Introduction

• Official name: Republic of Namibia• Surface area: 824 268 km²• Population: ~ 2.1 Million• Motto: Unity, Liberty, Justice• Capital: Windhoek• Geographic location: south-western part of Africa• Independence: 21 March 1990• Government: Presidential republic• Current president: Hage Geingob• Official Language: English• Other Languages: Oshiwambo, Afrikaans, Nama, Damara, Otjiherero, German, Rukwangali, Setswana,

and others.• Major Ethnic Groups: Owambo, Kwangali, Damara, Herero, Nama, San, Afrikaner, German, and others.

Economy •Currency: Namibian dollar (NAD)•GDP: $17.79 billion (2013)•GDP growth: 4.4% (2014)•GDP per capita: $8,200 (2013) •GDP by sector: agriculture: 9.5%, mining: 12.5%, manufacturing: 15.4% (2007), Tourism: 14.5%•Inflation (CPI): 7.1% (2011)•Population below poverty line: 34.9% of the population live on $1 per day and 55.8% live on $2 per day•Labour force: 955,745 •Labour force by occupation: agriculture: 47%, industry: 20%, services: 33% (1999 est.)•Main industries: meatpacking, fish processing, dairy products; mining (diamonds, lead, zinc, tin, silver, tungsten, uranium, copper)•Exports $2.04 billion f.o.b. (2005 est.)•Export goods: diamonds, copper, gold, zinc, lead, uranium; cattle, processed fish, karakul skins•Imports $2.35 billion f.o.b. (2005 est.)•Import goods: foodstuffs; petroleum products and fuel, machinery and equipment, chemicals

INDUSTRIESAgriculture • Agriculture in Namibia contributes around 9.5% of the national Gross Domestic Product though

25% to 40% of Namibians depend on subsistence agriculture and herding. Primary products included livestock and meat products, crop farming and forestry. Only 2% of Namibia's land receives sufficient rainfall to grow crops. As all inland rivers are ephemeral, irrigation is only possible in the valleys of the border rivers Orange, Kunene, and Okavango.

• Although Namibian agriculture--excluding fishing--contributed between 9.5% and 12% of Namibia's GDP, a large percentage of the Namibian population depends on agricultural activities for livelihood, mostly in the subsistence sector. Animal products, live animals, and crop exports constituted roughly 10.7% of total Namibian exports. The government encourages local sourcing of agriculture products. Retailers of fruits, vegetables, and other crop products must purchase 27.5% of their stock from local farmers.

• In the largely white-dominated commercial sector, agriculture consists primarily of livestock ranching. There are about 4,000 commercial farms in Namibia, 3,000 of which are owned by whites. Cattle raising is predominant in the central and northern regions, while karakul sheep and goat farming are concentrated in the more arid southern regions. Subsistence farming is mainly confined to the "communal lands" of the country's populous north, where roaming cattle herds are prevalent and the main crops are millet, sorghum, corn, and peanuts. Table grapes, grown mostly along the Orange River in the country's arid south, are becoming an increasingly important commercial crop and a significant employer of seasonal labor.

Mining

• Mining is the biggest contributor to Namibia's economy in terms of revenue. It accounts for 25% of the country's income. Its contribution to the gross domestic product is also very important and makes it one of the largest economic sectors of the country. The majority of revenue (12.5% of GDP) comes from diamond mining.

• Copper• Lead and Zinc• Cement• Diamond• Uranium

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 annum. The country is among the prime destinations in Africa and is known for ecotourism which features Namibia's extensive wildlife.

• There are many lodges and reserves to accommodate eco-tourists. Sport 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 US dollars, with Namibia boasting numerous species sought after by international sport hunters. In addition, extreme sports such as sandboarding, skydiving and 4x4ing have become popular, and many cities have companies that provide tours. The most visited places include the Caprivi Strip, Fish River Canyon, Sossusvlei, the Skeleton Coast Park, Sesriem, Etosha Pan and the coastal towns of Swakopmund, Walvis Bay and Lüderitz etc.

Etosha national park• Etosha National Park ranks as one of the world’s great

wildlife-viewing venues. Its unique nature is encapsulated by the vast Etosha pan – an immense, flat, saline desert that, for a few days each year, is converted by the rains into a shallow lagoon teeming with flamingos and pelicans. In contrast, the surrounding bush and grasslands provide habitat for Etosha’s diverse wildlife. And what wildlife there is – if you’ve had a taste of African wildlife watching previously, you are likely to be mesmerised by it here.

Skeleton coast

• This treacherous coast – a foggy region with rocky and sandy coastal shallows – has long been a graveyard for unwary ships and their crews, hence its forbidding name. Early Portuguese sailors called it As Areias do Inferno (The Sands of Hell), as once a ship washed ashore, the fate of the crew was sealed. This protected area stretches from Sandwich Harbour, south of Swakopmund, to the Kunene River, taking in around 2 million hectares of dunes and gravel plains to form one of the world’s most inhospitable waterless areas.

Fish river canyon

• Nowhere else in Africa will you find anything quite like Fish River Canyon. Despite the seeming enormity of this statement, the numbers don’t lie: the canyon measures 160km in length and up to 27km in width, and the dramatic inner canyon reaches a depth of 550m. Although these figures by themselves are impressive, it’s difficult to get a sense of perspective without actually witnessing the enormous scope of the canyon. In order to do this, you will need to embark on a monumental five-day hike that traverses half the length of the canyon, and ultimately tests the limits of your physical and mental endurance. Your reward, however, will be the chance to tackle one of Namibia’s, and indeed, one of Africa’s, greatest natural wonders.

