NAMIBIA - AN INTRODUCTION

Geographic Location

The Republic of Namibia is a vast, sparsely populated country situated along the south Atlantic coast of Africa between 17 and 29 degrees south of the Equator.
With its surface area of 824 268 square kilometres, Namibia is the 31st largest country in the world. It stretches for about 1 300 km from south to north and varies from 480 to 930 km in width from west to east.
Namibia, previously known as South West Africa, is bordered by South Africa in the south, Angola and Zambia in the north and Botswana and Zimbabwe in the east.
The oldest desert in the world, the Namib Desert stretches along the whole west coast of the country, while the Kalahari Desert runs along its southeastern border with Botswana.-
The country is demarcated into 13 regions, namely the Caprivi, Kavango, Kunene, Omusati, Ohangwena, Oshana and Oshikoto Regions in the north, the Omaheke, Otjozondjupa, Erongo and Khomas Regions in the central areas and the Hardap and Karas Regions in the south.-

The Capital City

The capital city Windhoek is situated 1 650 metres above sea level in the central highlands of the Khomas Region and has a population of 251 545 (2001 Windhoek Residents' Survey).
Windhoek is a cosmopolitan city with excellent hotels, restaurants, shops, banks and hospital facilities and houses the three branches of government, namely the executive, legislature and judiciary.

Namibia's Climate

The Namibian climate varies from arid and semi-arid to subtropical with the generally temperate desert coast offering sometimes fog-ridden days with temperatures between 5° C and 20°C.
These fog-rides move a few kilometres land inwards, but always disappear at the end of the morning. This system provides all the plants and animals with the much needed fluids.
The central, southern and coastal areas constitute some of the most arid landscapes South of the Sahara.
The hottest months are November and January and February. The average day temperatures varying between 9°C to 30°/40C.
During the colder months that stretch from May to September minimum temperatures can fluctuate between -6°C and +10°C at night to recover to 20°C after 11:00 in the day.
At night it's cold, because there are no clouds to hold the heat of the day.
In general winter days are clear, cloudless and sunny.
During the months of August/September day temperatures can rapidly rise to 30 degrees and even higher!
Overall Namibia is a summer rainfall area, with limited showers occurring from October and building up to peak in January and February.
To summarize: the best time of the year to visit Namibia is between March and August/September.

Namibia's Unique Landscape

Perennial rivers are found only on the country's borders, being the Orange River on the southern border and the Kunene, Okavango, Kwando and Zambesi Rivers on the northern border.

The Namibian landscape varies from vast expanses of desert and sand dunes to rock formations in the south, contrasting starkly to the savannah and woodlands of the central regions and the lush and forested scenery of the northeast.
The Brandberg with a height of 2 579 metres in the southern Kunene Region is Namibia's highest mountain. Other mountains are the Auas Mountain with its 2 479 metres Von Moltkeblick peak, the Gamsberg (2 347 metres), the Erongo Mountain (2 319 metres), the Karas Mountain (2 202 metres), the 1 900 metres Eros Mountain and Brukkaros (1 603 metres), a well known sight between the southern towns of Keetmanshoop and Mariental.
In the south the Fish River Canyon is one of the wonders of Africa. The 161 km long, 27 km wide ravine with a maximum depth of 550 metres is surrounded by high, forbidding cliffs, and is gashed into the plateau with startling abruptness.
The awesome grandeur of the canyon is surpassed only by the Grand Canyon in the United States of America.

The Namib Desert has the highest sand dunes in the world e.g. Dune 7 between Swakopmund and Walvis Bay. The spectacular colours of the dunes at Sossusvlei are almost unbelievable.
The Kalahari Desert, the traditional hunting/gathering grounds of the San (Bushmen) is known for its red sand dunes.

The flat expanse of the Etosha Game Reserve is home to numerous species of wildlife, an experience not te be missed.

Early Evidence of Human Habitation

A wide variety of rock paintings and rock engravings dating from about 29 000 to 1 500 years ago are the most persistent evidence of early human habitation in the area currently known as Namibia.
Although there is some agreement that the first traces of the Bantu-speaking communities appear in the north between 2 000 and 1 500 years ago, it is generally accepted that the Khoisan speaking people, known as San or Bushmen were the first to arrive in the area.

Prior to European Annexation

Prior to European annexation, clans of Nama-speaking tribes calling themselves Orlams moved into Namibia to escape from colonial oppression at the Cape of Good Hope.
These tribes moved into Namibia with guns and mounted soldiers and spread through the south to areas north of present day Windhoek, thus becoming the first conquerors of large parts of Namibia.
The strongest group of the Orlam was the Afrikaner clan under the leadership of Jonker Afrikaner, a man who was to become the dominant figure in the south and centre of the country after his alliance with the Herero chief Tjamuaha.
After the death of the two leaders in 1861 internal dissent amongst the feuding Herero and Nama clans led to continuous warfare between Tjamuaha's successor, Maherero and Jonker Afrikaner's successor, Jan Jonker Afrikaner.

