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Namibia

March 10, 2023

"Namibian" redirects here. For other uses, see Namibian (disambiguation).

Coordinates: 22°S 17°E / 22°S 17°E / -22; 17

Namibia (/nəˈmɪbiə/ (listen), /næˈ-/),[15][16] officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and east. Although it does not border Zimbabwe, less than 200 metres (660 feet) of the Botswanan right bank of the Zambezi River separates the two countries. Namibia gained independence from South Africa on 21 March 1990, following the Namibian War of Independence. Its capital and largest city is Windhoek. Namibia is a member state of the United Nations (UN), the Southern African Development Community (SADC), the African Union (AU) and the Commonwealth of Nations.

Republic of Namibia
Name in national languages
Motto: "Unity, Liberty, Justice"
Anthem: "Namibia, Land of the Brave"
Capital
and largest city
Windhoek
22°34′S 17°5′E / 22.567°S 17.083°E / -22.567; 17.083
Official languagesEnglish
Recognised national languages
Recognised regional languages
Ethnic groups
(2014)
Religion
(2013)[9]
Demonym(s)Namibian
GovernmentUnitary dominant-party semi-presidential republic[10]
• President
Hage Geingob
Nangolo Mbumba
Saara Kuugongelwa
Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah
Peter Shivute
LegislatureParliament
• Upper house
National Council
• Lower house
National Assembly
Independence from South Africa
9 February 1990
• Independence
21 March 1990
Area
• Total
825,615 km2 (318,772 sq mi) (34th)
• Water (%)
negligible
Population
• 2020 estimate
2,550,226 (140th)
• 2011 census
2,113,077[11]
• Density
3.2/km2 (8.3/sq mi) (235th)
GDP (PPP)2022 estimate
• Total
$28.0 billion[12] (147th)
• Per capita
$10,791[12] (117th)
GDP (nominal)2022 estimate
• Total
$12.4billion[12] (147th)
• Per capita
$4,809[12] (115th)
Gini (2015)59.1[13]
high
HDI (2021) 0.615[14]
medium · 139th
CurrencyNamibian dollar
(NAD)
South African rand (ZAR)
Time zoneUTC+2 (CAST)
Date formatdd/mm/yyyy
Driving sideleft
Calling code+264
ISO 3166 codeNA
Internet TLD.na

The driest country in sub-Saharan Africa,[17] Namibia has been inhabited since pre-historic times by the San, Damara and Nama people. Around the 14th century, immigrating Bantu peoples arrived as part of the Bantu expansion. Since then, the Bantu groups, the largest being the Ovambo, have dominated the population of the country; since the late 19th century, they have constituted a majority. Today Namibia is one of the least densely populated countries in the world.

It has a population of 2.55 million people and is a stable multi-party parliamentary democracy. Agriculture, tourism and the mining industry – including mining for gem diamonds, uranium, gold, silver and base metals – form the basis of its economy, while the manufacturing sector is comparatively small.

In 1884, the German Empire established rule over most of the territory, forming a colony known as German South West Africa. Between 1904 and 1908, it perpetrated a genocide against the Herero and Nama people. German rule ended in 1915 with a defeat by South African forces. In 1920, after the end of World War I, the League of Nations mandated administration of the colony to South Africa. As mandatory power, South Africa imposed its laws, including racial classifications and rules. From 1948, with the National Party elected to power, this included South Africa applying apartheid to what was then known as South West Africa. In the later 20th century, uprisings and demands for political representation by native African political activists seeking independence resulted in the UN assuming direct responsibility over the territory in 1966, but the country of South Africa maintained de facto rule. In 1973, the UN recognised the South West Africa People's Organisation (SWAPO) as the official representative of the Namibian people. Following continued guerrilla warfare, Namibia obtained independence in 1990. However, Walvis Bay and the Penguin Islands remained under South African control until 1994.

History

Main article: History of Namibia

Etymology

The name of the country is derived from the Namib desert, the oldest desert in the world.[18] The name Namib itself is of Nama origin and means "vast place". That word for the country was chosen by Mburumba Kerina, who originally proposed the name the "Republic of Namib".[19] Before its independence in 1990, the area was known first as German South-West Africa (Deutsch-Südwestafrika), then as South-West Africa, reflecting the colonial occupation by the Germans and South Africans.

Pre-colonial period

 
San people are Namibia's oldest indigenous inhabitants.

The dry lands of Namibia have been inhabited since prehistoric times by the San, Damara, and Nama. Around the 14th century, immigrating Bantu people began to arrive during the Bantu expansion from central Africa.[20]

From the late 18th century onward, Oorlam people from Cape Colony crossed the Orange River and moved into the area that today is southern Namibia.[21] Their encounters with the nomadic Nama tribes were largely peaceful. They received the missionaries accompanying the Oorlam very well,[22] granting them the right to use waterholes and grazing against an annual payment.[23] On their way further north, however, the Oorlam encountered clans of the OvaHerero at Windhoek, Gobabis, and Okahandja, who resisted their encroachment. The Nama-Herero War broke out in 1880, with hostilities ebbing only after the German Empire deployed troops to the contested places and cemented the status quo among the Nama, Oorlam, and Herero.[24]

In 1878, the Cape of Good Hope, then a British colony, annexed the port of Walvis Bay and the offshore Penguin Islands; these became an integral part of the new Union of South Africa at its creation in 1910.

The first Europeans to disembark and explore the region were the Portuguese navigators Diogo Cão in 1485[25] and Bartolomeu Dias in 1486, but the Portuguese did not try to claim the area. Like most of the interior of Sub-Saharan Africa, Namibia was not extensively explored by Europeans until the 19th century. At that time traders and settlers came principally from Germany and Sweden. In 1870, Finnish missionaries came to the northern part of Namibia to spread the Lutheran religion among the Ovambo and Kavango people.[26] In the late 19th century, Dorsland Trekkers crossed the area on their way from the Transvaal to Angola. Some of them settled in Namibia instead of continuing their journey.

German rule

See also: German South West Africa and Herero and Namaqua genocide
 
German church and monument to colonists in Windhoek, Namibia.
 
 
Hendrik Witbooi (left) and Samuel Maharero (right) were prominent leaders against German colonial rule.

Namibia became a German colony in 1884 under Otto von Bismarck to forestall perceived British encroachment and was known as German South West Africa (Deutsch-Südwestafrika).[27] The Palgrave Commission by the British governor in Cape Town determined that only the natural deep-water harbour of Walvis Bay was worth occupying and thus annexed it to the Cape province of British South Africa.

From 1904 to 1907, the Herero and the Namaqua took up arms against brutal German colonialism. In a calculated punitive action by the German occupiers, government officials ordered the extinction of the natives in the OvaHerero and Namaqua genocide. In what has been called the "first genocide of the 20th century",[28] the Germans systematically killed 10,000 Nama (half the population) and approximately 65,000 Herero (about 80% of the population).[29][30] The survivors, when finally released from detention, were subjected to a policy of dispossession, deportation, forced labour, racial segregation, and discrimination in a system that in many ways foreshadowed the apartheid established by South Africa in 1948.

Most Africans were confined to so-called native territories, which under South African rule after 1949 were turned into "homelands" (Bantustans). Some historians have speculated that the German genocide in Namibia was a model for the Nazis in the Holocaust.[31] The memory of genocide remains relevant to ethnic identity in independent Namibia and to relations with Germany.[32] The German minister for aid development apologised for the Namibian genocide in 2004, however, the German government distanced itself from this apology.[33][34]

South African mandate

See also: South West Africa

During World War I, South African troops under General Louis Botha occupied the territory and deposed the German colonial administration. The end of the war and the Treaty of Versailles resulted in South West Africa remaining a possession of South Africa, at first as a League of Nations mandate, until 1990.[35] The mandate system was formed as a compromise between those who advocated for an Allied annexation of former German and Ottoman territories and a proposition put forward by those who wished to grant them to an international trusteeship until they could govern themselves.[35] It permitted the South African government to administer South West Africa until that territory's inhabitants were prepared for political self-determination.[36] South Africa interpreted the mandate as a veiled annexation and made no attempt to prepare South West Africa for future autonomy.[36]

As a result of the Conference on International Organization in 1945, the League of Nations was formally superseded by the United Nations (UN) and former League mandates by a trusteeship system. Article 77 of the United Nations Charter stated that UN trusteeship "shall apply...to territories now held under mandate"; furthermore, it would "be a matter of subsequent agreement as to which territories in the foregoing territories will be brought under the trusteeship system and under what terms".[37] The UN requested all former League of Nations mandates be surrendered to its Trusteeship Council in anticipation of their independence.[37] South Africa declined to do so and instead requested permission from the UN to formally annex South West Africa, for which it received considerable criticism.[37] When the UN General Assembly rejected this proposal, South Africa dismissed its opinion and began solidifying control of the territory.[37] The UN Generally Assembly and Security Council responded by referring the issue to the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which held a number of discussions on the legality of South African rule between 1949 and 1966.[38]

 
Map depicting the Police Zone (in tan) and tribal homelands (in red) as they existed in 1978. Self-governing tribal homelands appear as tan with red stripes.
 
Foreign Observer identification badge issued during the 1989 Namibian election

South Africa began imposing apartheid, its codified system of racial segregation and discrimination, on South West Africa during the late 1940s.[39] Black South West Africans were subject to pass laws, curfews, and a host of residential regulations that restricted their movement.[39] Development was concentrated in the southern region of the territory adjacent to South Africa, known as the "Police Zone", where most of the major settlements and commercial economic activity were located.[40] Outside the Police Zone, indigenous peoples were restricted to theoretically self-governing tribal homelands.[40]

During the late 1950s and early 1960s, the accelerated decolonisation of Africa and mounting pressure on the remaining colonial powers to grant their colonies self-determination resulted in the formation of nascent nationalist parties in South West Africa.[41] Movements such as the South West African National Union (SWANU) and the South West African People's Organisation advocated for the formal termination of South Africa's mandate and independence for the territory.[41] In 1966, following the ICJ's controversial ruling that it had no legal standing to consider the question of South African rule, SWAPO launched an armed insurgency that escalated into part of a wider regional conflict known as the South African Border War.[42]

Independence

As SWAPO's insurgency intensified, South Africa's case for annexation in the international community continued to decline.[43] The UN declared that South Africa had failed in its obligations to ensure the moral and material well-being of South West Africa's indigenous inhabitants, and had thus disavowed its own mandate.[44] On 12 June 1968, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution proclaiming that, in accordance with the desires of its people, South West Africa be renamed Namibia.[44] United Nations Security Council Resolution 269, adopted in August 1969, declared South Africa's continued occupation of Namibia illegal.[44][45] In recognition of this landmark decision, SWAPO's armed wing was renamed the People's Liberation Army of Namibia (PLAN).[46]

Namibia became one of several flashpoints for Cold War proxy conflicts in southern Africa during the latter years of the PLAN insurgency.[47] The insurgents sought out weapons and sent recruits to the Soviet Union for military training.[48] As the PLAN war effort gained momentum, the Soviet Union and other sympathetic states such as Cuba continued to increase their support, deploying advisers to train the insurgents directly as well as supplying more weapons and ammunition.[49] SWAPO's leadership, dependent on Soviet, Angolan, and Cuban military aid, positioned the movement firmly within the socialist bloc by 1975.[50] This practical alliance reinforced the external perception of SWAPO as a Soviet proxy, which dominated Cold War rhetoric in South Africa and the United States.[40] For its part, the Soviet Union supported SWAPO partly because it viewed South Africa as a regional Western ally.[51]

 
South African troops patrol the border region for PLAN insurgents, 1980s.

Growing war weariness and the reduction of tensions between the superpowers compelled South Africa, Angola, and Cuba to accede to the Tripartite Accord, under pressure from both the Soviet Union and the United States.[52] South Africa accepted Namibian independence in exchange for Cuban military withdrawal from the region and an Angolan commitment to cease all aid to PLAN.[53] PLAN and South Africa adopted an informal ceasefire in August 1988, and a United Nations Transition Assistance Group (UNTAG) was formed to monitor the Namibian peace process and supervise the return of refugees.[54] The ceasefire was broken after PLAN made a final incursion into the territory, possibly as a result of misunderstanding UNTAG's directives, in March 1989.[55] A new ceasefire was later imposed with the condition that the insurgents were to be confined to their external bases in Angola until they could be disarmed and demobilised by UNTAG.[54][56]

By the end of the 11-month transition period, the last South African troops had been withdrawn from Namibia, all political prisoners granted amnesty, racially discriminatory legislation repealed, and 42,000 Namibian refugees returned to their homes.[50] Just over 97% of eligible voters participated in the country's first parliamentary elections held under a universal franchise.[57] The United Nations plan included oversight by foreign election observers in an effort to ensure a free and fair election. SWAPO won a plurality of seats in the Constituent Assembly with 57% of the popular vote.[57] This gave the party 41 seats, but not a two-thirds majority, which would have enabled it to draft the constitution on its own.[57]

The Namibian Constitution was adopted in February 1990. It incorporated protection for human rights and compensation for state expropriations of private property and established an independent judiciary, legislature, and an executive presidency (the constituent assembly became the national assembly). The country officially became independent on 21 March 1990.[58][26] Sam Nujoma was sworn in as the first President of Namibia at a ceremony attended by Nelson Mandela of South Africa (who had been released from prison the previous month) and representatives from 147 countries, including 20 heads of state.[59] In 1994, following the first multiracial elections in South Africa, that country ceded Walvis Bay to Namibia.[60]

After independence

Since independence Namibia has completed the transition from white minority apartheid rule to parliamentary democracy. Multiparty democracy was introduced and has been maintained, with local, regional and national elections held regularly. Several registered political parties are active and represented in the National Assembly, although the SWAPO has won every election since independence.[61] The transition from the 15-year rule of President Nujoma to his successor Hifikepunye Pohamba in 2005 went smoothly.[62]

Since independence, the Namibian government has promoted a policy of national reconciliation. It issued an amnesty for those who fought on either side during the liberation war. The civil war in Angola spilled over and adversely affected Namibians living in the north of the country. In 1998, Namibia Defence Force (NDF) troops were sent to the Democratic Republic of the Congo as part of a Southern African Development Community (SADC) contingent.

In 1999, the national government quashed a secessionist attempt in the northeastern Caprivi Strip.[62] The Caprivi conflict was initiated by the Caprivi Liberation Army (CLA), a rebel group led by Mishake Muyongo. It wanted the Caprivi Strip to secede and form its own society.

In December 2014, Prime Minister Hage Geingob, the candidate of ruling SWAPO, won the presidential elections, taking 87% of the vote. His predecessor, President Hifikepunye Pohamba, also of SWAPO, had served the maximum two terms allowed by the constitution.[63] In December 2019, President Hage Geingob was re-elected for a second term, taking 56.3% of the vote.[64]

Geography

Main article: Geography of Namibia
 
Sand dunes in the Namib, Namibia
 
Shaded relief map of Namibia
 
Köppen climate types of Namibia

At 825,615 km2 (318,772 sq mi),[65] Namibia is the world's thirty-fourth largest country (after Venezuela). It lies mostly between latitudes 17° and 29°S (a small area is north of 17°), and longitudes 11° and 26°E.

