Air quality comparison · Botswana, 579 km apart
Gaborone vs Maun Air quality index (AQI) today
Gaborone has cleaner air than Maun right now: AQI 22 (Good) against 88 (Moderate).
That puts them in different EPA bands, so the health advice differs today. Over the past 7 days, on modeled daily averages, Gaborone averaged AQI 50 against 67, and it was the cleaner of the two on 7 of those days. Gaborone has more tree cover.
Updated . Lower is better on the US EPA index: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous. Measured by Airleaf.
Gaborone22Maun88
Head to head
Gaborone vs Maun at a glance
Gaborone is ahead on 5 of 5 measures, and Maun on 0. The better figure in each row is marked.
| Gaborone | Maun | |
|---|---|---|
| Air quality nowUS AQI. Lower is better. | 22 (better) | 88 |
| PM2.5Fine particles, µg/m³. | 4.3 (better) | 29.2 |
| Past week's averageUS AQI, 7 days. | 50 (better) | 67 |
| Tree coverWithin 2 km of the center. | 21.4% (better) | 12.9% |
| Trees still neededTo reach a healthy canopy. | 27.0K (better) | 53.7K |
Air quality today
What is the air like in Gaborone and Maun right now?
Gaborone has cleaner air than Maun right now: AQI 22 (Good) against 88 (Moderate). PM2.5 is setting the index in both.
Maun's PM2.5 is about 1.9× the WHO's 24-hour guideline of 15 µg/m³.
Both readings are model estimates, with no ground station close enough to either.
GaboroneMaun
Concentrations at the same moment as the index above, for the pollutants both places report. Lower is better. The dark marks on the PM2.5 and PM10 rows show the WHO's 24-hour guidelines (15 and 45 µg/m³).
Gaborone: Estimate · model corrected with 3 station cities within 250 km, e.g. Rustenburg and Soshanguve. Data: Open-Meteo / CAMS, corrected with 3 ground-station cities within 250 km, US EPA index.
Maun: Model estimate · no ground station nearby. Data: Open-Meteo / CAMS, US EPA index.
The past week
Which had cleaner air over the past 7 days?
Over the past 7 days, on modeled daily averages, Gaborone averaged AQI 50 against 67, and it was the cleaner of the two on 7 of those days. A single reading can catch a city on a bad afternoon; the week says whether it was the weather or the place.
- Cleaner days
- Gaborone7Maun0
- Average AQI
- Gaborone50Maun67
- Worst day, AQI
- Gaborone62Maun81
The daily numbers (7 days)
| Day | Gaborone | Maun |
|---|---|---|
| Nov 4 | 59 | 78 |
| Nov 5 | 58 | 71 |
| Nov 6 | 48 | 64 |
| Nov 7 | 62 | 81 |
| Nov 8 | 60 | 64 |
| Nov 9 | 34 | 57 |
| Nov 10 | 29 | 56 |
Daily averages from the CAMS atmospheric model for both places, so the week compares like with like. They can differ from today's reading at the top of the page wherever that comes from a ground station.
What it means today
Is it safe to go outside in Gaborone and Maun today?
Gaborone (AQI 22, Good): Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
Maun (AQI 88, Moderate): Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion.
Exercise outdoors
- Gaborone
- A good day to be active outside.
- Maun
- Fine for most people; unusually sensitive people should take long or hard exercise easier.
Windows
- Gaborone
- Open them to air the house.
- Maun
- Fine to open; close them if you are sensitive to pollution.
Masks
- Gaborone
- Not needed.
- Maun
- Not needed for most people.
Air purifier
- Gaborone
- Not needed.
- Maun
- Worth running if you are sensitive.
Against everywhere else
How do Gaborone and Maun compare with the rest of the world?
Right now Gaborone's air is cleaner than 87% of the 5,420 places Airleaf tracks, and Maun's is cleaner than 26%. Within Botswana, that is 100% and 0% of its 5 measured places.
Cleaner air than…
- Gaborone
- Beats 87%
- Maun
- Beats 26%
More tree cover than…
- Gaborone
- Beats 50%
- Maun
- Beats 29%
Includes model estimates as well as station readings, so it can differ from our most polluted and cleanest air rankings, which use station readings only.
Satellite timelapses
Watch both change, year by year
A clear satellite photo a year of the land around each city. Press play, turn on the forest cleared since the first year, or drag the before and after.
Gaborone
2017: satellite photo from August 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
Maun
2017: satellite photo from August 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
Trees
Which has more trees, Gaborone or Maun?
Gaborone has more tree cover: 21.4% of the land within 2 km of its center against 12.9% around Maun, or about 67,230 trees against 40,527.
The dark mark is each place's canopy target: 30% of the land, raised where air quality is poor.
| Gaborone | Maun | |
|---|---|---|
| Trees standingEstimated from the canopy area. | 67.2K (better) | 40.5K |
| Trees still neededTo reach the target. Fewer is better. | 27.0K (better) | 53.7K |
| CO₂ absorbed each yearBy the trees already standing. | 1.5M kg (better) | 892K kg |
Tree cover on the satellite image
The same 2 km radius around each center, with the tree cover the satellite found marked on it.
Reading these numbers
How this comparison is made
Air quality index
The US EPA index, computed from current pollutant concentrations: ground stations where a place has them nearby, and the CAMS atmospheric model everywhere else. It moves hour to hour, so it is a snapshot rather than a verdict on either place. The guideline marks are from the WHO's 2021 air quality guidelines.
Trees and forest
Tree cover is the share of ground under canopy within 2 km of each center, read from Sentinel-2 satellite imagery at 10 m detail. It measures that circle, not the whole municipality, which is what makes the two comparable. Forest loss comes from the University of Maryland's Global Forest Change maps.
More on the method on the About Airleaf page.
Frequently asked
Gaborone vs Maun: your questions answered
Is Gaborone cleaner than Maun?
On air quality, yes, right now: Gaborone reads AQI 22 against 88, a gap of 66 points on the US EPA index. This is a live reading rather than an annual average, so it can reverse within a day. Over the past 7 days, on modeled daily averages, Gaborone averaged AQI 50 against 67, and it was the cleaner of the two on 7 of those days.
Is it safe to exercise outdoors in Gaborone and Maun today?
In Gaborone, at AQI 22: Air quality is satisfactory for everyone. In Maun, at AQI 88: Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion.
Which has more trees, Gaborone or Maun?
Gaborone has more tree cover: 21.4% of the land within 2 km of its center against 12.9% around Maun, or about 67,230 trees against 40,527. Both figures describe the same-sized circle of ground around each center, not the whole municipality.
How many more trees do Gaborone and Maun need?
Gaborone needs about 27,018 more to reach its canopy target of 30%, and Maun about 53,721 to reach 30%. The target starts at 30% of the land and rises where air quality is poor.
Are Gaborone and Maun measured the same way?
The method is the same: the US EPA index for air, and Sentinel-2 satellite imagery at 10 m detail over an identical radius for trees. Both readings are model estimates, with no ground station close enough to either. Nothing is adjusted for population, city limits or climate.
How often does the Gaborone vs Maun comparison update?
The air readings refresh about once an hour, and each reading's local time is shown at the top of the page. Tree cover comes from the latest clear satellite image of each area (Oct 25, 2026 and Oct 23, 2026), and the forest figures are published yearly.
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