Namibia (officially Republic of Namibia) is a country in southern
Africa between Angola, Botswana, Zambia, South Africa and the
Atlantic Ocean. A four-country corner in the northeast is just
missed, as the border with Zimbabwe is about 40 meters away.
The capital and largest city of Namibia is Windhoek. The country has
been a member of the United Nations (UN), the Southern African
Development Community (SADC), the Southern African Customs Union
(SACU), the African Union (AU) and the Commonwealth of Nations since
1990 (Resolution 652).
The arid landscape was originally
inhabited by the San ("Bushmen") and Damara peoples. From around the
14th century, Bantu migrated to the country as part of the Bantu
migration. The area of present-day Namibia became a protectorate of
the German Empire in 1884 and remained a German colony called
Deutsch-Südwestafrika until the end of World War I. In the years
1904 to 1908, the German colonial power violently suppressed the
Herero and Nama uprising and committed genocide in the process. In
1920 the League of Nations placed Namibia under a South African
mandate - effectively a South African colony - which introduced its
own laws, such as those on apartheid, into Namibia.
In the
course of the Namibian liberation struggle on March 21, 1990,
Namibia gained independence from South Africa – with the exception
of Walvis Bay and the Penguin Islands, which were under South
African control until 1994. March 21 has been the country's national
holiday ever since.
Due to the large area of the Namib,
Namibia is only sparsely populated. The country has about 2.3
million inhabitants. 18 percent of the population live below the
Namibian poverty line (as of November 2016), compared to 28.7
percent in 2009. Namibia has a stable parliamentary democracy.
The Namibian economy is strongly characterized by agriculture,
tourism and mining (uranium, gold, silver and base metals).
Geography
Namibia lies between 17.87°
and 29.98° south latitude and 12° and 25° east longitude in the tropics
and subtropics.
Namibia is bordered by the Kalahari to the east
towards Botswana, the Orange River to the south towards South Africa,
the South Atlantic to the west and the Kunene and the Okavango to the
north towards Angola. In the north-east there is also a finger of land
about 450 km long and up to 50 km wide between the countries bordering
Angola and Zambia to the north and Botswana to the south - the Caprivi
Strip, which is bordered in the east by the Zambezi and the lower
reaches of the Kwando.
In addition to the border rivers
mentioned, there are numerous other rivers, none of which are guaranteed
to have water all year round. Outside of the rainy season there are only
dry riverbeds (Riviere).
The entire national territory of Namibia
covers about 824,292 square kilometers. The landscape of Namibia is
essentially characterized by two deserts, in the west by the Namib,
which extends from the South African province of North Cape to Angola,
and in the east by the Kalahari. Between the two deserts lies the inland
highland, which has an average height of 1700 meters and around the
capital Windhoek also exceeds the 2000 meter mark. One of the most
striking mountains is the Etjo, but the highest mountain is the 2600
meter high Königstein in the Brandberg massif, near the coast, about 200
kilometers north of the coastal town of Swakopmund. In the east, the
inland highlands gradually merge into the Kalahari highlands, which are
about 1200 meters high and are covered by dry vegetation.
Geology
The area of today's Namibia is
considered to be one of the oldest parts of the earth's crust. Long
before the supercontinent Gondwana was formed, two shelves formed in
what is now Africa more than two billion years ago: the Congo craton and
the Kalahari craton. The latter includes large parts of present-day
Namibia. About 550 million years ago, various tectonic processes created
a huge, contiguous mainland area that included today's (partial)
continents of Africa, South America, Australia, India and Antarctica:
Gondwana.
About 150 million years ago, this supercontinent
gradually began to break up and drift apart into the continents we know
today. The special climatic conditions in South West Africa that lasted
for millions of years meant that many geological structures, processes
and phenomena were particularly well preserved and can therefore still
be observed today. Ultimately, this also includes the Namib, which can
therefore be considered the oldest desert in the world.
The average climate of Namibia is hot and dry. The largely arid
climate is subtropical continental. There are big differences between
the individual parts of the country:
Rainfall is extremely rare
in the Namib west of the demolition zone. A warm, strong wind blows all
year round. Even in winter, temperatures often reach 25°C and more. In
the hottest summer months, December and January, temperatures are
usually well above 30°C, while in the coldest months, July and August,
they can drop to freezing point at night, but then rise again to around
25°C during the day. Temperature jumps of more than 20 °C within a few
hours can be expected in the mornings and evenings, especially in
winter. In the inland highlands, due to the high altitude, there can
even be frost at night and, in very rare years, snowfall. During the day
it is not quite as hot there as in the desert. The situation in the
Kalahari is similar to that in the Namib. Precipitation is somewhat more
frequent, but still rare, as is typical for deserts.
The area
between the Namib and the Atlantic is one of the regions in the world
with the best climate for astronomical observations. The astro camps set
up there are therefore visited by many astronomers, especially for the
purpose of sky photography.
The climate of the Atlantic coast, in
turn, is determined by the cold Benguela Current. This cools down the
prevailing south-west wind considerably, which prevents the formation of
(rain) clouds as a result of condensation and regularly creates a dense
persistent fog near the ground. In the summer it is pleasantly cool here
and in the winter months it can sometimes be cold during the day. The
water temperature rarely reaches more than 15 °C.
The Caprivi
Strip, on the other hand, is characterized by mostly reliable
precipitation in the rainy season. These have given rise to an extensive
river system and a subtropical savannah forest. In contrast to the other
parts of the country, the humidity here is relatively high.
In
the central highlands, which cover most of Namibia, summer rains are
prevalent, meaning irregular but occasionally very heavy rains can be
expected between November and April; the extreme south, on the other
hand, lies in the winter rain area, so that rain falls – if at all –
mainly in the months of June and July. Despite the irregularity of
rainfall in terms of frequency and yield, it increases significantly,
starting from the south with less than 50 mm per year towards the
north-east with up to 600 mm per year, which, however, does not rule out
regional dry periods lasting several years.
Due to the special
climatic conditions, agricultural use of the land is only possible to a
limited extent: in the highlands mainly cattle breeding (in the north
more cattle, in the south more sheep and goats), in the relatively rainy
north also arable farming. A special feature of the Namib are the dunes
in the Sossusvlei area. At well over 400 meters high, the star dunes are
among the highest in the world. The attraction of this dune landscape is
not only in its height, but above all in its play of colors, which
depends on the moisture content and the position of the sun.