Being situated between the Namib and the Kalahari deserts, Namibia has the least rainfall of any country in sub-Saharan Africa.[66]

The Namibian landscape consists generally of five geographical areas, each with characteristic abiotic conditions and vegetation, with some variation within and overlap between them: the Central Plateau, the Namib, the Great Escarpment, the Bushveld, and the Kalahari Desert.

The Central Plateau runs from north to south, bordered by the Skeleton Coast to the northwest, the Namib Desert and its coastal plains to the southwest, the Orange River to the south, and the Kalahari Desert to the east. The Central Plateau is home to the highest point in Namibia at Königstein elevation 2,606 metres (8,550 ft).[67]

The Namib is a broad expanse of hyper-arid gravel plains and dunes that stretches along Namibia's entire coastline. It varies between 100 and 200 kilometres (60 and 120 mi) in width. Areas within the Namib include the Skeleton Coast and the Kaokoveld in the north and the extensive Namib Sand Sea along the central coast.[18]

The Great Escarpment swiftly rises to over 2,000 metres (7,000 ft). Average temperatures and temperature ranges increase further inland from the cold Atlantic waters, while the lingering coastal fogs slowly diminish. Although the area is rocky with poorly developed soils, it is significantly more productive than the Namib Desert. As summer winds are forced over the Escarpment, moisture is extracted as precipitation.[68]

The Bushveld is found in north-eastern Namibia along the Angolan border and in the Caprivi Strip. The area receives a significantly greater amount of precipitation than the rest of the country, averaging around 400 mm (16 in) per year. The area is generally flat and the soils sandy, limiting their ability to retain water and support agriculture.[69]

The Kalahari Desert, an arid region that extends into South Africa and Botswana, is one of Namibia's well-known geographical features. The Kalahari, while popularly known as a desert, has a variety of localised environments, including some verdant and technically non-desert areas. The Succulent Karoo is home to over 5,000 species of plants, nearly half of them endemic; approximately 10 percent of the world's succulents are found in the Karoo.[70][71] The reason behind this high productivity and endemism may be the relatively stable nature of precipitation.[72]

Namibia's Coastal Desert is one of the oldest deserts in the world. Its sand dunes, created by the strong onshore winds, are the highest in the world.[73] Because of the location of the shoreline, at the point where the Atlantic's cold water reaches Africa's hot climate, often extremely dense fog forms along the coast.[74] Near the coast there are areas where the dune-hummocks are vegetated.[75] Namibia has rich coastal and marine resources that remain largely unexplored.[76]

The Caprivi Strip extends east from the northeastern corner of the country.

Climate

 
Namibia is primarily a large desert and semi-desert plateau.

Namibia extends from 17°S to 25°S latitude: climatically the range of the sub-Tropical High Pressure Belt. Its overall climate description is arid, descending from the Sub-Humid [mean rain above 500 mm (20 in)] through Semi-Arid [between 300 and 500 mm (12 and 20 in)] (embracing most of the waterless Kalahari) and Arid [from 150 to 300 mm (6 to 12 in)] (these three regions are inland from the western escarpment) to the Hyper-Arid coastal plain [less than 100 mm (4 in)]. Temperature maxima are limited by the overall elevation of the entire region: only in the far south, Warmbad for instance, are maxima above 40 °C (104 °F) recorded.[77]

Typically the sub-Tropical High Pressure Belt, with frequent clear skies, provides more than 300 days of sunshine per year. It is situated at the southern edge of the tropics; the Tropic of Capricorn cuts the country about in half. The winter (June – August) is generally dry. Both rainy seasons occur in summer: the small rainy season between September and November, the big one between February and April.[78] Humidity is low, and average rainfall varies from almost zero in the coastal desert to more than 600 mm (24 in) in the Caprivi Strip. Rainfall is highly variable, and droughts are common.[79] In the summer of 2006/07 the rainfall was recorded far below the annual average.[80] In May 2019, Namibia declared a state of emergency in response to the drought,[81] and extended it by additional 6 months in October 2019.[82]

Weather and climate in the coastal area are dominated by the cold, north-flowing Benguela Current of the Atlantic Ocean, which accounts for very low precipitation (50 mm (2 in) per year or less), frequent dense fog, and overall lower temperatures than in the rest of the country.[79] In Winter, occasionally a condition known as Bergwind (German for "mountain wind") or Oosweer (Afrikaans for "east weather") occurs, a hot dry wind blowing from the inland to the coast. As the area behind the coast is a desert, these winds can develop into sand storms, leaving sand deposits in the Atlantic Ocean that are visible on satellite images.[83]

The Central Plateau and Kalahari areas have wide diurnal temperature ranges of up to 30C (54F).[79]

Efundja, the annual seasonal flooding of the northern parts of the country, often causes not only damage to infrastructure but loss of life.[84] The rains that cause these floods originate in Angola, flow into Namibia's Cuvelai-Etosha Basin, and fill the oshanas (Oshiwambo: flood plains) there. The worst floods so far occurred in March 2011 and displaced 21,000 people.[85]

Water sources

Main article: Water supply and sanitation in Namibia

Namibia is the driest country in sub-Saharan Africa and depends largely on groundwater. With an average rainfall of about 350 mm (14 in) per annum, the highest rainfall occurs in the Caprivi Strip in the northeast (about 600 mm (24 in) per annum) and decreases in a westerly and southwesterly direction to as little as 50 mm (2 in) and less per annum at the coast. The only perennial rivers are found on the national borders with South Africa, Angola, Zambia, and the short border with Botswana in the Caprivi Strip. In the interior of the country, surface water is available only in the summer months when rivers are in flood after exceptional rainfalls. Otherwise, surface water is restricted to a few large storage dams retaining and damming up these seasonal floods and their run-off. Where people do not live near perennial rivers or make use of the storage dams, they are dependent on groundwater. Even isolated communities and those economic activities located far from good surface water sources, such as mining, agriculture, and tourism, can be supplied from groundwater over nearly 80% of the country.[86]

More than 100,000 boreholes have been drilled in Namibia over the past century. One third of these boreholes have been drilled dry.[87] An aquifer called Ohangwena II, on both sides of the Angola-Namibia border, was discovered in 2012. It has been estimated to be capable of supplying a population of 800,000 people in the North for 400 years, at the current (2018) rate of consumption.[88] Experts estimate that Namibia has 7,720 km3 (1,850 cu mi) of underground water.[89][90]

Communal Wildlife Conservancies

 
Quivertree Forest, Bushveld
Main article: Communal Wildlife Conservancies in Namibia

Namibia is one of few countries in the world to specifically address conservation and protection of natural resources in its constitution.[91] Article 95 states, "The State shall actively promote and maintain the welfare of the people by adopting international policies aimed at the following: maintenance of ecosystems, essential ecological processes, and biological diversity of Namibia, and utilisation of living natural resources on a sustainable basis for the benefit of all Namibians, both present and future."[91]

In 1993, Namibia's newly formed government received funding from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) through its Living in a Finite Environment (LIFE) Project.[92] The Ministry of Environment and Tourism, with financial support from organisations such as USAID, Endangered Wildlife Trust, WWF, and Canadian Ambassador's Fund, together form a Community-Based Natural Resource Management (CBNRM) support structure. The project's main goal is to promote sustainable natural resource management by giving local communities rights to wildlife management and tourism.[93]

Government and politics

 
Tintenpalast, the centre of Namibia's government
Main articles: Politics of Namibia and Elections in Namibia

Namibia is a unitary semi-presidential representative democratic republic.[10] The President of Namibia is elected to a five-year term and is both the head of state and the head of government.[94] All members of the government are individually and collectively responsible to the legislature.[95][96]

The Constitution of Namibia outlines the following as the organs of the country's government:[97]

While the constitution envisaged a multi-party system for Namibia's government, the SWAPO party has been dominant since independence in 1990.[99]

Foreign relations

Main article: Foreign relations of Namibia

Namibia has a largely independent foreign policy, with persisting affiliations with states that aided the independence struggle, including Cuba. With a small army and a fragile economy, the Namibian government's principal foreign policy concern is developing strengthened ties within the Southern African region. A dynamic member of the Southern African Development Community, Namibia is a vocal advocate for greater regional integration. It became the 160th member of the UN on 23 April 1990. On its independence it became the 50th member of the Commonwealth of Nations.[100]

Military

Main article: Namibian Defence Force

In early 2020, The Global Firepower Index (GFP) reported that Namibia's military is ranked as one of the weakest in the world, at 126th out of 137 countries. Among 34 African countries, Namibia is also poorly ranked at the 28th position.[101] Despite this, government spending for the Ministry of Defence stood at N$5,885 million (a 1.2% decrease from the previous financial year).[102] With close to 6 billion Namibian dollars (US$411 million in 2021) the Ministry of Defence receives the fourth highest amount of money from Government per ministry.

Namibia does not have any enemies in the region, though it has been involved in various disputes regarding borders and construction plans.[103]

The Namibian constitution defines the role of the military as "defending the territory and national interests." Namibia formed the Namibian Defence Force (NDF), comprising former enemies in a 23-year bush war: the People's Liberation Army of Namibia (PLAN) and South West African Territorial Force (SWATF). The British formulated the plan for integrating these forces and began training the NDF, which consists of a small headquarters and five battalions.

The United Nations Transitional Assistance Group (UNTAG)'s Kenyan infantry battalion remained in Namibia for three months after independence to help train the NDF and to stabilise the north. According to the Namibian Defence Ministry, enlistments of both men and women will number no more than 7,500.

The chief of the Namibian Defence Force is Air Vice Marshal Martin Kambulu Pinehas (with effect from 1 April 2020).

In 2017, Namibia signed the UN treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.[104]

Administrative divisions

Main article: Administrative divisions of Namibia

Namibia is divided into 14 regions which are subdivided into 121 constituencies. The administrative division of Namibia is tabled by Delimitation Commissions and accepted or declined by the National Assembly. Since state foundation four Delimitation Commissions have delivered their work, the last one in 2013 under the chairmanship of Judge Alfred Siboleka.[105]

Regional councillors are directly elected through secret ballots (regional elections) by the inhabitants of their constituencies.[106]

Local authorities in Namibia can be in the form of municipalities (either Part 1 or Part 2 municipalities), town councils or villages.[107]

Human rights

Main article: Human rights in Namibia

Namibia is considered one of the most free and democratic countries in Africa,[108] with a government that maintains and protects basic human rights and freedoms. However, significant issues include - Government Corruption and Prison Overcrowding. Also, refugees are not permitted free movement.[109]

The law is not enforced,[110] but homosexual acts are illegal in Namibia.[111] Discrimination, as well as intolerance, against LGBT people is widespread.[112] Some Namibian government officials and high-profile figures, such as Namibia's Ombudsman John Walters and First Lady Monica Geingos, have called for sodomy and homosexuality to be decriminalised and are in favour of LGBT rights.[110][113]

In November 2018, it was reported that 32% of women aged 15–49 have experienced violence and domestic abuse from their spouses/partners and 29.5% of men believe that physical abuse towards their wife/partner is acceptable.[114] The Namibian constitution guarantees the rights, freedoms and equal treatment of women in Namibia[115] and SWAPO, the ruling party in Namibia, has adopted a "zebra system", which ensures a fair balance of both genders in government and equal representation of women in the Namibian government.[116][109]

Economy

Main article: Economy of Namibia
 
Historical GDP per capita development in southern African countries, since 1950
 
Downtown Windhoek

Namibia's economy is tied closely to South Africa's due to their shared history.[117][118] The largest economic sectors are mining (10.4% of the gross domestic product in 2009), agriculture (5.0%), manufacturing (13.5%), and tourism (14.5%).[119]

Namibia has a highly developed banking sector with modern infrastructures, such as online banking and cellphone banking. The Bank of Namibia (BoN) is the central bank of Namibia responsible for performing all other functions ordinarily performed by a central bank. There are five BoN authorised commercial banks in Namibia: Bank Windhoek, First National Bank, Nedbank, Standard Bank and Small and Medium Enterprises Bank.[120] Namibia's economy is characterised by a divide between the formal and the informal economies, which is in part aggravated by the legacy of apartheid spatial planning.[121]

According to the Namibia Labour Force Survey Report 2012, conducted by the Namibia Statistics Agency, the country's unemployment rate is 27.4%.[122] "Strict unemployment" (people actively seeking a full-time job) stood at 20.2% in 2000, 21.9% in 2004 and spiralled to 29.4% in 2008. Under a broader definition (including people who have given up searching for employment) unemployment rose to 36.7% in 2004. This estimate considers people in the informal economy as employed. Labour and Social Welfare Minister Immanuel Ngatjizeko praised the 2008 study as "by far superior in scope and quality to any that has been available previously",[123] but its methodology has also received criticism.[124]

In 2004 a labour act was passed to protect people from job discrimination stemming from pregnancy and HIV/AIDS status. In early 2010 the Government tender board announced that "henceforth 100 per cent of all unskilled and semi-skilled labour must be sourced, without exception, from within Namibia".[125]

In 2013, global business and financial news provider, Bloomberg, named Namibia the top emerging market economy in Africa and the 13th best in the world. Only four African countries made the Top 20 Emerging Markets list in the March 2013 issue of Bloomberg Markets magazine, and Namibia was rated ahead of Morocco (19th), South Africa (15th), and Zambia (14th). Worldwide, Namibia also fared better than Hungary, Brazil, and Mexico. Bloomberg Markets magazine ranked the top 20 based on more than a dozen criteria. The data came from Bloomberg's own financial-market statistics, IMF forecasts and the World Bank. The countries were also rated on areas of particular interest to foreign investors: the ease of doing business, the perceived level of corruption and economic freedom. To attract foreign investment, the government has made improvement in reducing red tape resulted from excessive government regulations, making Namibia one of the least bureaucratic places to do business in the region. Facilitation payments are occasionally demanded by customs due to cumbersome and costly customs procedures.[126] Namibia is also classified as an Upper Middle Income country by the World Bank, and ranks 87th out of 185 economies in terms of ease of doing business.[127]

The cost of living in Namibia is relatively high because most goods, including cereals, need to be imported. Its capital city, Windhoek, is the 150th most expensive place in the world for expatriates to live.[128]

Taxation in Namibia includes personal income tax, which is applicable to the total taxable income of an individual. All individuals are taxed at progressive marginal rates over a series of income brackets. The value-added tax (VAT) is applicable to most of the commodities and services.[129]

 
The B2 between Swakopmund and Walvis Bay, Namibia

Despite the remote nature of much of the country, Namibia has seaports, airports, highways, and railways (narrow-gauge). It seeks to become a regional transportation hub; it has an important seaport and several landlocked neighbours. The Central Plateau already serves as a transportation corridor from the more densely populated north to South Africa, the source of four-fifths of Namibia's imports.[130]

Income disparity

Namibia is a country with a substantial income disparity. The data indicates that the current income share held by the highest 10% is approximately 51.8%. An additional figure describes the poverty gap: people living on US$2 or less in the country are approximately 17.72% of the population.[citation needed]

Agriculture

Main article: Agriculture in Namibia
 
Welcoming sign of the Burgsdorf farm in Hardap

About half of the population depends on agriculture (largely subsistence agriculture) for its livelihood, but Namibia must still import some of its food. Although per capita GDP is five times the per capita GDP of Africa's poorest countries, the majority of Namibia's people live in rural areas and have a subsistence way of life. Namibia has one of the highest rates of income inequality in the world, due in part to the fact that there is an urban economy and a more rural cashless economy. The inequality figures thus take into account people who do not actually rely on the formal economy for their survival. Although arable land accounts for <1% of Namibia, (about .97%), nearly half of the population is employed in agriculture.[130]

About 4,000 commercial farmers own almost half of Namibia's arable land.[131] The United Kingdom offered about $180,000 in 2004 to help finance Namibia's land reform process, as Namibia plans to start expropriating land from white farmers to resettle landless black Namibians.[132] Germany has offered €1.1bn in 2021 over 30 years in reparations for the genocides in the early 20th century but the money will go towards infrastructure, healthcare and training programmes not land reform.[133]

An agreement has been reached on the privatisation of several more enterprises in coming years, with hopes that this will stimulate much needed foreign investment, but reinvestment of environmentally derived capital has hobbled Namibian per capita income.[134] One of the fastest growing areas of economic development in Namibia is the growth of wildlife conservancies. These are particularly important to the rural, generally unemployed, population.