The Beginnings of Namibian Trade

The demands for guns and ammunition, driven by the continuous feuds between the different tribal alliances eventually created a trade between central and southern Namibia and the Cape of Good Hope.
In 1870 a community of mixed race Cape Colony families calling themselves Basters created the Rehoboth Gebied south of Windhoek after a purchase agreement with the Nama and Herero Chiefs.
The increasing trade with the Cape, coupled with the lobbying of the missionaries, eventually aroused the interest of the European powers in the area and ultimately led to its colonisation.

First European Explorers

The first Europeans to set foot in modern day Namibia were the Portuguese explorers Diego Cao who landed at today's Cape Cross in 1486 and Bartholomew Diaz who erected a cross at today's Lüderitz. Further European explorations were kept at bay by the forbidding desert coast until the 18th century.
The discovery of huge amounts of guano on the islands scattered along the Namibian coast around 1840 led to the first European settlement in Namibia at Angra Pequena, today known as Lüderitz. Angra Pequena became a bustling port for ships on the way to Europe from the Cape of Good Hope, but even then the Namib Desert kept the early Europeans from moving inland.

German South West Africa

In 1878 Britain annexed the Walvis Bay enclave and administrative authority was transferred to the Cape Colony in 1884. Also in 1884, at the urging of German trader Adolf Lüderitz, the present day Lüderitz was declared a German protectorate.
By 1886 the boundaries of what was to be known as German South West Africa were confirmed by treaties between Germany and Portugal in 1886 and Britain and Germany in 1890.
Namibia formally became a German colony in 1890 under Kurt von Francois as first governor.
The first anti-colonial war in the country was launched in 1893 when Orlam Chief Hendrik Witbooi and Herero Chief Samuel Maherero started attacking the Germans.
Skirmishes continued until 1907 when the new German governor, Von Lindequist signed a peace treaty with the Namas.
After the discovery of diamonds at Lüderitz in 1908 the Germans strengthened their presence in the country and by 1913 they elected a "whites-only" parliament housed in the Tintenpalast which today again serves as the seat of Parliament.
In 1915 German colonial rule came to an end when troops of the Union of South Africa attacked the territory and annexed the country as enemy property. In 1919 Germany renounced all colonial rights at Versailles

South West Africa

By 1920 the League of Nations nominated the Union of South Africa the holder of a C-class Mandate over the area named South West Africa (SWA).
In 1922 Walvis Bay was transferred to the SWA administration.
In 1925 the South African parliament granted whites in SWA a measure of political autonomy and created the SWA legislative assembly, which lobbied for the incorporation of SWA into South Africa.
With the creation of the United Nations Organisation (UN), the successor to the League of Nations, the international opinion was that SWA should be transferred to the UN, something South Africa disputed until the 1980's.
It is generally accepted that the creation of the South West African Labour Association in 1943 led to the dissent that ultimately resulted in Namibia attaining independence on 21 March 1990.
The South West African Labour Association intended to regulate labour practices in the territory and prevented especially people from the north from permanently settling outside their traditional areas. Although it was mainly the Owambo people who suffered under the contract labour system, the Herero's under Chief Hosea Kutako became the first nucleus of internal activism and resistance. Chief Hosea Kutako, with the support of others, brought the dissent to the United Nations and voiced the opposition of indigenous people to the continued South African mandate and the apartheid policies introduced in the territory by South Africa.
1958 saw the formation of the Ovamboland People's Congress that soon became the South West African People's Party.
The forced relocation of indigenous workers from the Old Location to the present day Katutura led to a short but violent uprising on 10 December 1959.
Thirteen people were killed and 54 wounded when blacks confronted the police on that day.
Shortly after the uprising Sam Nujoma was arrested for his part in the resistance and he went into exile to Botswana in 1960.
Many leaders followed and on 19 April 1960 they formed the South West African People's Organisation with Sam Nujoma as first president in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. In June of 1960 Sam Nujoma, as president of SWAPO, appeared before the UN Committee on SWA.
The judicial struggle to get South Africa's mandate status over South West Africa revoked started in 1961. In 1966 the UN General Assembly adopted resolution 2145 revoking the SA Mandate and in 1968 the territory's name was changed to Namibia.
On 21 June 1971 South Africa's continued presence in Namibia was declared illegal and in 1976 the UN General Assembly recognised SWAPO as the sole and authentic representative of the Namibian people.
The protracted armed struggle for the liberation of Namibia from South African rule started near Ongulumbashe in central Owambo on 26 August 1966 when the first shots were fired between SWAPO's armed wing, the People's Liberation Army of Namibia (PLAN) and the South African Police. The armed struggle escalated tremendously after the Portuguese colonial rule in Angola, Namibia's northern neighbour, collapsed in 1975.
The Angolan government became SWAPO's ally and the country served as a permanent base from which SWAPO could operate against the South African security forces.
In 1978 the Western Contact Group composed of Britain, Canada, France, West Germany and the United States of America submitted a proposal to the United Nations to settle the Namibian dispute. The settlement plan, known as Resolution 435, was accepted by South Africa, Swapo, the Front Line States being Angola, Botswana, Nigeria, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe and most internal parties.

