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Wildfires in Central
Detected · VIIRS 375 m · Suomi NPP, NOAA-20, NOAA-21 · last 24 hours · updated 2026-10-11 05:23 UTC
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Fire history, 2012–2025
Detected · VIIRS S-NPP 375 m · 0.01° cells (~1.1 km) · complete years 2012–2025 · built 2026-09-23
Between 2012 and 2025, VIIRS detected fire in 28,550 km² of Central at least once. In an average year it detected fire in 2,720 km², ranking 4th of 15 regions of Botswana.
Year by year
Detected area per year, km². Area of 0.01° cells with at least one detection in the year.
The busiest year was 2023, with 6,850 km² detected; the quietest was 2016, with 702 km². The 2021–2025 average is 144% higher than the 2012–2016 average.
Through the year
Share of all fire-days 2012–2025 by month. A fire-day is one cell with a detection on one day.
August, September and October together hold 79% of the fire-days in the record. The single busiest day was 16 October 2021, with detections in 475 cells.
Ground that burns again
Of the 28,550 km² with at least one detection, 7.2% had detections in three or more different years.
| Years with a detection | km² | Share |
|---|---|---|
| 1 year | 21,780 | 76% |
| 2 years | 4,720 | 17% |
| 3 to 5 years | 2,020 | 7.1% |
| 6 to 10 years | 27 | 0.1% |
| 11 years or more | 0.0 | 0.0% |
The half-degree square with the most fire-days is centred at -19.75, 25.75 and holds 10% of the region's fire-days.
The figures
Show the table
| Year | Detected km² | Fire-days |
|---|---|---|
| 2012 | 3,280 | 3,374 |
| 2013 | 1,560 | 1,558 |
| 2014 | 1,640 | 1,709 |
| 2015 | 1,250 | 1,262 |
| 2016 | 702 | 707 |
| 2017 | 3,930 | 3,979 |
| 2018 | 1,990 | 1,938 |
| 2019 | 1,490 | 1,507 |
| 2020 | 1,710 | 1,808 |
| 2021 | 5,230 | 5,280 |
| 2022 | 4,770 | 4,833 |
| 2023 | 6,850 | 6,860 |
| 2024 | 1,410 | 1,519 |
| 2025 | 2,340 | 2,256 |
Other regions of Botswana
- North-West13,000 km² in an average year
- Ghanzi6,290 km² in an average year
- Kgalagadi5,220 km² in an average year
- Kweneng1,470 km² in an average year
- Southern1,120 km² in an average year
- Kgatleng119 km² in an average year
- How these figures are madeDetected area, cells, and the single-satellite record.
Detected area counts every 0.01° cell with at least one VIIRS detection, so a small fire counts as a whole cell and a fire missed by cloud or between passes is absent. Borders: Natural Earth 1:10m. 2012 begins on 20 January.
Nearby regions
- Matabeleland North, Zimbabwe174 km
- North-East266 km
- Zambezi, Namibia306 km
- Bulawayo, Zimbabwe318 km
- Matabeleland South, Zimbabwe369 km
- Ghanzi392 km