• Fish River Canyon is part of the |Ai- |Ais Richtersveld Transfrontier Park, one of an increasing number of ‘peace’ or cross-border parks in southern Africa. Straddling southern Namibia and South Africa (and measuring 6045 sq km) it boasts one of the most species-rich, arid zones in the world. It also encompasses Richtersveld National Park (in South Africa) and the Orange River valley.

Sossusvlei

• Appropriate for this vast country with its epic landscapes – its number one tourist attraction – Sossusvlei still manages to feel isolated. The dunes, appearing other-worldly at times, especially when the light hits them just so, are part of the 32,000 sq km sand sea that covers much of the region. The dunes reach as high as 325m, and are part of one of the oldest and driest ecosystems on earth. However, the landscape here is constantly changing – wind forever alters the shape of the dunes, while colours shift with the changing light, reaching the peak of their brilliance just after sunrise.

• The gateway to Sossusvlei is Sesriem (Six Thongs), which was the number of joined leather ox-wagon thongs necessary to draw water from the bottom of the nearby gorge. Sesriem remains a lonely and far-flung outpost, home to little more than a petrol station and a handful of tourist hotels and lodges.

Caprivi strip

• Namibia’s spindly northeastern appendage, the Caprivi Strip is typified by expanses of mopane and terminalia broadleaf forest, and punctuated by shonas or fossilised parallel dunes that are the remnants of a drier climate. For most travellers, the Caprivi serves as the easiest access route connecting the main body of Namibia with Victoria Falls and Botswana’s Chobe National Park. However, visitors with time and patience can get off the beaten path here, exploring such hidden gems as Mudumu, Mamili and Bwabwata national parks.

People and culture Owambo

• The Ovambo (Ambo or Aawambo) are a Bantu ethnic group in Namibia and Angola.The Ovambo people are approximately one million people, including 713 000 in Namibia.

The Ovambo alone constitute half the population of Namibia.Most live in the north, near the border with Angola (Ovamboland), living on both Across the Cunene River which forms the border between the two countries and up To Okavango, where they practice the agriculture and cattle ranching.They are also very active in the Namibian capital, Windhoek.

They consist of 7 distinct tribes.The most numerous are the Kwanyama, the Ndongo, and the Kwambi Kafima.

Kavango

• The Kavangos are an ethnic group in northern Namibia, living near the border with Angola.Numbering about 120,000, they represent 9.3% of the population in the early 2000s.The Kavangos form the second largest ethnic group in the country.They mainly live in the north to the border with Angola.They are traditionally farmers, fishermen and wood carvers.Divided into five kingdoms, Kavangos arrived in Namibia in the sixteenth century with the push Bantu in South West Africa.Each of these kingdoms Kavangos is headed by a Hompa or fumu.It is a matriarchal society and Christian like the Ovambo. Their language is RuKwangali Kavango territory but each is a particular dialect.Only RuKwangali is written.During the civil war in Angola in 1975, many refugees (Nyemba) settled in Kavangoland.

Herero

• The Herero live in the area of Omaheke.the Herero population is proud of where women still wear dresses and colorful Victorian selling dolls in their own image to tourists.The Herero are a people of African Bantu language group speaking Herero, currently consisting of approximately 320 000 people (164 000 Namibia 135 000 21 000 Angola and Botswana).So most of them live in Namibia, a few groups in Botswana and others in Angola, where they occupy low-skilled jobs for rural laborers, or servants or street vendors for city dwellers

• In 1904, the Herero rose against the German colonization of their territory (South-West Africa).They were then victims of harsh repression under General Lothar von Trotha, author of an extermination order against them.Thus, between 1904 and 1911, the Herero people of South West Africa increased from 80 000 to 15 000 individuals.

San/Bushmen

• The Bushmen are the oldest inhabitants of Southern Africa where they lived for at least 20,000 years.Their habitat is the vast desert of the Kalahari and Bushmanland.They are defined as "those who follow the lightning" moving based on rainfall to feed on fruit, roots and game.Today, the Bushmen have largely been able to maintain a traditional lifestyle. 

• They are grouped in small villages of huts in the vast plains of Bushmanland.Namibia still has 27 000 Bushmen (or Bushmen) representing 3% of the total population, Botswana (55 000) and South Africa (10 000).They are neither black nor white, and rock carvings that testify They occupied the country for thousands? Years, well before arrival of all other peoples, especially the Bantus, who have emerged that from the fifteenth century.Only some 2,000 Bushmen maintain Today, as the hero of 'Gods Must Be Crazy ", their ancestral way of life, in the Kalahari Desert in East of the country. They only have what they can carry, using poisoned arrowheads for hunting, and transport layer of water in eggs of ostrich empt

Himba

• The Himba are a Bantu Herero of Namibia related to living mainly in the Kaokoveld (Forest Kaoko).Some 10,000 Himba live on 30,000 square kilometers of Kaokoland in Namibia, with about 3000 others dwell on the Angolan side of the Cunene River "Epupa Falls" which forms the border between the two countries over almost 200 km.Like all frontiers inherited from colonial times, those of Namibia badly respect the ethnic distribution.Peoples Herero , Ovambo and Bushmen are also divided between the former German colony (South West Africa) and neighboring states:Angola, Botswana and South Africa . 

Pictures and people

THE END

Compiled by: Justus I Haikali