Mining and electricity

Main article: Mining in Namibia

Providing 25% of Namibia's revenue, mining is the single most important contributor to the economy.[135] Namibia is the fourth largest exporter of non-fuel minerals in Africa and was the world's fourth largest producer of uranium. There have been significant investment in uranium mining and Namibia planned to become the largest exporter of uranium by 2015.[136] However, as of 2019 Namibia continued to produce 750 tons of uranium annually making it a smaller than average exporter in the competitive world market.[137] Rich alluvial diamond deposits make Namibia a primary source for gem-quality diamonds.[138] While Namibia is known predominantly for its gem diamond and uranium deposits, a number of other minerals are extracted industrially such as lead, tungsten, gold, tin, fluorspar, manganese, marble, copper and zinc. There are offshore gas deposits in the Atlantic Ocean that are planned to be extracted in the future.[119] According to "The Diamond Investigation", a book about the global diamond market, from 1978, De Beers, the largest diamond company, bought most of the Namibian diamonds, and would continue to do so, because "whatever government eventually comes to power they will need this revenue to survive".[139]

Domestic supply voltage is 220 V AC. Electricity is generated mainly by thermal and hydroelectric power plants. Non-conventional methods of electricity generation also play some role. Encouraged by the rich uranium deposits, in 2010 the Namibian government planned to erect its first nuclear power station by 2018. Uranium enrichment was also envisaged to take place locally.[140]

Diamonds

Although much of the world's diamond supply comes from what have been called African blood diamonds, Namibia has managed to develop a diamond mining industry largely free of the kinds of conflict, extortion, and murder that have plagued many other African nations with diamond mines. This has been attributed to political dynamics, economic institutions, grievances, political geography, and the effects of neighbourhoods, and is the result of a joint agreement between the government and De Beers that has led to a taxable base, strengthening state institutions.[141]

Oil and natural gas

Estimates updated in 2022 suggest that two exploration wells in the offshore Orange Basin could hold 2 and 3 billion barrels of oil, respectively. The expected revenue could transform Namibia's domestic economy and facilitate sustainable development goals.[142]

Tourism

Main article: Tourism in Namibia
 
An example of Namibian wildlife, the plains zebra, is one focus of tourism.

Tourism is a major contributor (14.5%) to Namibia's GDP, creating tens of thousands of jobs (18.2% of all employment) directly or indirectly and servicing over a million tourists per year.[143] The country is a prime destination in Africa and is known for ecotourism, which features Namibia's extensive wildlife.[144]

There are many lodges and reserves to accommodate ecotourists. Sport and trophy hunting is also a large and growing component of the Namibian economy, accounting for 14% of total tourism in the year 2000, or 19.6 million U.S. dollars, with Namibia boasting numerous species sought after by international sport hunters.[145]

In addition, extreme sports such as sandboarding, skydiving and 4x4ing have become popular, and many cities have companies that provide tours.[citation needed] The most visited places include the capital city of Windhoek, Caprivi Strip, Fish River Canyon, Sossusvlei, the Skeleton Coast Park, Sesriem, Etosha Pan and the coastal towns of Swakopmund, Walvis Bay and Lüderitz.[146]

Windhoek plays a very important role in Namibia's tourism due to its central location and close proximity to Hosea Kutako International Airport. According to The Namibia Tourism Exit Survey, which was produced by the Millennium Challenge Corporation for the Namibian Directorate of Tourism, 56% of all tourists visiting Namibia in 2012–13 visited Windhoek.[147] Many of Namibia's tourism related parastatals and governing bodies such as Namibia Wildlife Resorts and the Namibia Tourism Board as well as Namibia's tourism-related trade associations such as the Hospitality Association of Namibia are headquartered in Windhoek.[148] There are also a number of notable hotels in Windhoek, such as Windhoek Country Club Resort, and some international hotel chains, such as Hilton Hotels and Resorts.

Namibia's primary tourism related governing body, the Namibia Tourism Board (NTB), was established by an Act of Parliament: the Namibia Tourism Board Act, 2000 (Act 21 of 2000). Its primary objectives are to regulate the tourism industry and to market Namibia as a tourist destination.[149] There are also a number of trade associations that represent the tourism sector in Namibia, such as the Federation of Namibia Tourism Associations (the umbrella body for all tourism associations in Namibia), the Hospitality Association of Namibia, the Association of Namibian Travel Agents, Car Rental Association of Namibia and the Tour and Safari Association of Namibia.[150]

Water supply and sanitation

Main article: Water supply and sanitation in Namibia

The only bulk water supplier in Namibia is NamWater, which sells it to the respective municipalities which in turn deliver it through their reticulation networks.[151] In rural areas, the Directorate of Rural Water Supply in the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Forestry is in charge of drinking water supply.[151]

The UN evaluated in 2011 that Namibia has improved its water access network significantly since independence in 1990. A large part of the population can not, however, make use of these resources due to the prohibitively high consumption cost and the long distance between residences and water points in rural areas.[151] As a result, many Namibians prefer the traditional wells over the available water points far away.[152]

Compared to the efforts made to improve access to safe water, Namibia is lagging behind in the provision of adequate sanitation.[153] This includes 298 schools that have no toilet facilities.[154] Over 50% of child deaths are related to lack of water, sanitation, or hygiene; 23% are due to diarrhoea alone. The UN has identified a "sanitation crisis" in the country.[152]

Apart from residences for upper and middle class households, sanitation is insufficient in most residential areas. Private flush toilets are too expensive for virtually all residents in townships due to their water consumption and installation cost. As a result, access to improved sanitation has not increased much since independence: in Namibia's rural areas 13% of the population had more than basic sanitation, up from 8% in 1990. Many of Namibia's inhabitants have to resort to "flying toilets", plastic bags to defecate into, which after use are flung into the bush.[155] The use of open areas close to residential land for urination and defecation is very common[156] and has been identified as a major health hazard.[154]

Demographics

Main article: Demographics of Namibia
 
Population density in Namibia by regions (census 2011)

Namibia has the second-lowest population density of any sovereign country, after Mongolia.[157] In 2017 there were on average 3.08 people per km2.[158] The total fertility rate in 2015 was 3.47 children per woman according to the UN.

Ethnic groups

The majority of the Namibian population is of Bantu-speaking origin—mostly of the Ovambo ethnicity, which forms about half of the population—residing mainly in the north of the country, although many are now resident in towns throughout Namibia. Other ethnic groups are the Herero and Himba people, who speak the related Herero language, and the Damara, who, like the Nama, speak Khoekhoe.

In addition to the Bantu majority, there are large groups of Khoisan (such as Nama and San), who are descendants of the original inhabitants of Southern Africa. The country also contains some descendants of refugees from Angola. There are also two smaller groups of people with mixed racial origins, called "Coloureds" and "Basters", who together make up 8.0% (with the Coloureds outnumbering the Basters two to one). There is a substantial Chinese minority in Namibia; it stood at 40,000 in 2006.[159]

 
Himba people in northern Namibia

Whites (being mainly of Afrikaner, German, British and Portuguese origin) make up between 4.0 and 7.0% of the population. Although their proportion of the population decreased after independence due to emigration and lower birth rates, they still form the second-largest population of European ancestry, both in terms of percentage and actual numbers, in Sub-Saharan Africa (after South Africa).[160] The majority of Namibian whites and nearly all those who are of mixed race speak Afrikaans and share similar origins, culture, and religion as the white and coloured populations of South Africa. A large minority of whites (around 30,000) trace their family origins back to the German settlers who colonised Namibia prior to the South African invasion during the First World War, and they maintain German cultural and educational institutions. Nearly all Portuguese settlers came to the country from the former Portuguese colony of Angola.[161] The 1960 census reported 526,004 persons in what was then South West Africa, including 73,464 whites (14%).[162]

 
Afrikaner children in Namibia

Censuses

Namibia conducts a census every ten years. After independence the first Population and Housing Census was carried out in 1991; further rounds followed in 2001 and 2011.[163] The data collection method is to count every person resident in Namibia on the census reference night, wherever they happen to be. This is called the de facto method.[164] For enumeration purposes the country is demarcated into 4,042 enumeration areas. These areas do not overlap with constituency boundaries to get reliable data for election purposes as well.[165]

The 2011 Population and Housing Census counted 2,113,077 inhabitants. Between 2001 and 2011 the annual population growth was 1.4%, down from 2.6% in the previous ten-year period.[166]

Urban settlements

Main article: List of cities and towns in Namibia

Namibia has 13 cities, governed by municipalities and 26 towns, governed by town councils.[167][168] The capital Windhoek is by far the largest urban settlement in Namibia.

 
 
Largest cities or towns in Namibia
According to the 2011 Census[169]
Rank Name Region Pop.
 
Windhoek
 
Rundu 		1 Windhoek Khomas 325,858  
Walvis Bay
 
Swakopmund
2 Rundu Kavango 63,431
3 Walvis Bay Erongo 62,096
4 Swakopmund Erongo 44,725
5 Oshakati Oshana 36,541
6 Rehoboth Hardap 28,843
7 Katima Mulilo Zambezi 28,362
8 Otjiwarongo Otjozondjupa 28,249
9 Ondangwa Oshana 22,822
10 Okahandja Otjozondjupa 22,639

Religion

Main article: Religion in Namibia
 
Lutheran church in Swakopmund

The Christian community makes up 80%–90% of the population of Namibia, with at least 75% being Protestant, of which at least 50% are Lutheran. Lutherans are the largest religious group, a legacy of the German and Finnish missionary work during the country's colonial times.[26] 10%–20% of the population hold indigenous beliefs.[160]

Missionary activities during the second half of the 19th century resulted in many Namibians converting to Christianity. Today most Christians are Lutheran, but there also are Roman Catholic, Methodist, Anglican, African Methodist Episcopal, Dutch Reformed, Latter-day Saints and Jehovah's Witnesses.

Islam in Namibia is subscribed to by about 9,000 people,[170] many of them Nama.[171] Namibia is home to a small Jewish community of about 100 people.[172]

Languages

Main article: Languages of Namibia
Languages in Namibia
Languages percent
Oshiwambo
 
 48.9%
Khoekhoegowab
 
 11.3%
Afrikaans
 
 10.4%
Otjiherero
 
 8.6%
RuKwangali
 
 8.5%
siLozi
 
 4.8%
English
 
 3.4%
German
 
 0.9%
San
 
 0.8%
Setswana
 
 0.3%
Other African
 
 1.2%
Other European
 
 0.7%
Asian
 
 0.1%

Up to 1990, English, German, and Afrikaans were official languages. Long before Namibia's independence from South Africa, SWAPO was of the opinion that the country should become officially monolingual, choosing this approach in contrast to that of its neighbour South Africa (which granted all 11 of its major languages official status), which it saw as "a deliberate policy of ethnolinguistic fragmentation."[173] Consequently, SWAPO instituted English as Namibia's sole official language, though only about 3% of the population speaks it as a home language. Its implementation is focused on the civil service, education and the broadcasting system, especially the state broadcaster NBC.[174] Some other languages have received semi-official recognition by being allowed as medium of instruction in primary schools. Private schools are expected to follow the same policy as state schools, and "English language" is a compulsory subject.[174] Some critics argue that, as in other postcolonial African societies, the push for monolingual instruction and policy has resulted in a high rate of school drop-outs and of individuals whose academic competence in any language is low.[175]

According to the 2011 census, the most common languages are Oshiwambo (the most spoken language for 49% of households),[176] Khoekhoegowab (11.3%), Afrikaans (10.4%), RuKwangali (9%), and Otjiherero (9%).[166][177] The most widely understood national language is Afrikaans, the country's lingua franca. Both Afrikaans and English are used primarily as a second language reserved for public communication. A complete list of languages according to the 2011 census is 48.9% Oshiwambo, 11.3% Khoekhoegowab, 10.4% Afrikaans, 8.6% Otjiherero, 8.5% RuKwangali, 4.8% siLozi, 3.4% English, 1.2% Other African languages, 0.9% German, 0.8% San, 0.7% Other European languages, 0.3% Setswana, and 0.1% Asian languages.[178]

Most of the white population speaks either Afrikaans or German. More than a century after the end of the German colonial era, German continues to play a role as a commercial language. Afrikaans is spoken by 60% of the white community, German by 32%, English by 7% and Portuguese by 4–5%.[160] Geographical proximity to Portuguese-speaking Angola explains the relatively high number of Portuguese speakers; in 2011 these were estimated to number 100,000.[179]

Health

Main article: Health in Namibia
See also: HIV/AIDS in Namibia

Life expectancy at birth is estimated to be 64 years in 2017 – among the lowest in the world.[180]

Namibia launched a National Health Extension Programme in 2012[181] deployment 1,800 (2015) of a total ceiling of 4,800 health extension workers trained for six months in community health activities including first aid, health promotion for disease prevention, nutritional assessment and counseling, water sanitation and hygiene practices, HIV testing and community-based antiretroviral treatment.[182]

Namibia faces a non-communicable disease burden. The Demographic and Health Survey (2013) summarises findings on elevated blood pressure, hypertension, diabetes, and obesity:

  • Among eligible respondents age 35–64, more than 4 in 10 women (44 percent) and men (45 percent) have elevated blood pressure or are currently taking medicine to lower their blood pressure.
  • Forty-nine percent of women and 61 percent of men are not aware that they have elevated blood pressure.
  • Forty-three percent of women and 34 percent of men with hypertension are taking medication for their condition.
  • Only 29 percent of women and 20 percent of men with hypertension are taking medication and have their blood pressure under control.
  • Six percent of women and 7 percent of men are diabetic; that is, they have elevated fasting plasma glucose values or report that they are taking diabetes medication. An additional 7 percent of women and 6 percent of men are prediabetic.
  • Sixty-seven percent of women and 74 percent of men with diabetes are taking medication to lower their blood glucose.
  • Women and men with a higher-than-normal body mass index (25.0 or higher) are more likely to have elevated blood pressure and elevated fasting blood glucose.[183]
 
