia has the pula floating, unpegged, from January 1979 and tied to a basket of the rand and special drawing rights from June 1980.
Which faces the notes carry
The bank bases its designs on the country's political and cultural make-up, including democracy, tourism and mining. Until 1997 every new note showed the sitting president. From then on each denomination took a different portrait, and only the P10 kept the president. The P20 of 1997 shows D. K. Motsete, who composed the national anthem. The P50 of 2000 shows Sir Seretse Khama, the first president. The P100 of the same year shows three chiefs, Bathoen I, Khama III and Sebele I, who obtained British protection over Bechuanaland.
A new family of notes arrived on 23 August 2009, 33 years to the day after the launch. It added a P200 showing a woman teaching, which the bank says reflects the importance of education and the contribution of women to national development. The P10 moved to polymer on 1 February 2018. The P50 in 2021 and the P20 in 2022 received a varnish meant to make them last longer.
When coins took over from the small notes
Coins now carry the low values because they last longer. The bank introduced a P1 coin in 1991, a P2 coin in 1994 and a P5 coin in 2000, and the original 1, 2 and 5 pula notes were demonetised on 1 July 2011. At the bottom end the 1 and 2 thebe went in 1991 and 1998. The smaller coins that followed made the 5 and 25 thebe seven-sided. A bimetallic 5 pula of 2000 showed a mopane caterpillar on a branch of the tree it feeds on.
The present family of coins entered circulation on 28 February 2014. The old coins lost legal tender status on 28 August 2014 and could be exchanged at face value for five more years, until 28 August 2019. The coins carry the Setswana word Ipelegeng, which is read as carrying one's own weight, or being self-sufficient.
Common questions
Questions about the Botswanan pula
What does pula mean?
Pula means rain in Setswana, and by extension blessing or fortune, because rain is scarce in a country that holds much of the Kalahari. The word is also Botswana's national motto. Thebe, the hundredth, means shield. Both names were chosen with the public: the Bank of Botswana says a poll of opinion supported them overwhelmingly.
When did Botswana stop using the South African rand?
On 23 August 1976, Pula Day, when the pula replaced the rand at par. People had 100 days to swap their rand, with parity guaranteed throughout, and a large share of the rand in circulation was exchanged within a few weeks. The decision to leave the Rand Monetary Area had been announced on 6 September 1974, eight years after independence.
Who is on the 200 pula note?
No named person. The P200, added with the new family of notes on 23 August 2009, shows a woman teaching pupils, with zebras on the back. The Bank of Botswana chose the image to reflect education and the contribution of women to national development.
Is the Botswana pula pegged to another currency?
It began fixed to the US dollar, at P1 to USD1.15 on 23 August 1976. It later moved to a basket, and the sources give different dates for the change. The Bank of Botswana records the pula leaving the dollar peg on 6 November 1980, the same day it introduced the Pula Basket of special drawing rights and the South African rand. Wikipedia describes a period as a floating currency from January 1979 and a basket of the rand and special drawing rights from June 1980.