Botswana pula

 ( Currencies Of Africa ) 

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",

(Memoirs of a former president of Botswana) and represents defence. The names were picked with the help of the public.

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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. Since June 1980, it has been pegged to a basket of currencies that reflects the country's trading patterns, comprising the South African rand and the International Monetary Fund's special drawing rights.

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Coins In 1976, coins were introduced in denominations of 1, 5, 10, 25 and 50 thebe. The 1 thebe was struck in aluminium, with the 5 thebe in bronze and the others in cupro-nickel. These coins were round except for the scalloped 1 pula. Bronze, Dodecagonal coin 2 thebe coins were introduced in 1981 and discontinued after 1985. In 1991, bronze-plated steel replaced bronze in the 5 thebe, nickel-plated steel replaced cupro-nickel in the 10, 25 and 50 thebe and the 1 pula changed to a smaller, nickel-brass, equilateral-curve Heptagonal coin coin. A similarly shaped, nickel-brass 2 pula was introduced in 1994. In 2004, the composition was changed to brass-plated steel and the size was slightly reduced.

Following the withdrawal of the 1 and 2 thebe in 1991 and 1998 respectively, smaller 5, 10, 25 and 50 thebe coins were introduced, with the 5 and 25 thebe coins being seven-sided and the 10 and 50 thebe coins remaining round. A bimetallic 5 pula depicting a Imbrasia belina and a branch of the mopane tree it feeds on was introduced in 2000 composed of a cupronickel centre in a ring made of aluminium-nickel-bronze.

A new series of coins was introduced in 2013. All previous coins were demonetized with effect from 28 August 2014, and remained exchangeable to current coins for 5 years until 28 August 2019.

The word "Ipelegeng" is found on the coins, which literally means "to carry your own weight" or "to be self-sufficient or independent" but in general has various different meanings in the Tswana language.

	1 thebe	Aluminium	18.5 mm	0.8 g	1.22 mm	Smooth	1976–1991	1 July 2014
	2 thebe	Bronze	17.4 mm (dodecagonal)	1.8 g	1.05 mm		1981–1985
	5 thebe	Bronze	19.5 mm	2.8 g	1.17 mm	Reeded	1976–1989
		Bronze-plated steel			1.28 mm	Smooth or reeded	1991–1996
			17 mm (heptagonal)	2.41 g	1.75 mm	Smooth	1998–2009
		Nickel-plated steel	18 mm (heptagonal)	2.218 g	1.3 mm		2013	current
	10 thebe	Copper-nickel	22 mm	4 g	1.33 mm	Reeded	1976–1989	1 July 2014
		Nickel-plated steel		3.8 g			1991
			18 mm	2.8 g	1.75 mm		1998–2008
			20 mm		1.4 mm		2013	current
	25 thebe	Copper-nickel	25 mm	5.8 g			1976–1989	1 July 2014
		Nickel-plated steel		5.73 g			1991
		Nickel-plated steel	20 mm (heptagonal)	3.5 g	1.8 mm	Smooth	1998–2009
		Nickel-plated steel	22 mm (heptagonal)	4.2 g	1.6 mm		2013	current
	50 thebe	Copper-nickel	28 mm	11.4 g	2.3 mm	Reeded	1976–1985	1 July 2014
		Nickel-plated steel					1991
			21.3 mm	4.82 g	2.2 mm	Smooth	1996–2001
			24 mm	5.3 g	1.8 mm	Reeded	2013	current
	1 pula	Copper-nickel	29.5 mm; scalloped (with 12 notches)	16.4 g		Smooth	1976–1987	1 July 2014
		Nickel-brass	24 mm (heptagonal)	8.8 g	2.7 mm	Segmented (10 reeds per 7 sections)	1991–2007
		Bronze-plated steel	26 mm	7.8 g		Smooth	2013–2016	current
	2 pula	Nickel-brass	26.4 mm (heptagonal)	6.3 g	2.4 mm	Segmented (19 reeds per 7 sections)	1994	1 July 2014
		Brass-plated steel	24.6 mm (heptagonal)	6.02 g	2 mm		2004
		Bi-metallic; bronze-plated steel in center, nickel-plated steel in ring	27 mm	7.3 g		Reeded	2013–2016	current
	5 pula	Bi-metallic; copper-nickel in center, brass in ring	23.5 mm	6 g			2000–2007	1 July 2014
			28 mm	8.7 g	2.2 mm	Segmented	2013–2016	current

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Banknotes On 23 August 1976, the Bank of Botswana introduced notes in denominations of 1, 2, 5, and 10 pula; a 20 pula note followed on 16 February 1978. The 1 and 2 pula notes were replaced by coins in 1991 and 1994, whilst the first 50 and 100 pula notes were introduced on 29 May 1990 and 23 August 1993, respectively. The 5 pula note was replaced by a coin in 2000. The original 1, 2 and 5 pula banknotes were demonetised on 1 July 2011.

The current series of notes was introduced on 23 August 2009 and contains, for the first time, a 200 pula banknote.

In response to the concern of the poor quality of the paper of the 10 pula banknote, the Bank of Botswana unveiled a 10 pula banknote in Polymer banknote in November 2017 which was issued to the public on 1 February 2018.

In 2020, the Bank of Botswana issued a new 10 pula polymer banknote that features an image of the current President of Botswana, Mokgweetsi Masisi. Retrieved on 2021-09-19.

		10 pula	Green	President Ian Khama	Parliament building, Gaborone	Rampant zebra and electrotype 10
		20 pula	Red	Kgalemang Tumediso Motsete	Mining equipment	Rampant zebra and electrotype 20
		50 pula	Brown	President Seretse Khama	Okavango Delta swamps, boat, fish eagle	Rampant zebra and electrotype 50
		100 pula	Blue	Three chiefs (Sebele I, Bathoen I, Khama III)	Diamond sorting, open-pit diamond mine	Rampant zebra and electrotype 100
		200 pula	Purple	Female teacher and children	Zebras	Rampant zebra and electrotype 200

	10 pula	Green	President Ian Khama	Parliament building, Gaborone	Rampant zebra window
			President Mokgweetsi Masisi

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Use in Zimbabwe Due to hyperinflation in Zimbabwe from 2006 to 2008, the government of Zimbabwe has allowed circulation of foreign currency since 2008. The Zimbabwean dollar became obsolete on 12 April 2009. Several currencies, including the South African rand and Botswana pula, circulate in Zimbabwe,Alongside Zimbabwean dollar (suspended indefinitely from 12 April 2009), euro, US dollar, pound sterling, South African rand, Indian rupee, Australian dollar, Renminbi and Japanese yen. The US dollar has been adopted as the official currency for all government transactions in Zimbabwe. along with the Zimbabwean bond notes and bond coins.

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Lesotho The word pula also serves as part of the national motto of the Kingdom of Lesotho. As in Botswana, it means "rain" in the Sotho language and is considered a synonym for "blessing".

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See also

• Economy of Botswana

• Schön, Günter und Gerhard, Weltmünzkatalog 1900–2010, 39. Auflage, 2011, Battenberg Gietl Verlag,

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External links

• Historical banknotes of Botswana

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