Estimated percentage of HIV among young adults (15–49) per country as of 2011.[184]

The HIV epidemic remains a public health issue in Namibia despite significant achievements made by the Ministry of Health and Social Services to expand HIV treatment services.[185] In 2001, there were an estimated 210,000 people living with HIV/AIDS, and the estimated death toll in 2003 was 16,000. According to the 2011 UNAIDS Report, the epidemic in Namibia "appears to be leveling off."[186] As the HIV/AIDS epidemic has reduced the working-aged population, the number of orphans has increased. It falls to the government to provide education, food, shelter and clothing for these orphans.[187] A Demographic and Health Survey with an HIV biomarker was completed in 2013 and served as the fourth comprehensive, national-level population and health survey conducted in Namibia as part of the global Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) programme. The DHS observed important characteristics associated to the HIV epidemic:

  • Overall, 26 percent of men age 15–49 and 32 percent of those age 50–64 have been circumcised. HIV prevalence for men age 15–49 is lower among circumcised (8.0 percent) than among uncircumcised men (11.9 percent). The pattern of lower HIV prevalence among circumcised than uncircumcised men is observed across most background characteristics. For each age group, circumcised men have lower HIV prevalence than those who are not circumcised; the difference is especially pronounced for men age 35–39 and 45–49 (11.7 percentage points each). The difference in HIV prevalence between uncircumcised and circumcised men is larger among urban than rural men (5.2 percentage points versus 2.1 percentage points).
  • HIV prevalence among respondents age 15–49 is 16.9 percent for women and 10.9 percent for men. HIV prevalence rates among women and men age 50–64 are similar (16.7 percent and 16.0 percent, respectively).
  • HIV prevalence peaks in the 35–39 age group for both women and men (30.9 percent and 22.6 percent, respectively). It is lowest among respondents age 15–24 (2.5–6.4 percent for women and 2.0–3.4 percent for men).
  • Among respondents age 15–49, HIV prevalence is highest for women and men in Zambezi (30.9 percent and 15.9 percent, respectively) and lowest for women in Omaheke (6.9 percent) and men in Ohangwena (6.6 percent).
  • In 76.4 percent of the 1,007 cohabiting couples who were tested for HIV in the 2013 NDHS, both partners were HIV negative; in 10.1 percent of the couples, both partners were HIV positive; and 13.5 percent of the couples were discordant (that is, one partner was infected with HIV and the other was not).[183]

As of 2015, the Ministry of Health and Social Services and UNAIDS produced a Progress Report in which UNAIDS projected HIV prevalence among 15–49-year-olds at 13.3% [12.2–14.5%] and an estimated 210,000 [200,000–230,000] living with HIV.[188]

The malaria problem seems to be compounded by the AIDS epidemic. Research has shown that in Namibia the risk of contracting malaria is 14.5% greater if a person is also infected with HIV. The risk of death from malaria is also raised by approximately 50% with a concurrent HIV infection.[189] The country had only 598 physicians in 2002.[190]

Culture

Sport

Main articles: Sport in Namibia and Rugby union in Namibia

The most popular sport in Namibia is association football. The Namibia national football team qualified for the 1998, 2008 and 2019 editions of the Africa Cup of Nations, but has yet to qualify for the World Cup.

The most successful national team is the Namibian rugby team, having competed in six separate World Cups. Namibia were participants in the 1999, 2003, 2007, 2011, 2015 and 2019 Rugby World Cups. Cricket is also popular, with the national side having qualified for 2003 Cricket World Cup, 2021 ICC T20 World Cup and 2022 ICC Men's T20 World Cup.[191] In December 2017, Namibia Cricket reached the final of the Cricket South Africa (CSA) Provincial One Day Challenge for the first time.[192] In February 2018 Namibia hosted the ICC World Cricket League Division 2 with Namibia, Kenya, UAE, Nepal, Canada and Oman to compete for the final two ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier positions in Zimbabwe. Namibia also qualified the qualifiers of ICC T20 World Cup 2021 and entered the super 12 club.[192]

The most famous athlete from Namibia is Frankie Fredericks, sprinter in the 100 and 200 m events. He won four Olympic silver medals (1992, 1996) and also has medals from several World Athletics Championships.[193] Golfer Trevor Dodds won the Greater Greensboro Open in 1998, one of 15 tournaments in his career. He achieved a career-high world ranking of 78th in 1998.[citation needed] Professional cyclist and Namibian Road Race champion Dan Craven represented Namibia at the 2016 Summer Olympics in both the road race and individual time trial.[194] Boxer Julius Indongo is the unified WBA, IBF, and IBO world champion in the Light welterweight division. Another famous athlete from Namibia is ex-professional rugby player Jacques Burger. Burger played for Saracens and Aurillac in Europe, as well as gaining 41 caps for the national team.

Media

See also: Media of Namibia

Although Namibia's population is fairly small, the country has a diverse choice of media; two TV stations, 19 radio stations (without counting community stations), 5 daily newspapers, several weeklies and special publications compete for the attention of the audience. Additionally, a mentionable amount of foreign media, especially South African, is available. Online media are mostly based on print publication contents. Namibia has a state-owned Press Agency, called NAMPA.[195] Overall c. 300 journalists work in the country.[196]

The first newspaper in Namibia was the German-language Windhoeker Anzeiger, founded 1898. During German rule, the newspapers mainly reflected the living reality and the view of the white German-speaking minority. The black majority was ignored or depicted as a threat. During South African rule, the white bias continued, with mentionable influence of the Pretoria government on the South West African media system. Independent newspapers were seen as a menace to the existing order, and critical journalists were often threatened.[195][197][198]

Current daily newspapers are the private publications The Namibian (English and other languages), Die Republikein (Afrikaans), Allgemeine Zeitung (German) and Namibian Sun (English) as well as the state-owned New Era (predominantly English). Except for the largest newspaper, The Namibian, which is owned by a trust, the other mentioned private newspapers are part of Democratic Media Holdings.[195] Other mentionable newspapers are the tabloid Informanté owned by TrustCo, the weekly Windhoek Observer, the weekly Namibia Economist, as well as the regional Namib Times. Current affairs magazines include Insight Namibia, Vision2030 Focus magazine[citation needed] and Prime FOCUS. The Sister Namibia magazine stands out as the longest running NGO magazine in Namibia, while Namibia Sport is the only national sport magazine. Furthermore, the print market is complemented with party publications, student newspapers and PR publications.[195]

Radio was introduced in 1969, TV in 1981. The broadcasting sector today is dominated by the state-run Namibian Broadcasting Corporation (NBC). The public broadcaster offers a TV station as well as a "National Radio" in English and nine language services in locally spoken languages. The nine private radio stations in the country are mainly English-language channels, except for Radio Omulunga (Oshiwambo) and Kosmos 94.1 (Afrikaans). Privately held One Africa TV has competed with NBC since the 2000s.[195][199]

Compared to neighbouring countries, Namibia has a large degree of media freedom. Over the past years, the country usually ranked in the upper quarter of the Press Freedom Index of Reporters without Borders, reaching position 21 in 2010, being on par with Canada and the best-positioned African country.[200] The African Media Barometer shows similarly positive results. However, as in other countries, there is still mentionable influence of representatives of state and economy on media in Namibia.[195] In 2009, Namibia dropped to position 36 on the Press Freedom Index.[201] In 2013, it was 19th,[202] 22nd in 2014[203] and 23rd in 2019,[204] meaning that it is currently the highest ranked African country in terms of press freedom.

Media and journalists in Namibia are represented by the Namibian chapter of the Media Institute of Southern Africa and the Editors' Forum of Namibia. An independent media ombudsman was appointed in 2009 to prevent a state-controlled media council.[195]

Education

 
Secondary school students
Main article: Education in Namibia
See also: List of schools in Namibia

Namibia has free education for both primary and secondary education levels. Grades 1–7 are primary level, grades 8–12 are secondary. In 1998, there were 400,325 Namibian students in primary school and 115,237 students in secondary schools. The pupil-teacher ratio in 1999 was estimated at 32:1, with about 8% of the GDP being spent on education. Curriculum development, educational research, and professional development of teachers is centrally organised by the National Institute for Educational Development (NIED) in Okahandja.[205] Among sub-Saharan African countries, Namibia has one of the highest literacy rates.[206] According to CIA World Factbook, as of 2018 91.5% of the population age 15 and over can read and write.[206]

Most schools in Namibia are state-run, but there are some private schools, which are also part of the country's education system. There are four teacher training universities, three colleges of agriculture, a police training college, and three universities: University of Namibia (UNAM), International University of Management (IUM) and Namibia University of Science and Technology (NUST). Namibia was ranked 100th in the Global Innovation Index in 2021.[207][208][209][210][211]

See also

References

Notes

  1. ^ (PDF). Government of Namibia. Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 February 2016. Retrieved 18 February 2016.
  2. ^ "Communal Land Reform Act, German" (PDF). Government of Namibia. Retrieved 18 February 2016.[permanent dead link]
  3. ^ (PDF). Government of Namibia. Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 February 2016. Retrieved 18 February 2016.
  4. ^ "Communal Land Reform Act, Otjiherero" (PDF). Government of Namibia. Retrieved 18 February 2016.[permanent dead link]
  5. ^ (PDF). Government of Namibia. Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 March 2016. Retrieved 18 February 2016.
  6. ^ (PDF). Government of Namibia. Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 February 2016. Retrieved 18 February 2016.
  7. ^ (PDF). Government of Namibia. Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 February 2016. Retrieved 18 February 2016.
  8. ^ (PDF). Government of Namibia. Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 February 2016. Retrieved 18 February 2016.
  9. ^ "Namibia Demographic and Health Survey 2013" (PDF). The Namibia Ministry of Health and Social Services (MoHSS) and ICF International. September 2014. p. 30. Retrieved 5 July 2021. Only people between 15 and 49 years of age were surveyed.
  10. ^ a b Shugart, Matthew Søberg (December 2005). "Semi-Presidential Systems: Dual Executive And Mixed Authority Patterns" (PDF). French Politics. 3 (3): 323–351. doi:10.1057/palgrave.fp.8200087. S2CID 73642272. Retrieved 4 September 2016. Of the contemporary cases, only four provide the assembly majority an unrestricted right to vote no confidence, and of these, only two allow the president unrestricted authority to appoint the prime minister. These two, Mozambique and Namibia, as well as the Weimar Republic, thus resemble most closely the structure of authority depicted in the right panel of Figure 3, whereby the dual accountability of the cabinet to both the president and the assembly is maximized. (...) Namibia allows the president to dissolve [the assembly] at any time but places a novel negative incentive on his exercise of the right: He must stand for a new election at the same time as the new assembly elections.
  11. ^ "Census data" (PDF). cms2.my.na. Retrieved 1 October 2020.
  12. ^ a b c d "Report for Selected Countries and Subjects". IMF.org. International Monetary Fund. Retrieved 29 April 2021.
  13. ^ "GINI index (World Bank estimate)". data.worldbank.org. World Bank. Retrieved 20 January 2019.
  14. ^ "Human Development Report 2021/2022" (PDF). United Nations Development Programme. 8 September 2022. Retrieved 8 September 2022.
  15. ^ Wells, John C. (2008), Longman Pronunciation Dictionary (3rd ed.), Longman, ISBN 978-1405881180
  16. ^ Roach, Peter (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary (18th ed.), Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, ISBN 978-0521152532
  17. ^ Peter Shadbolt (24 October 2012). "Namibia country profile: moving on from a difficult past". CNN.
  18. ^ a b Spriggs, A. (2001) "Africa: Namibia". Terrestrial Ecoregions. World Wildlife Fund.
  19. ^ "The Man Who Named Namibia- Mburumba Kerina". The Namibian. Retrieved 15 June 2021.
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Literature

Works cited
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General references
  • Christy, S. A. (2007). Namibian Travel Photography.
  • Horn, N/Bösl, A (eds.). Human rights and the rule of law in Namibia, Macmillan Namibia, 2008.
  • Horn, N/Bösl, A (eds.). The independence of the judiciary in Namibia, Macmillan Namibia, 2008.
  • KAS Factbook Namibia, Facts and figures about the status and development of Namibia, Ed. Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung e.V.
  • Fritz, Jean-Claude. La Namibie indépendante. Les coûts d'une décolonisation retardée, Paris: L'Harmattan, 1991.
  • World Almanac. 2004. New York, NY: World Almanac Books.

