Namibia

Major Cities of Namibia in the continent of Africa

Windhoek • Rundu • Walvis Bay • Helao Nafidi • Oshakati • Swakopmund • Katima Mulilo • Grootfontein • Rehoboth • Otjiwarongo • Okahandja • Gobabis • Keetmanshoop • Luderit • Mariental •

Namibia Photo Gallery

Namibia Realty

---

---

THE NIMIBIA COAT OF ARMS

Location of Namibia within the continent of Africa

300px Map of Namibia

Description of Flag:

Wars of ancient history were about possessions, territory, power, control, family, betrayal, lover's quarrel, politics and sometimes religion. But we are in the Modern era and supposedly more educated and enlightened . Think about this. Don't just brush off these questions. Why is RELIGION still involved in WARS? Isn't religion supposed to be about PEACE? Ask yourself; What religion always campaign to have its religious laws be accepted as government laws, always involved in wars and consistently causing WARS, yet insists that it's a religion of peace? WHY?? There are only two kinds of people who teach tolerance: The Bullies. They want you to tolerate them so they can continue to maliciously deprive you. Do not believe these bullies teaching tolerance, saying that it’s the path to prevent hatred and prejudice. The victims who are waiting for the right moment to retaliate. They can’t win yet, so they tolerate.

Official name Republic of Namibia
Form of government republic with two legislative houses (National Council [26]; National Assembly [721])
Head of state and government President: Hifikepunye Pohamba
Capital Windhoek
Official language English
Official religion none
Monetary unit Namibian dollar (N$)
Population (2013 est.) 2,160,000COLLAPSE
Total area (sq mi) 318,772
Total area (sq km) 825,615
Urban-rural population

Urban: (2012) 39.2%

Rural: (2012) 60.8%

Life expectancy at birth

Male: (2012) 52.5 years

Female: (2012) 51.9 years

Literacy: percentage of population age 15 and over literate

Male: (2010) 89%

Female: (2010) 88.5%

GNI per capita (U.S.$) (2013) 5,840

About Namibia

The San are generally assumed to have been the earliest inhabitants of the region. Later inhabitants include the Nama and the Damara or Berg Dama. The Bantu-speaking Ovambo and Herero migrated from the north in about the 14th century A.D.

Namibia, officially Republic of Namibia, also called (internationally until 1968) South West Africa, Afrikaans Namibië, or Suidwesafrica, country located on the southwestern coast of Africa. It is bordered by Angola to the north, Zambia to the northeast, Botswana to the east, South Africa to the southeast and south, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west. It ranges from arid in the north to desert on the coast and in the east. The landscape is spectacular, but the desert, mountains, canyons, and savannas are perhaps better to see than to occupy.

The only permanent rivers are the Kunene (Cunene), the Okavango (Cubango), the Mashi (Kwando), and the Zambezi on the northern border and the Orange on the southern. Only the northern frontier—and not all of it—is readily passable. The coastal Namib desert, the treacherous reefs and shoals of the coast (half aptly named the “Skeleton Coast”), the near deserts along the Orange River, and the dry Kalahari region to the east explain the late conquest of Namibia and form a geographic frame around the country.

Roughly rectangular (600 by 300 to 450 miles [965 by 480 to 725 kilometres]), Namibia has a long, narrow eastern extension (the Caprivi Strip) based on a German misconception that access to the Zambezi—despite the Victoria Falls—meant access to the Indian Ocean.

After 106 years of German and South African rule, Namibia became independent on March 21, 1990, under a democratic multiparty constitution. The capital of the country is Windhoek.

Geography of Namibia

The Land

Relief

Namibia is divided from west to east into three main topographic zones: the coastal Namib desert, the Central Plateau, and the Kalahari. The Namib is partly rocky and partly (in the central stretch) dunes. While having complex flora and fauna, it is a fragile and sparsely covered environment unsuitable for pastoral or agricultural activities. Diamonds (probably washed down from the Basotho highlands by the Orange River) and uranium are found at Oranjemund in the south and Arandis in the centre. The Namib, 50 to 80 miles wide over most of its length, is constricted in the north where the Kaokoveld, the western mountain scarp of the Central Plateau, abuts on the sea.

The Central Plateau, which varies in altitude from 3,200 to 6,500 feet (975 to 1,980 metres), is the core of the agricultural life of Namibia. In the north it abuts on the Kunene and Okavango river valleys and in the south on the Orange. Largely savanna and scrub, it is somewhat more wooded in parts of the north and is broken throughout by hills, mountains, ravines (including the massive Fish River Canyon), and salt pans (notably the Etosha Pan). Brandberg, also known as Mount Brand (8,442 feet [2,573 metres]), is Namibia’s highest mountain and is located along the plateau’s western escarpment.

