Botswana Waterways from OpenStreetMap for Environmental Analysis

OpenStreetMap exports provide water features across Botswana, including rivers, streams, canals, lakes, ponds, and water bodies. The Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team (HOT) compiled this data, which was last updated on 2026-05-14. Completeness varies by region, with urban areas typically being better mapped than remote areas.

Use Cases

• Model flood risk based on the mapped network of rivers and streams.
• Conduct watershed analysis using the delineated water bodies and waterways.
• Create an environmental context basemap incorporating lakes, ponds, and canals.

Strengths

• Data is available in multiple geospatial formats including GEOPACKAGE, KML, SHP, and GEOJSON.
• Covers a defined geographic region (Botswana) with features tagged using established OSM keys (waterway, water, natural).

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Completeness varies by region, with remote areas likely being less complete than urban ones.

Provenance

Source

OpenStreetMap

Collection Method

Volunteer-contributed mapping via the OpenStreetMap platform, exported by the Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team (HOT).

Freshness

Last updated 2026-05-14 01:38:49.567823; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Botswana