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March 10, 2023
namibia, redirects, here, other, uses, disambiguation, coordinates, listen, officially, republic, country, southern, africa, western, border, atlantic, ocean, shares, land, borders, with, zambia, angola, north, botswana, east, south, africa, south, east, altho. Namibian redirects here For other uses see Namibian disambiguation Coordinates 22 S 17 E 22 S 17 E 22 17 Namibia n e ˈ m ɪ b i e listen n ae ˈ 15 16 officially the Republic of Namibia is a country in Southern Africa Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and east Although it does not border Zimbabwe less than 200 metres 660 feet of the Botswanan right bank of the Zambezi River separates the two countries Namibia gained independence from South Africa on 21 March 1990 following the Namibian War of Independence Its capital and largest city is Windhoek Namibia is a member state of the United Nations UN the Southern African Development Community SADC the African Union AU and the Commonwealth of Nations Republic of NamibiaName in national languages Afrikaans Republiek van Namibie 1 German Republik Namibia 2 Khoekhoegowab Namibiab Republiki dib 3 Otjiherero Orepublika yaNamibia 4 Oshiwambo Orepublika yaNamibia 5 RuKwangali Republika zaNamibia 6 Setswana Rephaboliki ya Namibia 7 siLozi Namibia ye Lukuluhile 8 Flag Coat of armsMotto Unity Liberty Justice Anthem Namibia Land of the Brave source source track track track track Show globeShow map of AfricaCapitaland largest cityWindhoek22 34 S 17 5 E 22 567 S 17 083 E 22 567 17 083Official languagesEnglishRecognised national languagesAfrikaansGermanOtjihereroKhoekhoegowabOshiwamboRuKwangaliSetswanasiLoziRecognised regional languages KungGcirikuThimbukushuEthnic groups 2014 49 5 Ovambo9 2 Kavango8 0 Coloured including Baster 7 0 Herero7 0 Damara7 0 White4 7 Nama3 5 Lozi3 0 San0 6 Tswana0 5 OthersReligion 2013 9 87 9 Christianity 43 7 Lutheranism 22 8 Catholicism 17 0 Anglicanism 4 4 Other Christian10 2 Traditional faiths1 6 No religion0 3 OthersDemonym s NamibianGovernmentUnitary dominant party semi presidential republic 10 PresidentHage Geingob Vice PresidentNangolo Mbumba Prime MinisterSaara Kuugongelwa Deputy Prime MinisterNetumbo Nandi Ndaitwah Chief JusticePeter ShivuteLegislatureParliament Upper houseNational Council Lower houseNational AssemblyIndependence from South Africa Constitution9 February 1990 Independence21 March 1990Area Total825 615 km2 318 772 sq mi 34th Water negligiblePopulation 2020 estimate2 550 226 140th 2011 census2 113 077 11 Density3 2 km2 8 3 sq mi 235th GDP PPP 2022 estimate Total 28 0 billion 12 147th Per capita 10 791 12 117th GDP nominal 2022 estimate Total 12 4billion 12 147th Per capita 4 809 12 115th Gini 2015 59 1 13 highHDI 2021 0 615 14 medium 139thCurrencyNamibian dollar NAD South African rand ZAR Time zoneUTC 2 CAST Date formatdd mm yyyyDriving sideleftCalling code 264ISO 3166 codeNAInternet TLD naThe driest country in sub Saharan Africa 17 Namibia has been inhabited since pre historic times by the San Damara and Nama people Around the 14th century immigrating Bantu peoples arrived as part of the Bantu expansion Since then the Bantu groups the largest being the Ovambo have dominated the population of the country since the late 19th century they have constituted a majority Today Namibia is one of the least densely populated countries in the world It has a population of 2 55 million people and is a stable multi party parliamentary democracy Agriculture tourism and the mining industry including mining for gem diamonds uranium gold silver and base metals form the basis of its economy while the manufacturing sector is comparatively small In 1884 the German Empire established rule over most of the territory forming a colony known as German South West Africa Between 1904 and 1908 it perpetrated a genocide against the Herero and Nama people German rule ended in 1915 with a defeat by South African forces In 1920 after the end of World War I the League of Nations mandated administration of the colony to South Africa As mandatory power South Africa imposed its laws including racial classifications and rules From 1948 with the National Party elected to power this included South Africa applying apartheid to what was then known as South West Africa In the later 20th century uprisings and demands for political representation by native African political activists seeking independence resulted in the UN assuming direct responsibility over the territory in 1966 but the country of South Africa maintained de facto rule In 1973 the UN recognised the South West Africa People s Organisation SWAPO as the official representative of the Namibian people Following continued guerrilla warfare Namibia obtained independence in 1990 However Walvis Bay and the Penguin Islands remained under South African control until 1994 Contents 1 History 1 1 Etymology 1 2 Pre colonial period 1 3 German rule 1 4 South African mandate 1 5 Independence 1 6 After independence 2 Geography 2 1 Climate 2 2 Water sources 2 3 Communal Wildlife Conservancies 3 Government and politics 3 1 Foreign relations 3 2 Military 3 3 Administrative divisions 3 4 Human rights 4 Economy 4 1 Income disparity 4 2 Agriculture 4 3 Mining and electricity 4 4 Diamonds 4 5 Oil and natural gas 4 6 Tourism 4 7 Water supply and sanitation 5 Demographics 5 1 Ethnic groups 5 2 Censuses 5 3 Urban settlements 5 4 Religion 5 5 Languages 5 6 Health 6 Culture 6 1 Sport 6 2 Media 6 3 Education 7 See also 8 References 8 1 Notes 8 2 Literature 9 External linksHistory EditMain article History of Namibia Etymology Edit The name of the country is derived from the Namib desert the oldest desert in the world 18 The name Namib itself is of Nama origin and means vast place That word for the country was chosen by Mburumba Kerina who originally proposed the name the Republic of Namib 19 Before its independence in 1990 the area was known first as German South West Africa Deutsch Sudwestafrika then as South West Africa reflecting the colonial occupation by the Germans and South Africans Pre colonial period Edit San people are Namibia s oldest indigenous inhabitants The dry lands of Namibia have been inhabited since prehistoric times by the San Damara and Nama Around the 14th century immigrating Bantu people began to arrive during the Bantu expansion from central Africa 20 From the late 18th century onward Oorlam people from Cape Colony crossed the Orange River and moved into the area that today is southern Namibia 21 Their encounters with the nomadic Nama tribes were largely peaceful They received the missionaries accompanying the Oorlam very well 22 granting them the right to use waterholes and grazing against an annual payment 23 On their way further north however the Oorlam encountered clans of the OvaHerero at Windhoek Gobabis and Okahandja who resisted their encroachment The Nama Herero War broke out in 1880 with hostilities ebbing only after the German Empire deployed troops to the contested places and cemented the status quo among the Nama Oorlam and Herero 24 In 1878 the Cape of Good Hope then a British colony annexed the port of Walvis Bay and the offshore Penguin Islands these became an integral part of the new Union of South Africa at its creation in 1910 The first Europeans to disembark and explore the region were the Portuguese navigators Diogo Cao in 1485 25 and Bartolomeu Dias in 1486 but the Portuguese did not try to claim the area Like most of the interior of Sub Saharan Africa Namibia was not extensively explored by Europeans until the 19th century At that time traders and settlers came principally from Germany and Sweden In 1870 Finnish missionaries came to the northern part of Namibia to spread the Lutheran religion among the Ovambo and Kavango people 26 In the late 19th century Dorsland Trekkers crossed the area on their way from the Transvaal to Angola Some of them settled in Namibia instead of continuing their journey German rule Edit See also German South West Africa and Herero and Namaqua genocide German church and monument to colonists in Windhoek Namibia Hendrik Witbooi left and Samuel Maharero right were prominent leaders against German colonial rule Namibia became a German colony in 1884 under Otto von Bismarck to forestall perceived British encroachment and was known as German South West Africa Deutsch Sudwestafrika 27 The Palgrave Commission by the British governor in Cape Town determined that only the natural deep water harbour of Walvis Bay was worth occupying and thus annexed it to the Cape province of British South Africa From 1904 to 1907 the Herero and the Namaqua took up arms against brutal German colonialism In a calculated punitive action by the German occupiers government officials ordered the extinction of the natives in the OvaHerero and Namaqua genocide In what has been called the first genocide of the 20th century 28 the Germans systematically killed 10 000 Nama half the population and approximately 65 000 Herero about 80 of the population 29 30 The survivors when finally released from detention were subjected to a policy of dispossession deportation forced labour racial segregation and discrimination in a system that in many ways foreshadowed the apartheid established by South Africa in 1948 Most Africans were confined to so called native territories which under South African rule after 1949 were turned into homelands Bantustans Some historians have speculated that the German genocide in Namibia was a model for the Nazis in the Holocaust 31 The memory of genocide remains relevant to ethnic identity in independent Namibia and to relations with Germany 32 The German minister for aid development apologised for the Namibian genocide in 2004 however the German government distanced itself from this apology 33 34 South African mandate Edit See also South West Africa During World War I South African troops under General Louis Botha occupied the territory and deposed the German colonial administration The end of the war and the Treaty of Versailles resulted in South West Africa remaining a possession of South Africa at first as a League of Nations mandate until 1990 35 The mandate system was formed as a compromise between those who advocated for an Allied annexation of former German and Ottoman territories and a proposition put forward by those who wished to grant them to an international trusteeship until they could govern themselves 35 It permitted the South African government to administer South West Africa until that territory s inhabitants were prepared for political self determination 36 South Africa interpreted the mandate as a veiled annexation and made no attempt to prepare South West Africa for future autonomy 36 As a result of the Conference on International Organization in 1945 the League of Nations was formally superseded by the United Nations UN and former League mandates by a trusteeship system Article 77 of the United Nations Charter stated that UN trusteeship shall apply to territories now held under mandate furthermore it would be a matter of subsequent agreement as to which territories in the foregoing territories will be brought under the trusteeship system and under what terms 37 The UN requested all former League of Nations mandates be surrendered to its Trusteeship Council in anticipation of their independence 37 South Africa declined to do so and instead requested permission from the UN to formally annex South West Africa for which it received considerable criticism 37 When the UN General Assembly rejected this proposal South Africa dismissed its opinion and began solidifying control of the territory 37 The UN Generally Assembly and Security Council responded by referring the issue to the International Court of Justice ICJ which held a number of discussions on the legality of South African rule between 1949 and 1966 38 Map depicting the Police Zone in tan and tribal homelands in red as they existed in 1978 Self governing tribal homelands appear as tan with red stripes Foreign Observer identification badge issued during the 1989 Namibian election South Africa began imposing apartheid its codified system of racial segregation and discrimination on South West Africa during the late 1940s 39 Black South West Africans were subject to pass laws curfews and a host of residential regulations that restricted their movement 39 Development was concentrated in the southern region of the territory adjacent to South Africa known as the Police Zone where most of the major settlements and commercial economic activity were located 40 Outside the Police Zone indigenous peoples were restricted to theoretically self governing tribal homelands 40 During the late 1950s and early 1960s the accelerated decolonisation of Africa and mounting pressure on the remaining colonial powers to grant their colonies self determination resulted in the formation of nascent nationalist parties in South West Africa 41 Movements such as the South West African National Union SWANU and the South West African People s Organisation advocated for the formal termination of South Africa s mandate and independence for the territory 41 In 1966 following the ICJ s controversial ruling that it had no legal standing to consider the question of South African rule SWAPO launched an armed insurgency that escalated into part of a wider regional conflict known as the South African Border War 42 Independence Edit As SWAPO s insurgency intensified South Africa s case for annexation in the international community continued to decline 43 The UN declared that South Africa had failed in its obligations to ensure the moral and material well being of South West Africa s indigenous inhabitants and had thus disavowed its own mandate 44 On 12 June 1968 the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution proclaiming that in accordance with the desires of its people South West Africa be renamed Namibia 44 United Nations Security Council Resolution 269 adopted in August 1969 declared South Africa s continued occupation of Namibia illegal 44 45 In recognition of this landmark decision SWAPO s armed wing was renamed the People s Liberation Army of Namibia PLAN 46 Namibia became one of several flashpoints for Cold War proxy conflicts in southern Africa during the latter years of the PLAN insurgency 47 The insurgents sought out weapons and sent recruits to the Soviet Union for military training 48 As the PLAN war effort gained momentum the Soviet Union and other sympathetic states such as Cuba continued to increase their support deploying advisers to train the insurgents directly as well as supplying more weapons and ammunition 49 SWAPO s leadership dependent on Soviet Angolan and Cuban military aid positioned the movement firmly within the socialist bloc by 1975 50 This practical alliance reinforced the external perception of SWAPO as a Soviet proxy which dominated Cold War rhetoric in South Africa and the United States 40 For its part the Soviet Union supported SWAPO partly because it viewed South Africa as a regional Western ally 51 South African troops patrol the border region for PLAN insurgents 1980s Growing war weariness and the reduction of tensions between the superpowers compelled South Africa Angola and Cuba to accede to the Tripartite Accord under pressure from both the Soviet Union and the United States 52 South Africa accepted Namibian independence in exchange for Cuban military withdrawal from the region and an Angolan commitment to cease all aid to PLAN 53 PLAN and South Africa adopted an informal ceasefire in August 1988 and a United Nations Transition Assistance Group UNTAG was formed to monitor the Namibian peace process and supervise the return of refugees 54 The ceasefire was broken after PLAN made a final incursion into the territory possibly as a result of misunderstanding UNTAG s directives in March 1989 55 A new ceasefire was later imposed with the condition that the insurgents were to be confined to their external bases in Angola until they could be disarmed and demobilised by UNTAG 54 56 By the end of the 11 month transition period the last South African troops had been withdrawn from Namibia all political prisoners granted amnesty racially discriminatory legislation repealed and 42 000 Namibian refugees returned to their homes 50 Just over 97 of eligible voters participated in the country s first parliamentary elections held under a universal franchise 57 The United Nations plan included oversight by foreign election observers in an effort to ensure a free and fair election SWAPO won a plurality of seats in the Constituent Assembly with 57 of the popular vote 57 This gave the party 41 seats but not a two thirds majority which would have enabled it to draft the constitution on its own 57 The Namibian Constitution was adopted in February 1990 It incorporated protection for human rights and compensation for state expropriations of private property and established an independent judiciary legislature and an executive presidency the constituent assembly became the national assembly The country officially became independent on 21 March 1990 58 26 Sam Nujoma was sworn in as the first President of Namibia at a ceremony attended by Nelson Mandela of South Africa who had been released from prison the previous month and representatives from 147 countries including 20 heads of state 59 In 1994 following the first multiracial elections in South Africa that country ceded Walvis Bay to Namibia 60 After independence Edit Since independence Namibia has completed the transition from white minority apartheid rule to parliamentary democracy Multiparty democracy was introduced and has been maintained with local regional and national elections held regularly Several registered political parties are active and represented in the National Assembly although the SWAPO has won every election since independence 61 The transition from the 15 year rule of President Nujoma to his successor Hifikepunye Pohamba in 2005 went smoothly 62 Since independence the Namibian government has promoted a policy of national reconciliation It issued an amnesty for those who fought on either side during the liberation war The civil war in Angola spilled over and adversely affected Namibians living in the north of the country In 1998 Namibia Defence Force NDF troops were sent to the Democratic Republic of the Congo as part of a Southern African Development Community SADC contingent In 1999 the national