Namibia — map and facts

About Namibia

Namibia is a sparsely populated country in southwestern Africa, bordering South Africa to the south, Botswana to the east, Zambia and Zimbabwe to the northeast via the narrow Caprivi Strip, and Angola to the north. With a population of approximately 3 million across an area of 824,000 square kilometres, it has one of the lowest population densities in the world. The capital is Windhoek, and English is the official language, although Afrikaans, German, and several indigenous languages including Oshiwambo are widely spoken — reflecting the country's complex colonial past. Namibia gained independence from South African administration on 21 March 1990, after decades of armed struggle led by the South West Africa People's Organisation (SWAPO), which has governed ever since. The economy is based on mining — notably diamonds, uranium, gold, and zinc — as well as tourism and fishing. Namibia has one of the highest levels of income inequality in the world, a legacy of apartheid-era land dispossession.

Geography and Landscape

Namibia's landscape is defined by two great deserts. The Namib Desert, from which the country takes its name, runs the entire length of the Atlantic coastline and is one of the oldest and driest deserts on Earth, characterised by towering orange sand dunes, particularly around Sossusvlei in the Namib-Naukluft National Park, where dunes such as Big Daddy reach over 300 metres. The Kalahari Desert forms the eastern border region. Between the two deserts, a central plateau averages around 1,100 metres elevation. The Orange River forms the southern border with South Africa. The perennial Kunene River defines the northwestern border with Angola. The Etosha Pan, a vast salt flat in northern Namibia, is at the heart of one of Africa's great wildlife reserves. The Fish River Canyon in the south is the second-largest canyon in the world after the Grand Canyon, stretching 160 kilometres in length and dropping 550 metres to the river below. The climate ranges from hyper-arid on the coast to semi-arid in the interior.

History

The San people, one of the world's oldest indigenous groups, have inhabited Namibia for tens of thousands of years. Bantu-speaking Ovambo and Herero peoples arrived from the north from around the 14th century, and Nama-speaking Khoikhoi pastoralists occupied the south. Portuguese sailors explored the coast in the 15th century, and European whalers and traders used the coastline from the 18th century. Germany declared a protectorate over South West Africa in 1884. Between 1904 and 1908, the German colonial administration carried out the genocide of the Herero and Nama peoples, killing approximately 65,000–80,000 people in what historians regard as the first genocide of the 20th century. South African forces seized the territory during World War I in 1915. South Africa subsequently administered the territory under a League of Nations mandate and later illegally extended apartheid laws there despite UN resolutions. SWAPO launched its armed liberation struggle in 1966. After lengthy negotiations, independence was achieved on 21 March 1990. Germany formally acknowledged the genocide in 2021. Sam Nujoma was the founding president, succeeded by Hifikepunye Pohamba and Hage Geingob.