Namibian Independence

Resolution 435 provided for a peaceful transition to independence after free and fair elections for a constituent assembly, under United Nations supervision and control.
In accordance with Resolution 435 South Africa appointed Adv. Louis Pienaar as Administrator General to administer Namibia during the transitional period.
The actual implementation of Resolution 435 only started in 1989 and was overseen by the Special Representative of the Secretary General of the United Nations, Mr. Martti Ahtisaari.
He was assisted by the United Nations Transitional Assistance Group (UNTAG). UNTAG consisted of a military component of 4 426 people, a police component of 1 500 people and a civilian component of 437 people drawn from 109 countries.
The peace plan included the withdrawal of Cuban troops from Angola, the withdrawal of South African troops from Namibia, the demobilisation of Namibian military units, the return of refugees registered with the UN High Commission for Refugees, the release of political prisoners or detainees, the repeal of discriminatory or restrictive laws, the registration of voters and the election of a constituent assembly to draft a constitution for an independent Namibia.
Elections took place in November 1989 and the country finally gained independence on 21 March 1990, after more than 40 years of petitioning to the international community and 20 UN resolutions on Namibia.

Projected Current Population

Namibia's projected current population is 1,8 million and the current growth rate is 3.1 percent. According to the 1991 Population Census the country has a relatively youthful population with 43% of the population under 15 years of age and only 3,6% over 65.
Despite rapid urbanisation, Namibia is still a mainly rural society with fewer than 30% living in urban areas. Regional population densities vary enormously with almost two-thirds of the population living in four of the northern regions and less than one tenth of the population living in the South.

Languages Spoken in Namibia

English is the official language, but Namibia's relatively small population is extraordinarily diverse in language and culture. More than 11 languages are indigenous to Namibia but with its cosmopolitan society, languages from around the world are spoken in Namibia.
People commonly speak two or three languages and more than 50% of the population speak Oshiwambo. Due to the country's colonial history Afrikaans and German, the languages of the previous occupiers, are still widely spoken.
Namibia has a small number of Khoisan speaking people, known as the Bushmen or San.

Indigenous languages are included in the school syllabus at primary level. From secondary level English is the medium of instruction. Among European languages spoken in Namibia are German, Portuguese, Spanish, French, Arabic and Chinese.

Namibian Culture

Namibians are a heterogeneous society of many cultures.
The oldest inhabitants, the San, are great storytellers and love music, mimicry and dance.
The Nama of the south also have a great oral tradition of poetry and prose and a natural talent for music.
Eight Owambo sub-tribes live in Namibia, the largest being the Kwanyama.
The most striking feature of the traditional Owambo social system is that of matrilineal descent.
The Herero are a pastoral cattle-breeding people, whose women wear Victorian-style dresses adapted from the wives of Rhenish missionaries.
The Himba women (of Herero descent) rub their bodies with a mixture of red ochre and fat, wear traditional body ornaments and garments, and have hairstyles that correspond to their age, sex and social status.

The Namibian Constitution

The Constitution of the Republic of Namibia is the fundamental law of the country which recognises the inherent dignity, equal and inalienable human rights of all members of the Namibian society.
It provides for a sovereign, secular, democratic and unitary State founded on the principle of democracy and the rule of law.
Fundamental human rights and freedoms, including freedom of speech and expression are enshrined in the Constitution and it furthermore lays down the division of power between the executive, the legislature and the independent judiciary.

Namibia's Public Holidays Act, Act 26 of 1990, provides for 12 public holidays annually. If a public holiday falls on a Sunday the following Monday will be a public holiday, unless the Monday is already a public Holiday.

Two days, namely 9 February being Constitution Day and 24 October being United Nations Day are observance days in Namibia. Special events are usually organised to observe these days.

Airports and Services

Visitors to Namibia can access the country via its main airport, the Hosea Kutako International Airport, situated 38 km east of the capital city of Windhoek.
The medium-size Eros Airport in the city accommodates smaller aircraft.
Regional flights are also undertaken from the Walvis Bay International Airport.
Several smaller aerodromes give access to various destinations in the 13 regions.
Air Namibia, the National airline, offers domestic, regional and international flights.
South African Airways, Lufthansa, British Airways/Comair and other airlines offer regional and international flights to and from Namibia.
Several air charter companies offer domestic and regional flights.