government quashed a secessionist attempt in the northeastern Caprivi Strip 62 The Caprivi conflict was initiated by the Caprivi Liberation Army CLA a rebel group led by Mishake Muyongo It wanted the Caprivi Strip to secede and form its own society In December 2014 Prime Minister Hage Geingob the candidate of ruling SWAPO won the presidential elections taking 87 of the vote His predecessor President Hifikepunye Pohamba also of SWAPO had served the maximum two terms allowed by the constitution 63 In December 2019 President Hage Geingob was re elected for a second term taking 56 3 of the vote 64 Geography EditMain article Geography of Namibia Sand dunes in the Namib Namibia Shaded relief map of Namibia Koppen climate types of Namibia At 825 615 km2 318 772 sq mi 65 Namibia is the world s thirty fourth largest country after Venezuela It lies mostly between latitudes 17 and 29 S a small area is north of 17 and longitudes 11 and 26 E Being situated between the Namib and the Kalahari deserts Namibia has the least rainfall of any country in sub Saharan Africa 66 The Namibian landscape consists generally of five geographical areas each with characteristic abiotic conditions and vegetation with some variation within and overlap between them the Central Plateau the Namib the Great Escarpment the Bushveld and the Kalahari Desert The Central Plateau runs from north to south bordered by the Skeleton Coast to the northwest the Namib Desert and its coastal plains to the southwest the Orange River to the south and the Kalahari Desert to the east The Central Plateau is home to the highest point in Namibia at Konigstein elevation 2 606 metres 8 550 ft 67 The Namib is a broad expanse of hyper arid gravel plains and dunes that stretches along Namibia s entire coastline It varies between 100 and 200 kilometres 60 and 120 mi in width Areas within the Namib include the Skeleton Coast and the Kaokoveld in the north and the extensive Namib Sand Sea along the central coast 18 The Great Escarpment swiftly rises to over 2 000 metres 7 000 ft Average temperatures and temperature ranges increase further inland from the cold Atlantic waters while the lingering coastal fogs slowly diminish Although the area is rocky with poorly developed soils it is significantly more productive than the Namib Desert As summer winds are forced over the Escarpment moisture is extracted as precipitation 68 The Bushveld is found in north eastern Namibia along the Angolan border and in the Caprivi Strip The area receives a significantly greater amount of precipitation than the rest of the country averaging around 400 mm 16 in per year The area is generally flat and the soils sandy limiting their ability to retain water and support agriculture 69 The Kalahari Desert an arid region that extends into South Africa and Botswana is one of Namibia s well known geographical features The Kalahari while popularly known as a desert has a variety of localised environments including some verdant and technically non desert areas The Succulent Karoo is home to over 5 000 species of plants nearly half of them endemic approximately 10 percent of the world s succulents are found in the Karoo 70 71 The reason behind this high productivity and endemism may be the relatively stable nature of precipitation 72 Namibia s Coastal Desert is one of the oldest deserts in the world Its sand dunes created by the strong onshore winds are the highest in the world 73 Because of the location of the shoreline at the point where the Atlantic s cold water reaches Africa s hot climate often extremely dense fog forms along the coast 74 Near the coast there are areas where the dune hummocks are vegetated 75 Namibia has rich coastal and marine resources that remain largely unexplored 76 Fish River Canyon The Caprivi Strip extends east from the northeastern corner of the country Climate Edit Namibia is primarily a large desert and semi desert plateau Namibia extends from 17 S to 25 S latitude climatically the range of the sub Tropical High Pressure Belt Its overall climate description is arid descending from the Sub Humid mean rain above 500 mm 20 in through Semi Arid between 300 and 500 mm 12 and 20 in embracing most of the waterless Kalahari and Arid from 150 to 300 mm 6 to 12 in these three regions are inland from the western escarpment to the Hyper Arid coastal plain less than 100 mm 4 in Temperature maxima are limited by the overall elevation of the entire region only in the far south Warmbad for instance are maxima above 40 C 104 F recorded 77 Typically the sub Tropical High Pressure Belt with frequent clear skies provides more than 300 days of sunshine per year It is situated at the southern edge of the tropics the Tropic of Capricorn cuts the country about in half The winter June August is generally dry Both rainy seasons occur in summer the small rainy season between September and November the big one between February and April 78 Humidity is low and average rainfall varies from almost zero in the coastal desert to more than 600 mm 24 in in the Caprivi Strip Rainfall is highly variable and droughts are common 79 In the summer of 2006 07 the rainfall was recorded far below the annual average 80 In May 2019 Namibia declared a state of emergency in response to the drought 81 and extended it by additional 6 months in October 2019 82 Weather and climate in the coastal area are dominated by the cold north flowing Benguela Current of the Atlantic Ocean which accounts for very low precipitation 50 mm 2 in per year or less frequent dense fog and overall lower temperatures than in the rest of the country 79 In Winter occasionally a condition known as Bergwind German for mountain wind or Oosweer Afrikaans for east weather occurs a hot dry wind blowing from the inland to the coast As the area behind the coast is a desert these winds can develop into sand storms leaving sand deposits in the Atlantic Ocean that are visible on satellite images 83 The Central Plateau and Kalahari areas have wide diurnal temperature ranges of up to 30C 54F 79 Efundja the annual seasonal flooding of the northern parts of the country often causes not only damage to infrastructure but loss of life 84 The rains that cause these floods originate in Angola flow into Namibia s Cuvelai Etosha Basin and fill the oshanas Oshiwambo flood plains there The worst floods so far update occurred in March 2011 and displaced 21 000 people 85 Water sources Edit Main article Water supply and sanitation in Namibia Namibia is the driest country in sub Saharan Africa and depends largely on groundwater With an average rainfall of about 350 mm 14 in per annum the highest rainfall occurs in the Caprivi Strip in the northeast about 600 mm 24 in per annum and decreases in a westerly and southwesterly direction to as little as 50 mm 2 in and less per annum at the coast The only perennial rivers are found on the national borders with South Africa Angola Zambia and the short border with Botswana in the Caprivi Strip In the interior of the country surface water is available only in the summer months when rivers are in flood after exceptional rainfalls Otherwise surface water is restricted to a few large storage dams retaining and damming up these seasonal floods and their run off Where people do not live near perennial rivers or make use of the storage dams they are dependent on groundwater Even isolated communities and those economic activities located far from good surface water sources such as mining agriculture and tourism can be supplied from groundwater over nearly 80 of the country 86 More than 100 000 boreholes have been drilled in Namibia over the past century One third of these boreholes have been drilled dry 87 An aquifer called Ohangwena II on both sides of the Angola Namibia border was discovered in 2012 It has been estimated to be capable of supplying a population of 800 000 people in the North for 400 years at the current 2018 rate of consumption 88 Experts estimate that Namibia has 7 720 km3 1 850 cu mi of underground water 89 90 Communal Wildlife Conservancies Edit Quivertree Forest Bushveld Main article Communal Wildlife Conservancies in Namibia Namibia is one of few countries in the world to specifically address conservation and protection of natural resources in its constitution 91 Article 95 states The State shall actively promote and maintain the welfare of the people by adopting international policies aimed at the following maintenance of ecosystems essential ecological processes and biological diversity of Namibia and utilisation of living natural resources on a sustainable basis for the benefit of all Namibians both present and future 91 In 1993 Namibia s newly formed government received funding from the United States Agency for International Development USAID through its Living in a Finite Environment LIFE Project 92 The Ministry of Environment and Tourism with financial support from organisations such as USAID Endangered Wildlife Trust WWF and Canadian Ambassador s Fund together form a Community Based Natural Resource Management CBNRM support structure The project s main goal is to promote sustainable natural resource management by giving local communities rights to wildlife management and tourism 93 Government and politics Edit Tintenpalast the centre of Namibia s government Main articles Politics of Namibia and Elections in Namibia Namibia is a unitary semi presidential representative democratic republic 10 The President of Namibia is elected to a five year term and is both the head of state and the head of government 94 All members of the government are individually and collectively responsible to the legislature 95 96 The Constitution of Namibia outlines the following as the organs of the country s government 97 Executive executive power is exercised by the President and the Government Legislature Namibia has a bicameral Parliament with the National Assembly as lower house and the National Council as the upper house 98 Judiciary Namibia has a system of courts that interpret and apply the law in the name of the state While the constitution envisaged a multi party system for Namibia s government the SWAPO party has been dominant since independence in 1990 99 Foreign relations Edit Main article Foreign relations of Namibia Namibia has a largely independent foreign policy with persisting affiliations with states that aided the independence struggle including Cuba With a small army and a fragile economy the Namibian government s principal foreign policy concern is developing strengthened ties within the Southern African region A dynamic member of the Southern African Development Community Namibia is a vocal advocate for greater regional integration It became the 160th member of the UN on 23 April 1990 On its independence it became the 50th member of the Commonwealth of Nations 100 Military Edit Main article Namibian Defence Force In early 2020 The Global Firepower Index GFP reported that Namibia s military is ranked as one of the weakest in the world at 126th out of 137 countries Among 34 African countries Namibia is also poorly ranked at the 28th position 101 Despite this government spending for the Ministry of Defence stood at N 5 885 million a 1 2 decrease from the previous financial year 102 With close to 6 billion Namibian dollars US 411 million in 2021 the Ministry of Defence receives the fourth highest amount of money from Government per ministry Namibia does not have any enemies in the region though it has been involved in various disputes regarding borders and construction plans 103 The Namibian constitution defines the role of the military as defending the territory and national interests Namibia formed the Namibian Defence Force NDF comprising former enemies in a 23 year bush war the People s Liberation Army of Namibia PLAN and South West African Territorial Force SWATF The British formulated the plan for integrating these forces and began training the NDF which consists of a small headquarters and five battalions The United Nations Transitional Assistance Group UNTAG s Kenyan infantry battalion remained in Namibia for three months after independence to help train the NDF and to stabilise the north According to the Namibian Defence Ministry enlistments of both men and women will number no more than 7 500 The chief of the Namibian Defence Force is Air Vice Marshal Martin Kambulu Pinehas with effect from 1 April 2020 In 2017 Namibia signed the UN treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons 104 Administrative divisions Edit Regions of Namibia Main article Administrative divisions of Namibia Namibia is divided into 14 regions which are subdivided into 121 constituencies The administrative division of Namibia is tabled by Delimitation Commissions and accepted or declined by the National Assembly Since state foundation four Delimitation Commissions have delivered their work the last one in 2013 under the chairmanship of Judge Alfred Siboleka 105 Regional councillors are directly elected through secret ballots regional elections by the inhabitants of their constituencies 106 Local authorities in Namibia can be in the form of municipalities either Part 1 or Part 2 municipalities town councils or villages 107 Human rights Edit Main article Human rights in Namibia Namibia is considered one of the most free and democratic countries in Africa 108 with a government that maintains and protects basic human rights and freedoms However significant issues include Government Corruption and Prison Overcrowding Also refugees are not permitted free movement 109 The law is not enforced 110 but homosexual acts are illegal in Namibia 111 Discrimination as well as intolerance against LGBT people is widespread 112 Some Namibian government officials and high profile figures such as Namibia s Ombudsman John Walters and First Lady Monica Geingos have called for sodomy and homosexuality to be decriminalised and are in favour of LGBT rights 110 113 In November 2018 it was reported that 32 of women aged 15 49 have experienced violence and domestic abuse from their spouses partners and 29 5 of men believe that physical abuse towards their wife partner is acceptable 114 The Namibian constitution guarantees the rights freedoms and equal treatment of women in Namibia 115 and SWAPO the ruling party in Namibia has adopted a zebra system which ensures a fair balance of both genders in government and equal representation of women in the Namibian government 116 109 Economy EditMain article Economy of Namibia Historical GDP per capita development in southern African countries since 1950 Downtown Windhoek Namibia s economy is tied closely to South Africa s due to their shared history 117 118 The largest economic sectors are mining 10 4 of the gross domestic product in 2009 agriculture 5 0 manufacturing 13 5 and tourism 14 5 119 Namibia has a highly developed banking sector with modern infrastructures such as online banking and cellphone banking The Bank of Namibia BoN is the central bank of Namibia responsible for performing all other functions ordinarily performed by a central bank There are five BoN authorised commercial banks in Namibia Bank Windhoek First National Bank Nedbank Standard Bank and Small and Medium Enterprises Bank 120 Namibia s economy is characterised by a divide between the formal and the informal economies which is in part aggravated by the legacy of apartheid spatial planning 121 According to the Namibia Labour Force Survey Report 2012 conducted by the Namibia Statistics Agency the country s unemployment rate is 27 4 122 Strict unemployment people actively seeking a full time job stood at 20 2 in 2000 21 9 in 2004 and spiralled to 29 4 in 2008 Under a broader definition including people who have given up searching for employment unemployment rose to 36 7 in 2004 This estimate considers people in the informal economy as employed Labour and Social Welfare Minister Immanuel Ngatjizeko praised the 2008 study as by far superior in scope and quality to any that has been available previously 123 but its methodology has also received criticism 124 In 2004 a labour act was passed to protect people from job discrimination stemming from pregnancy and HIV AIDS status In early 2010 the Government tender board announced that henceforth 100 per cent of all unskilled and semi skilled labour must be sourced without exception from within Namibia 125 In 2013 global business and financial news provider Bloomberg named Namibia the top emerging market economy in Africa and the 13th best in the world Only four African countries made the Top 20 Emerging Markets list in the March 2013 issue of Bloomberg Markets magazine and Namibia was rated ahead of Morocco 19th South Africa 15th and Zambia 14th Worldwide Namibia also fared better than Hungary Brazil and Mexico Bloomberg Markets magazine ranked the top 20 based on more than a dozen criteria The data came from Bloomberg s own financial market statistics IMF forecasts and the World Bank The countries were also rated on areas of particular interest to foreign investors the ease of doing business the perceived level of corruption and economic freedom To attract foreign investment the government has made improvement in reducing red tape resulted from excessive government regulations making Namibia one of the least bureaucratic places to do business in the region Facilitation payments are occasionally demanded by customs due to cumbersome and costly customs procedures 126 Namibia is also classified as an Upper Middle Income country by the World Bank and ranks 87th out of 185 economies in terms of ease of doing business 127 The cost of living in Namibia is relatively high because most goods including cereals need to be imported Its capital city Windhoek is the 150th most expensive place in the world for expatriates to live 128 Taxation in Namibia includes personal income tax which is applicable to the total taxable income of an individual All individuals are taxed at progressive marginal rates over a series of income brackets The value added tax VAT is applicable to most of the commodities and services 129 The B2 between Swakopmund and Walvis Bay Namibia Despite the remote nature of much of the country Namibia has seaports airports highways and railways narrow gauge It seeks to become a regional transportation hub it has an important seaport and several landlocked neighbours The Central Plateau already serves as a transportation corridor from the more densely populated north to South