In the east, Namibia slopes gradually downward, and the savanna merges into the Kalahari. In the north, hardpan and rock beneath the sand, in addition to more abundant river water and rainfall, make both herding and cultivation possible.

Drainage and soils

As noted, only the border rivers are permanent. The Swakop and Kuiseb rivers rise on the plateau, descend the western escarpment, and die out in the Namib (except in rare flood years, when they reach the sea at Swakopmund and Walvis Bay, respectively). The Fish (Vis) River rises in the Central Plateau and (seasonally) flows south to the Orange. Various lesser rivers rise on the plateau and die out downstream in the Namib or Kalahari desert.

Namibia’s soils range from barren sand and rock to low-quality sand-dominated to relatively fertile soils. The best soils are in the north, in the Otavi Mountains, in parts of the central and southern portions of the plateau, and in the Caprivi Strip. Water—not soil fertility—is the primary constraint on agriculture. Both in the densely populated Ovambo region in the north and in the commercial farming areas, overuse of land has reduced tree and bush cover, compacted soils, led to serious erosion, and lowered the water table by as much as 100 feet in the 20th century.

Climate

Namibia is located on the southern margin of the tropics and has distinct seasons. The coast is cooled by the Benguela Current (which carries with it the country’s rich and recovering fish stocks) and averages less than 2 inches (50 millimetres) of rainfall annually. The Central Plateau and the Kalahari have wide diurnal temperature ranges, more than 50° F (30° C) on summer days and less than 20° F (10° C) in winter. In Windhoek, on the plateau, the average temperature for December is 75° F (24° C), and the average maximum 88° F (31° C). In July these averages are 55° F (13° C) and 68° F (20° C), respectively. Humidity is normally low, and rainfall increases from about 10 inches (250 millimetres) on the southern and western parts of the plateau to about 20 inches in the north-central part and more than 24 inches on the Caprivi Strip and Otavi Mountains. However, rainfall is highly variable, and multiyear droughts are common. In the north and adjacent to mountains, groundwater is as important as—but only slightly less variable than—rainfall. Kalahari rainfall—in its Namibian portion—is not radically different from that of the plateau, but, except in the northern Karstveld and isolated artesian areas, groundwater is less available.

Plant and animal life

Both the Namib and Kalahari deserts are characterized by exotic, fragile desert plants. The mountains are sparsely wooded, and the plateau is predominantly scrub bush and grass. Trees are much more frequent in the north. Varieties of aloe are common throughout the plateau and the less sandy portions of the Kalahari.

Namibia is richly endowed with game, albeit poaching has seriously diminished it in parts of the north. Throughout the ranching zone, game (notably antelope and giraffes) coexists with cattle and sheep. The Etosha Pan in the north is a major game area and tourist attraction.

Namibia has established several parks and reserves to celebrate and protect its rich plant and animal life. These include Etosha National Park, Skeleton Coast Park, Namib Naukluft Park, and Sperrgebiet National Park. |Ai-|Ais and Fish River Canyon Park, along Namibia’s southern border, merged with South Africa’s Richtersveld National Park in 2003 to form the |Ai-|Ais–Richtersveld Transfrontier Park.

Settlement patterns

Less than 1 percent of the country is estimated to be arable, though almost two-thirds is suitable for pastoralism. Wasteland (mountain and desert) and bush or wooded savanna, plus a small forest zone, constitute the remainder.

About half of the entire population live in the far north, roughly 15 percent in the commercial ranching areas north and south of Windhoek, 10 percent in central and southern ex-black homelands, more than 10 percent in Greater Windhoek, and the remainder in coastal towns and inland mining towns. More than one-third of the total population live in urban areas. Namibia’s population is young—some two-fifths are 16 years of age or younger—and is growing at a relatively modest rate compared with those of other African countries.

Demography of Namibia

The people

• Ethnic and linguistic composition

About 85 percent of Namibians are black, 5 percent of European ancestry, and 10 percent, in South African terminology, Coloured (Cape Coloured, Nama, and Rehobother). Of the black majority, about two-thirds are Ovambo, with the Kavango, the Herero, the Damara, and the Caprivian peoples following in population size. Other ethnic groups have much smaller populations. Afrikaners and Germans constitute two-thirds and one-fifth of the European population, respectively. Most ethnic Europeans are Namibian citizens, though some have retained South African citizenship.

English is the national language, though it is the home language of only about 3 percent of the population. Ovambo languages are spoken by more than 80 percent of the population, followed by Nama-Damara with about 6 percent. Kavango and Caprivian languages and Herero, as well as Afrikaans, constitute about 4 percent of home languages. Many Namibians speak two or more indigenous languages and at least a little of two of the three European languages (English, Afrikaans, German) in common use.