Africa the source of four fifths of Namibia s imports 130 Income disparity Edit Namibia is a country with a substantial income disparity The data indicates that the current income share held by the highest 10 is approximately 51 8 An additional figure describes the poverty gap people living on US 2 or less in the country are approximately 17 72 of the population citation needed Agriculture Edit Main article Agriculture in Namibia Welcoming sign of the Burgsdorf farm in Hardap About half of the population depends on agriculture largely subsistence agriculture for its livelihood but Namibia must still import some of its food Although per capita GDP is five times the per capita GDP of Africa s poorest countries the majority of Namibia s people live in rural areas and have a subsistence way of life Namibia has one of the highest rates of income inequality in the world due in part to the fact that there is an urban economy and a more rural cashless economy The inequality figures thus take into account people who do not actually rely on the formal economy for their survival Although arable land accounts for lt 1 of Namibia about 97 nearly half of the population is employed in agriculture 130 About 4 000 commercial farmers own almost half of Namibia s arable land 131 The United Kingdom offered about 180 000 in 2004 to help finance Namibia s land reform process as Namibia plans to start expropriating land from white farmers to resettle landless black Namibians 132 Germany has offered 1 1bn in 2021 over 30 years in reparations for the genocides in the early 20th century but the money will go towards infrastructure healthcare and training programmes not land reform 133 An agreement has been reached on the privatisation of several more enterprises in coming years with hopes that this will stimulate much needed foreign investment but reinvestment of environmentally derived capital has hobbled Namibian per capita income 134 One of the fastest growing areas of economic development in Namibia is the growth of wildlife conservancies These are particularly important to the rural generally unemployed population Mining and electricity Edit Main article Mining in Namibia Providing 25 of Namibia s revenue mining is the single most important contributor to the economy 135 Namibia is the fourth largest exporter of non fuel minerals in Africa and was the world s fourth largest producer of uranium There have been significant investment in uranium mining and Namibia planned to become the largest exporter of uranium by 2015 136 However as of 2019 Namibia continued to produce 750 tons of uranium annually making it a smaller than average exporter in the competitive world market 137 Rich alluvial diamond deposits make Namibia a primary source for gem quality diamonds 138 While Namibia is known predominantly for its gem diamond and uranium deposits a number of other minerals are extracted industrially such as lead tungsten gold tin fluorspar manganese marble copper and zinc There are offshore gas deposits in the Atlantic Ocean that are planned to be extracted in the future 119 According to The Diamond Investigation a book about the global diamond market from 1978 De Beers the largest diamond company bought most of the Namibian diamonds and would continue to do so because whatever government eventually comes to power they will need this revenue to survive 139 Domestic supply voltage is 220 V AC Electricity is generated mainly by thermal and hydroelectric power plants Non conventional methods of electricity generation also play some role Encouraged by the rich uranium deposits in 2010 the Namibian government planned to erect its first nuclear power station by 2018 Uranium enrichment was also envisaged to take place locally 140 Diamonds Edit Although much of the world s diamond supply comes from what have been called African blood diamonds Namibia has managed to develop a diamond mining industry largely free of the kinds of conflict extortion and murder that have plagued many other African nations with diamond mines This has been attributed to political dynamics economic institutions grievances political geography and the effects of neighbourhoods and is the result of a joint agreement between the government and De Beers that has led to a taxable base strengthening state institutions 141 Oil and natural gas Edit Estimates updated in 2022 suggest that two exploration wells in the offshore Orange Basin could hold 2 and 3 billion barrels of oil respectively The expected revenue could transform Namibia s domestic economy and facilitate sustainable development goals 142 Tourism Edit Main article Tourism in Namibia An example of Namibian wildlife the plains zebra is one focus of tourism Tourism is a major contributor 14 5 to Namibia s GDP creating tens of thousands of jobs 18 2 of all employment directly or indirectly and servicing over a million tourists per year 143 The country is a prime destination in Africa and is known for ecotourism which features Namibia s extensive wildlife 144 There are many lodges and reserves to accommodate ecotourists Sport and trophy hunting is also a large and growing component of the Namibian economy accounting for 14 of total tourism in the year 2000 or 19 6 million U S dollars with Namibia boasting numerous species sought after by international sport hunters 145 In addition extreme sports such as sandboarding skydiving and 4x4ing have become popular and many cities have companies that provide tours citation needed The most visited places include the capital city of Windhoek Caprivi Strip Fish River Canyon Sossusvlei the Skeleton Coast Park Sesriem Etosha Pan and the coastal towns of Swakopmund Walvis Bay and Luderitz 146 Windhoek plays a very important role in Namibia s tourism due to its central location and close proximity to Hosea Kutako International Airport According to The Namibia Tourism Exit Survey which was produced by the Millennium Challenge Corporation for the Namibian Directorate of Tourism 56 of all tourists visiting Namibia in 2012 13 visited Windhoek 147 Many of Namibia s tourism related parastatals and governing bodies such as Namibia Wildlife Resorts and the Namibia Tourism Board as well as Namibia s tourism related trade associations such as the Hospitality Association of Namibia are headquartered in Windhoek 148 There are also a number of notable hotels in Windhoek such as Windhoek Country Club Resort and some international hotel chains such as Hilton Hotels and Resorts Namibia s primary tourism related governing body the Namibia Tourism Board NTB was established by an Act of Parliament the Namibia Tourism Board Act 2000 Act 21 of 2000 Its primary objectives are to regulate the tourism industry and to market Namibia as a tourist destination 149 There are also a number of trade associations that represent the tourism sector in Namibia such as the Federation of Namibia Tourism Associations the umbrella body for all tourism associations in Namibia the Hospitality Association of Namibia the Association of Namibian Travel Agents Car Rental Association of Namibia and the Tour and Safari Association of Namibia 150 Water supply and sanitation Edit Main article Water supply and sanitation in Namibia The only bulk water supplier in Namibia is NamWater which sells it to the respective municipalities which in turn deliver it through their reticulation networks 151 In rural areas the Directorate of Rural Water Supply in the Ministry of Agriculture Water and Forestry is in charge of drinking water supply 151 The UN evaluated in 2011 that Namibia has improved its water access network significantly since independence in 1990 A large part of the population can not however make use of these resources due to the prohibitively high consumption cost and the long distance between residences and water points in rural areas 151 As a result many Namibians prefer the traditional wells over the available water points far away 152 Compared to the efforts made to improve access to safe water Namibia is lagging behind in the provision of adequate sanitation 153 This includes 298 schools that have no toilet facilities 154 Over 50 of child deaths are related to lack of water sanitation or hygiene 23 are due to diarrhoea alone The UN has identified a sanitation crisis in the country 152 Apart from residences for upper and middle class households sanitation is insufficient in most residential areas Private flush toilets are too expensive for virtually all residents in townships due to their water consumption and installation cost As a result access to improved sanitation has not increased much since independence in Namibia s rural areas 13 of the population had more than basic sanitation up from 8 in 1990 Many of Namibia s inhabitants have to resort to flying toilets plastic bags to defecate into which after use are flung into the bush 155 The use of open areas close to residential land for urination and defecation is very common 156 and has been identified as a major health hazard 154 Demographics EditMain article Demographics of Namibia Population density in Namibia by regions census 2011 Namibia has the second lowest population density of any sovereign country after Mongolia 157 In 2017 there were on average 3 08 people per km2 158 The total fertility rate in 2015 was 3 47 children per woman according to the UN Ethnic groups Edit The majority of the Namibian population is of Bantu speaking origin mostly of the Ovambo ethnicity which forms about half of the population residing mainly in the north of the country although many are now resident in towns throughout Namibia Other ethnic groups are the Herero and Himba people who speak the related Herero language and the Damara who like the Nama speak Khoekhoe In addition to the Bantu majority there are large groups of Khoisan such as Nama and San who are descendants of the original inhabitants of Southern Africa The country also contains some descendants of refugees from Angola There are also two smaller groups of people with mixed racial origins called Coloureds and Basters who together make up 8 0 with the Coloureds outnumbering the Basters two to one There is a substantial Chinese minority in Namibia it stood at 40 000 in 2006 159 Himba people in northern Namibia Whites being mainly of Afrikaner German British and Portuguese origin make up between 4 0 and 7 0 of the population Although their proportion of the population decreased after independence due to emigration and lower birth rates they still form the second largest population of European ancestry both in terms of percentage and actual numbers in Sub Saharan Africa after South Africa 160 The majority of Namibian whites and nearly all those who are of mixed race speak Afrikaans and share similar origins culture and religion as the white and coloured populations of South Africa A large minority of whites around 30 000 trace their family origins back to the German settlers who colonised Namibia prior to the South African invasion during the First World War and they maintain German cultural and educational institutions Nearly all Portuguese settlers came to the country from the former Portuguese colony of Angola 161 The 1960 census reported 526 004 persons in what was then South West Africa including 73 464 whites 14 162 Afrikaner children in Namibia Censuses Edit Namibia conducts a census every ten years After independence the first Population and Housing Census was carried out in 1991 further rounds followed in 2001 and 2011 163 The data collection method is to count every person resident in Namibia on the census reference night wherever they happen to be This is called the de facto method 164 For enumeration purposes the country is demarcated into 4 042 enumeration areas These areas do not overlap with constituency boundaries to get reliable data for election purposes as well 165 The 2011 Population and Housing Census counted 2 113 077 inhabitants Between 2001 and 2011 the annual population growth was 1 4 down from 2 6 in the previous ten year period 166 Urban settlements Edit Main article List of cities and towns in Namibia Namibia has 13 cities governed by municipalities and 26 towns governed by town councils 167 168 The capital Windhoek is by far the largest urban settlement in Namibia Largest cities or towns in Namibia According to the 2011 Census 169 Rank Name Region Pop Windhoek Rundu 1 Windhoek Khomas 325 858 Walvis Bay Swakopmund2 Rundu Kavango 63 4313 Walvis Bay Erongo 62 0964 Swakopmund Erongo 44 7255 Oshakati Oshana 36 5416 Rehoboth Hardap 28 8437 Katima Mulilo Zambezi 28 3628 Otjiwarongo Otjozondjupa 28 2499 Ondangwa Oshana 22 82210 Okahandja Otjozondjupa 22 639 Religion Edit Main article Religion in Namibia Lutheran church in Swakopmund The Christian community makes up 80 90 of the population of Namibia with at least 75 being Protestant of which at least 50 are Lutheran Lutherans are the largest religious group a legacy of the German and Finnish missionary work during the country s colonial times 26 10 20 of the population hold indigenous beliefs 160 Missionary activities during the second half of the 19th century resulted in many Namibians converting to Christianity Today most Christians are Lutheran but there also are Roman Catholic Methodist Anglican African Methodist Episcopal Dutch Reformed Latter day Saints and Jehovah s Witnesses Islam in Namibia is subscribed to by about 9 000 people 170 many of them Nama 171 Namibia is home to a small Jewish community of about 100 people 172 Languages Edit Main article Languages of Namibia Languages in NamibiaLanguages percentOshiwambo 48 9 Khoekhoegowab 11 3 Afrikaans 10 4 Otjiherero 8 6 RuKwangali 8 5 siLozi 4 8 English 3 4 German 0 9 San 0 8 Setswana 0 3 Other African 1 2 Other European 0 7 Asian 0 1 Up to 1990 English German and Afrikaans were official languages Long before Namibia s independence from South Africa SWAPO was of the opinion that the country should become officially monolingual choosing this approach in contrast to that of its neighbour South Africa which granted all 11 of its major languages official status which it saw as a deliberate policy of ethnolinguistic fragmentation 173 Consequently SWAPO instituted English as Namibia s sole official language though only about 3 of the population speaks it as a home language Its implementation is focused on the civil service education and the broadcasting system especially the state broadcaster NBC 174 Some other languages have received semi official recognition by being allowed as medium of instruction in primary schools Private schools are expected to follow the same policy as state schools and English language is a compulsory subject 174 Some critics argue that as in other postcolonial African societies the push for monolingual instruction and policy has resulted in a high rate of school drop outs and of individuals whose academic competence in any language is low 175 According to the 2011 census the most common languages are Oshiwambo the most spoken language for 49 of households 176 Khoekhoegowab 11 3 Afrikaans 10 4 RuKwangali 9 and Otjiherero 9 166 177 The most widely understood national language is Afrikaans the country s lingua franca Both Afrikaans and English are used primarily as a second language reserved for public communication A complete list of languages according to the 2011 census is 48 9 Oshiwambo 11 3 Khoekhoegowab 10 4 Afrikaans 8 6 Otjiherero 8 5 RuKwangali 4 8 siLozi 3 4 English 1 2 Other African languages 0 9 German 0 8 San 0 7 Other European languages 0 3 Setswana and 0 1 Asian languages 178 Most of the white population speaks either Afrikaans or German More than a century after the end of the German colonial era German continues to play a role as a commercial language Afrikaans is spoken by 60 of the white community German by 32 English by 7 and Portuguese by 4 5 160 Geographical proximity to Portuguese speaking Angola explains the relatively high number of Portuguese speakers in 2011 these were estimated to number 100 000 179 Health Edit Main article Health in Namibia See also HIV AIDS in Namibia Life expectancy at birth is estimated to be 64 years in 2017 among the lowest in the world 180 Namibia launched a National Health Extension Programme in 2012 181 deployment 1 800 2015 of a total ceiling of 4 800 health extension workers trained for six months in community health activities including first aid health promotion for disease prevention nutritional assessment and counseling water sanitation and hygiene practices HIV testing and community based antiretroviral treatment 182 Namibia faces a non communicable disease burden The Demographic and Health Survey 2013 summarises findings on elevated blood pressure hypertension diabetes and obesity Among eligible respondents age 35 64 more than 4 in 10 women 44 percent and men 45 percent have elevated blood pressure or are currently taking medicine to lower their blood pressure Forty nine percent of women and 61 percent of men are not aware that they have elevated blood pressure Forty three percent of women and 34 percent of men with hypertension are taking medication for their condition Only 29 percent of women and 20 percent of men with hypertension are taking medication and have their blood pressure under control Six percent of women and 7 percent of men are diabetic that is they have elevated fasting plasma glucose values or report that they are taking diabetes medication An additional 7 percent of women and 6 percent of men are prediabetic Sixty seven percent of women and 74 percent of men with diabetes are taking medication to lower their blood glucose Women and men with a higher than normal body mass index 25 0 or higher are more likely to have elevated blood pressure and elevated fasting blood glucose 183 Estimated percentage of HIV among young adults 15 49 per country as of 2011 update 184 15 50 The HIV epidemic remains a public health issue in Namibia despite significant achievements made by the Ministry of Health and Social Services to expand HIV treatment services 185 In 2001 there were an estimated 210 000 people living with HIV AIDS and the estimated death toll in 2003 was 16 000 According to the 2011 UNAIDS Report the epidemic in Namibia appears to be leveling off 186 As the HIV AIDS epidemic has reduced the working aged population the number of orphans has increased It falls to the government to provide education food shelter and clothing for these orphans 187 A Demographic and Health Survey with an HIV biomarker was completed in 2013 and served as the fourth comprehensive national level population and health survey conducted in Namibia as part of the global Demographic and Health Surveys DHS programme The DHS observed important characteristics associated to the HIV epidemic Overall 26 percent of men age 15 49 and 32 percent of those age 50 64 have been circumcised HIV prevalence for men age 15 49 is lower among circumcised 8 0 percent than among uncircumcised men 11 9 percent The pattern of lower HIV prevalence among circumcised than uncircumcised men is observed across most background characteristics For each age group circumcised men have lower HIV prevalence than those who are not circumcised the difference is especially pronounced for men age 35 39 and 45 49 11 7 percentage points each The difference in HIV prevalence between uncircumcised and circumcised men is larger among urban than rural men 5 2 percentage points versus 2 1 percentage points HIV prevalence among respondents age 15 49 is 16 9 percent for women and 10 9 percent for men HIV prevalence rates among women and men age 50 64 are similar 16 7 percent and 16 0 percent respectively HIV prevalence peaks in the 35 39 age group for both women and men 30 9 percent and 22 6 percent respectively It is lowest among respondents age 15 24 2 5 6 4 percent for women and 2 0 3 4 percent for men Among respondents age 15 49 HIV prevalence is highest for women and men in Zambezi 30 9 percent and 15 9 percent respectively and lowest for women in Omaheke 6 9 percent and men in Ohangwena 6 6 percent In 76 4 percent of the 1 007 cohabiting couples who were tested for HIV in the 2013 NDHS both partners were HIV negative in 10 1 percent of the couples both partners were HIV positive and 13 5 percent of the couples were discordant that is one partner was infected with HIV and the other was not 183 As of 2015 the Ministry of Health and Social Services and UNAIDS produced a Progress Report in which UNAIDS projected HIV prevalence among 15 49 year olds at 13 3 12 2 14 5 and an estimated 210 000 200 000 230 000 living with HIV 188 The malaria problem seems to be compounded by the AIDS epidemic Research has shown that in Namibia the risk of contracting malaria is 14 5 greater if a person is also infected with HIV The risk of death from malaria is also raised by approximately 50 with a concurrent HIV infection 189 The country had only 598 physicians in 2002 190 Culture EditSport Edit Main articles Sport in Namibia and Rugby union in Namibia The Namibia rugby team The most popular sport in Namibia is association football The Namibia national football team qualified for the 1998 2008 and 2019 editions of the Africa Cup of Nations but has yet to qualify for the World Cup The most successful national team is the Namibian rugby team having competed in six separate World Cups Namibia were participants in the 1999 2003 2007 2011 2015 and 2019 Rugby World Cups Cricket is also popular with the national side having qualified for 2003 Cricket World Cup 2021 ICC T20 World Cup and 2022 ICC Men s T20 World Cup 191 In December 2017 Namibia Cricket reached the final of the Cricket South Africa CSA Provincial One Day Challenge for the first time 192 In February 2018 Namibia hosted the ICC World Cricket League Division 2 with Namibia Kenya UAE Nepal Canada and Oman to compete for the final two ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier positions in Zimbabwe Namibia also qualified the qualifiers of ICC T20 World Cup 2021 and entered the super 12 club 192 The most famous athlete from Namibia is Frankie Fredericks sprinter in the 100 and 200 m events He won four Olympic silver medals 1992 1996 and also has medals from several World Athletics Championships 193 Golfer Trevor Dodds won the Greater Greensboro Open in 1998 one of 15 tournaments in his career He achieved a career high world ranking of 78th in 1998 citation needed Professional cyclist and Namibian Road Race champion Dan Craven represented Namibia at the 2016 Summer Olympics in both the road race and individual time trial 194 Boxer Julius Indongo is the unified WBA IBF and IBO world champion in the Light welterweight division Another famous athlete from Namibia is ex professional rugby player Jacques Burger Burger played for Saracens and Aurillac in Europe as well as gaining 41 caps for the national team Media Edit See also Media of Namibia Although Namibia s population is fairly small the country has a diverse choice of media two TV stations 19 radio stations without counting community stations 5 daily newspapers several weeklies and special publications compete for the attention of the audience Additionally a mentionable amount of foreign media especially South African is available Online media are mostly based on print publication contents Namibia has a state owned Press Agency called NAMPA 195 Overall c 300 journalists work in the country 196 The first newspaper in Namibia was the German language Windhoeker Anzeiger founded 1898 During German rule the newspapers mainly reflected the living reality and the view of the white German speaking minority The black majority was ignored or depicted as a threat During South African rule the white bias continued with mentionable influence of the Pretoria government on the South West African media system Independent newspapers were seen as a menace to the existing order and critical journalists were often threatened 195 197 198 Current daily newspapers are the private publications The Namibian English and other languages Die Republikein Afrikaans Allgemeine Zeitung German and Namibian Sun English as well as the state owned New Era predominantly English Except for the largest newspaper The Namibian which is owned by a trust the other mentioned private newspapers are part of Democratic Media Holdings 195 Other mentionable newspapers are the tabloid Informante owned by TrustCo the weekly Windhoek Observer the weekly Namibia Economist as well as the regional Namib Times Current affairs magazines include Insight Namibia Vision2030 Focus magazine citation needed and Prime FOCUS The Sister Namibia magazine stands out as the longest running NGO magazine in Namibia while Namibia Sport is the only national sport magazine Furthermore the print market is complemented with party publications student newspapers and PR publications 195 Radio was introduced in 1969 TV in 1981 The broadcasting sector today is dominated by the state run Namibian Broadcasting Corporation NBC The public broadcaster offers a TV station as well as a National Radio in English and nine language services in locally spoken languages The nine private radio stations in the country are mainly English language channels except for Radio Omulunga Oshiwambo and Kosmos 94 1 Afrikaans Privately held One Africa TV has competed with NBC since the 2000s 195 199 Compared to neighbouring countries Namibia has a large degree of media freedom Over the past years the country usually ranked in the upper quarter of the Press Freedom Index of Reporters without Borders reaching position 21 in 2010 being on par with Canada and the best positioned African country 200 The African Media Barometer shows similarly positive results However as in other countries there is still mentionable influence of representatives of state and economy on media in Namibia 195 In 2009 Namibia dropped to position 36 on the Press Freedom Index 201 In 2013 it was 19th 202 22nd in 2014 203 and 23rd in 2019 204 meaning that it is currently the highest ranked African country in terms of press freedom Media and journalists in Namibia are represented by the Namibian chapter of the Media Institute of Southern Africa and the Editors Forum of Namibia An independent media ombudsman was appointed in 2009 to prevent a state controlled media council 195 Education Edit Secondary school students Main article Education in Namibia See also List of schools in Namibia Namibia has free education for both primary and secondary education levels Grades 1 7 are primary level grades 8 12 are secondary In 1998 there were 400 325 Namibian students in primary school and 115 237 students in secondary schools The pupil teacher ratio in 1999 was estimated at 32 1 with about 8 of the GDP being spent on education Curriculum development educational research and professional development of teachers is centrally organised by the National Institute for Educational Development NIED in Okahandja 205 Among sub Saharan African countries Namibia has one of the highest literacy rates 206 According to CIA World Factbook as of 2018 91 5 of the population age 15 and over can read and write 206 Most schools in Namibia are state run but there are some private schools which are also part of the country s education system There are four teacher training universities three colleges of agriculture a police training college and three universities University of Namibia UNAM International University of Management IUM and Namibia University of Science and Technology NUST Namibia was ranked 100th in the Global Innovation Index in 2021 207 208 209 210 211 See also EditIndex of Namibia related articles Outline of NamibiaReferences EditNotes Edit Communal Land Reform Act Afrikaans PDF Government of Namibia Archived from the original PDF on 25 February 2016 Retrieved 18 February 2016 Communal Land Reform Act German PDF Government of Namibia Retrieved 18 February 2016 permanent dead link Communal Land Reform Act Khoekhoegowab PDF Government of Namibia Archived from the original PDF on 25 February 2016 Retrieved 18 February 2016 Communal Land Reform Act Otjiherero PDF Government of Namibia Retrieved 18 February 2016 permanent dead link Communal Land Reform Act Oshiwambo PDF Government of Namibia Archived from the original PDF on 1 March 2016 Retrieved 18 February 2016 Communal Land Reform Act Rukwangali PDF Government of Namibia Archived from the original PDF on 25 February 2016 Retrieved 18 February 2016 Communal Land Reform Act Setswana PDF Government of Namibia Archived from the original PDF on 25 February 2016 Retrieved 18 February 2016 Communal Land Reform Act Lozi PDF Government of Namibia Archived from the original PDF on 25 February 2016 Retrieved 18 February 2016 Namibia Demographic and Health Survey 2013 PDF The Namibia Ministry of Health and Social Services MoHSS and ICF International September 2014 p 30 Retrieved 5 July 2021 Only people between 15 and 49 years of age were surveyed a b Shugart Matthew Soberg December 2005 Semi Presidential Systems Dual Executive And Mixed Authority Patterns PDF French Politics 3 3 323 351 doi 10 1057 palgrave fp 8200087 S2CID 73642272 Retrieved 4 September 2016 Of the contemporary cases only four provide the assembly majority an unrestricted right to vote no confidence and of these only two allow the president unrestricted authority to appoint the prime minister These two Mozambique and Namibia as well as the Weimar Republic thus resemble most closely the structure of authority depicted in the right panel of Figure 3 whereby the dual accountability of the cabinet to both the president and the assembly is maximized Namibia allows the president to dissolve the assembly at any time but places a novel negative incentive on his exercise of the right He must stand for a new election at the same time as the new assembly elections Census data PDF cms2 my na Retrieved 1 October 2020 a b c d Report for Selected Countries and Subjects IMF org International Monetary Fund Retrieved 29 April 2021 GINI index World Bank estimate data worldbank org World Bank Retrieved 20 January 2019 Human Development Report 2021 2022 PDF United Nations Development Programme 8 September 2022 Retrieved 8 September 2022 Wells John C 2008 Longman Pronunciation Dictionary 3rd ed Longman ISBN 978 1405881180 Roach Peter 2011 Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary 18th ed Cambridge Cambridge University Press ISBN 978 0521152532 Peter Shadbolt 24 October 2012 Namibia country profile moving on from a difficult past CNN a b Spriggs A 2001 Africa Namibia Terrestrial Ecoregions World Wildlife Fund The Man Who Named Namibia Mburumba Kerina The Namibian Retrieved 15 June 2021 Belda Pascal May 2007 Namibia MTH Multimedia S L ISBN 978 84 935202 1 2 Dierks Klaus Biographies of Namibian Personalities A Archived from the original on 15 October 2008 Retrieved 24 June 2010 Dierks Klaus Warmbad becomes two hundred years Klausdierks com Archived from the original on 21 August 2019 Retrieved 22 June 2010 Vedder 1997 p 177 Vedder 1997 p 659 Observador Padrao portugues com 500 anos foi roubado da Namibia no seculo XIX Vai ser devolvido Observador in European Portuguese Retrieved 7 December 2020 a b c Namibia 30 vuotta Suomalaisilla oli merkittava rooli Namibian itsenaistymisessa in Finnish Finnish Evangelical Lutheran Mission 20 March 2020 Retrieved 11 February 2023 German South West Africa Encyclopaedia Britannica Retrieved 15 April 2008 David Olusoga 18 April 2015 Dear Pope Francis Namibia was the 20th century s first genocide The Guardian Retrieved 26 November 2015 Drechsler Horst 1980 The actual number of deaths in the limited number of battles with the Germany Schutztruppe expeditionary force were limited most of the deaths occurred after fighting had ended The German military governor Lothar von Trotha issued an explicit extermination order and many Herero died of disease and abuse in detention camps after being taken from their land A substantial minority of Herero crossed the Kalahari desert into the British colony of Bechuanaland modern day Botswana where a small community continues to live in western Botswana near to border with Namibia Let us die fighting originally published 1966 under the title Sudwestafrika unter deutscher Kolonialherrschaft Berlin Akademie Verlag Adhikari Mohamed 2008 Streams of Blood And Streams of Money New Perspectives on the Annihilation of the Herero and Nama Peoples of Namibia 1904 1908 Kronos 34 34 303 320 JSTOR 41056613 Madley Benjamin 2005 From Africa to Auschwitz How German South West Africa Incubated Ideas and Methods Adopted and Developed by the Nazis in Eastern Europe European History Quarterly 35 3 429 464 doi 10 1177 0265691405054218 S2CID 144290873 says it influenced Nazis Reinhart Kossler and Henning Melber Volkermord und Gedenken Der Genozid an den Herero und Nama in Deutsch Sudwestafrika 1904 1908 Genocide and memory the genocide of the Herero and Nama in German South West Africa 1904 08 Jahrbuch zur Geschichte und Wirkung des Holocaust 2004 37 75 Andrew Meldrum 15 August 2004 German minister says sorry for genocide in Namibia The Guardian Retrieved 26 October 2018 Volkermord an Herero und Nama Abkommen zwischen Deutschland und Namibia German minister says sorry for genocide in Namibia bpb 22 June 2021 Retrieved 24 January 2023 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a Check url value help a b Rajagopal Balakrishnan 2003 International Law from Below Development Social Movements and Third World Resistance Cambridge Cambridge University Press pp 50 68 ISBN 978 0521016711 a b Louis William Roger 2006 Ends of British Imperialism The Scramble for Empire Suez and Decolonization London I B Tauris amp Company Ltd pp 251 261 ISBN 978 1845113476 a b c d Vandenbosch Amry 1970 South Africa and the World The Foreign Policy of Apartheid Lexington University Press of Kentucky pp 207 224 ISBN 978 0813164946 First Ruth 1963 Segal Ronald ed South West Africa Baltimore Penguin Books Incorporated pp 169 193 ISBN 978 0844620619 a b Crawford Neta 2002 Argument and Change in World Politics Ethics Decolonization and Humanitarian Intervention Cambridge Cambridge University Press pp 333 336 ISBN 978 0521002790 a b c Herbstein Denis Evenson John 1989 The Devils Are Among Us The War for Namibia London Zed Books Ltd pp 14 23 ISBN 978 0862328962 a b Muller Johann Alexander 2012 The Inevitable Pipeline Into Exile Botswana s Role in the Namibian Liberation Struggle Basel Switzerland Basler Afrika Bibliographien Namibia Resource Center and Southern Africa Library pp 36 41 ISBN 978 3905758290 Kangumu Bennett 2011 Contesting Caprivi A History of Colonial Isolation and Regional Nationalism in Namibia Basel Basler Afrika Bibliographien Namibia Resource Center and Southern Africa Library pp 143 153 ISBN 978 3905758221 Dobell Lauren 1998 Swapo s Struggle for Namibia 1960 1991 War by Other Means Basel P Schlettwein Publishing Switzerland pp 27 39 ISBN 978 3908193029 a b c Yusuf Abdulqawi 1994 African Yearbook of International Law Volume I The Hague Martinus Nijhoff Publishers pp 16 34 ISBN 978 0 7923 2718 9 Peter Abbott Helmoed Romer Heitman Paul Hannon 1991 Modern African Wars 3 South West Africa Osprey Publishing pp 5 13 ISBN 978 1 85532 122 9 permanent dead link Williams Christian October 2015 National Liberation in Postcolonial Southern Africa A Historical Ethnography of SWAPO s Exile Camps Cambridge Cambridge University Press pp 73 89 ISBN 978 1107099340 Hughes Geraint 2014 My Enemy s Enemy Proxy Warfare in International Politics Brighton Sussex Academic Press pp 73 86 ISBN 978 1845196271 Bertram Christoph 1980 Prospects of Soviet Power in the 1980s Basingstoke Palgrave Books pp 51 54 ISBN 978 1349052592 Vanneman Peter 1990 Soviet Strategy in Southern Africa Gorbachev s Pragmatic Approach Stanford Hoover Institution Press pp 41 57 ISBN 978 0817989026 a b Dreyer Ronald 1994 Namibia and Southern Africa Regional Dynamics of Decolonization 1945 90 London Kegan Paul International pp 73 87 100 116 192 ISBN 978 0710304711 Shultz Richard 1988 Soviet Union and Revolutionary Warfare Principles Practices and Regional Comparisons Stanford California Hoover Institution Press pp 121 123 140 145 ISBN 978 0817987114 Sechaba Tsepo Ellis Stephen 1992 Comrades Against Apartheid The ANC amp the South African Communist Party in Exile Bloomington Indiana University Press pp 184 187 ISBN 978 0253210623 James III W Martin 2011 1992 A Political History of the Civil War in Angola 1974 1990 New Brunswick Transaction Publishers pp 207 214 239 245 ISBN 978 1 4128 1506 2 a b Sitkowski Andrzej 2006 UN peacekeeping myth and reality Westport Connecticut Greenwood Publishing Group pp 80 86 ISBN 978 0 275 99214 9 Clairborne John 7 April 1989 SWAPO Incursion into Namibia Seen as Major Blunder by Nujoma The Washington Post Washington DC Retrieved 18 February 2018 Colletta Nat Kostner Markus Wiederhofer Indo 1996 Case Studies of War To Peace Transition The 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