• Religion

Some 80 to 90 percent of the population at least formally adheres to a Christian confession. The largest denominations are two Lutheran churches, which together encompass about one-half the total population. Roman Catholics comprise another one-fifth of the population, while the Dutch Reformed and Anglican denominations make up about 5 percent each. There are also smaller groups belonging to the African Methodist Episcopal, Methodist, and Presbyterian churches.

• Demographics

Namibia’s annual rate of population growth is approximately 3 percent. The average life expectancy is about 55 years. Infant mortality remains a serious problem, but the overall rate is about average for countries in southern Africa and is below that of most countries in sub-Saharan Africa. Like almost all other human welfare indicators, the black-white disparity in demographics is very high—a legacy, in large part, of the South African occupation regime’s practice of apartheid. Internal migration is primarily from rural to urban areas, a result of rural poverty, war dislocation, and removal of residence restrictions. Many exiles have returned to the country since independence, while some 10,000 Europeans and almost as many black South African hired troops and auxiliaries have departed.

Economy of Namibia

Nominally Namibia is a lower-middle-income economy with a per capita gross domestic product (GDP) that is significantly above average for countries in sub-Saharan Africa. But that summary is misleading. Only one-quarter of all Namibians and only one-sixth of black Namibians have adequate incomes; up to two-thirds live in abject poverty with limited access to public services. Economic growth remains problematic because of a shrinking productive sector, lack of capital stock, and severe world market problems for base metals and uranium oxide. Furthermore, the prudent fiscal policy instituted by the government after independence means that, unless foreign assistance commitments rapidly turn into large actual inflows and private external investment in mining, manufacturing, and fishing emerges, the one segment of the GDP that grew rapidly in the 1980s will decline. Superimposed on these factors are near-stagnant wage employment and the collapse of the local economy that arose owing to the presence of South African troops and, later, UNTAG units in the northern towns.

• Agriculture and fishing

Commercial farming (undertaken predominantly by white settlers) is concentrated on the production of karakul sheep and beef for export. It has been damaged by drought and drops in world prices, but in the early 1990s karakul prices, a commitment by the European Community (EC) to purchase beef, and relatively good weather improved short-term prospects. Crop raising is a distinctly secondary activity on commercial farms, but it is almost coequal with livestock production on small African family farms (many of which operate at sub-subsistence level and are headed by women) in the north. Rural development efforts aimed at small farmers and a 1991 land conference to explore land policy point to agricultural improvements in favour of black (and female) farmers, but major results are expected only in the medium term. The 11 percent of GDP produced by the agricultural sector contrasts sharply with the 35 percent of Namibians dependent on it for employment.

Fishing is limited by depleted stocks. Better conservation controls and a 200-mile exclusive economic zone have improved its outlook. By 1990 it accounted for more than 3 percent of the GDP and could triple in real terms by the year 2000.

• Industry

Mining is central to the economy: it accounts for just under 30 percent of the GDP, though less than 10 percent of the labour force is employed in this sector. Diamonds, uranium oxide, and base metals dominate mining; however, gold and natural gas are increasingly significant, and oil production (offshore and in the Etosha basin) is potentially so. Namibia supplies about 30 percent of the world diamond output, but the value of this contribution varies with world prices. Uranium production is also important, but the key Tsumeb/Matchless mine complex near Windhoek faces problems in reaching new ore bodies, and new mines are needed to avert loss of output in the medium term. Other important minerals include tin, lithium, lead, cadmium, zinc, copper, tungsten, and silver. While the offshore Kudo natural gas field is proven, development will be costly. The appropriate uses appear to be domestic ammonia-urea production or sale to South Africa.

Manufacturing produces about 5 percent of the GDP. It is dominated by meat and fish processing, brewing, and light engineering work (especially metal fabrication). Strategic growth areas include light engineering, building materials, and salt- and natural-gas-based chemical processing, plus import substitution and consumer goods.

Tourism began to expand in the 1990s, and, given the beauty and diversity of the landscape—especially on the coast, at Etosha, and in the Fish River Canyon—its development may be significant.

• Finance and trade

Two commercial banks, First National Bank of Southern Africa and Standard Bank Namibia (subsidiaries of South African parent companies), account for most banking business. Reorganization of land, housing, and development banks was begun after independence. The Central Bank of Namibia launched an independent currency, the Namibian dollar, to replace the South African rand in the mid-1990s.

Exports constitute up to 90 percent of the goods produced. Diamonds; uranium oxide; meats, furs, and other animal products; base metals; fish; and gold are shipped to the United States, South Africa, Japan, and western Europe. Imports originate predominantly in South Africa as a result of long-standing business links, proximity, and, until 1992, Namibia’s membership in the Southern African Customs Union. Major imports include food, consumer goods, fuel, and capital goods.

• Transportation

Transportation is dominated by Trans-Namib, a public-sector rail, road, and airline operator. Transport infrastructure is reasonably good, with main routes through the Caprivi Strip (and thence to Zambia and Zimbabwe) and to Botswana being upgraded. Air Namibia flies to national and regional destinations and to Europe. There is an international airport at Windhoek. A handful of large road-transport companies compete with larger numbers of small haulers.

Government and Society of Namibia

• Government

Namibia is a republic. The country’s constitution, which took effect at independence in 1990 and has since been amended, is highly rights-conscious and aimed at achieving a durable separation of powers. Executive power is vested in the president, who serves as head of state and government and is directly elected to a five-year term, the vice president, who is appointed by the president, and the cabinet, which consists of the prime minister and other ministers who are also appointed by the president.

Legislative power is vested in the bicameral Parliament. The National Assembly is constituted to initiate and pass legislation. It consists of 96 members who are directly elected to five-year terms under universal adult suffrage and up to 8 members who are appointed by the president and do not have voting rights. The second house, the National Council, serves in an advisory capacity on legislative matters and comprises three representatives from each of Namibia’s 14 administrative regions. National Council members are elected by Regional Councils and serve six-year terms.

The judicial system comprises the Supreme Court, the High Court, and lower courts.

Internationally, Namibia hastened to join regional organizations (e.g., the Southern African Development Coordination Conference and the Organization of African Unity, now the African Union) as well as global bodies (the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the EC Lomé Conventions, and the Commonwealth). Its relations with South Africa have been pragmatic and surprisingly noncontentious (on the South African side as well).

• Education

The government offers seven years of primary education and five years of secondary education. Primary education is compulsory and may be completed between the ages 6 and 16. More than 80 percent of all children of age for primary education are enrolled in school—a figure higher than that in many African countries.

With more than 80 percent of its adult population literate, Namibia has one of the highest rates of literacy in sub-Saharan Africa. Various informal adult education programs have been implemented to combat the remaining illiteracy. Higher education is provided by the University of Namibia and the Polytechnic of Namibia, both located in Windhoek, and four teacher-training colleges.

• Health and welfare

Most Namibians are poor—about half of the population falls below the poverty line—and nutritional standards are low. Undernutrition and malnutrition are problematic, especially among children. Formal wage employment engages less than half of the workforce, and unemployment is high. An unfortunate legacy of Namibia’s colonial past is apparent in the income disparity between blacks and whites, whose average incomes are several times higher than those of black Namibians.

Namibia has one of the best health care systems in Africa, as measured by both its population-to-doctor and its population-to-hospital-bed ratios. Emphasis is placed on primary and preventative health services, and the country’s system of regional hospitals and mobile clinics has attempted to raise the level of services available in rural locations.

The AIDS epidemic is a serious problem in Namibia. The country has one of the highest infection rates in the world: by 2000 one in five adults was infected, and the number of HIV/AIDS cases overwhelmed the government’s health care system. To curb the spread of the disease, the government developed prevention and treatment strategies and in 2003 began offering free antiretroviral treatment.

Women and children, being the most disadvantaged groups, have received special attention in social policy. In the case of women, ending legal and social discrimination and improving access to education, land, and employment are stated goals toward which some action has begun. The government has also sought to meet the child health, education, nutrition, and other goals adopted by the 1990 World Summit on Children. ---

Politics

The head of state is the president, elected by popular vote every five years. The government is headed by the prime minister, who, together with his cabinet, is appointed by the president. SWAPO is still the country's largest party, winning fifty-five seats in the National Assembly in the 2004 election. President Hifikepunye Pohamba, who took office in 2005 after winning 76 percent of the vote, is one of the founders of SWAPO and a longtime confidant of the first president, Sam Nujoma. Most observers said there had been few irregularities in the voting, but some criticized the inefficient vote tabulation system and the unequal access to media coverage and campaign financing by opposition parties. The government controls the principal mass media and intimidates journalists into practicing self-censorship.

Namibia's bicameral parliament consists of the National Council with 26 seats, occupied by two members chosen from each regional council to serve six-year terms; and the National Assembly of 78 seats, of which 72 are elected by popular vote and six non-voting members are appointed by the president. All 78 serve five-year terms.

The Assembly is the primary legislative body, with the Council playing an advisory role. The 1990 constitution is noted for being one of the first to include provisions for the protection of the environment. The highest judicial body is the Supreme Court, whose judges are appointed by the president.

Namibia is divided into thirteen regions and subdivided into 102 constituencies.

Human Rights

The U.S. State Department's 2005 report on human rights cited the following problems in Namibia:

security forces' use of excessive force, which resulted in deaths and injuries; arbitrary arrests, lengthy pretrial detentions, and long delays during trials; government attempts to curb media and other criticism; violence against women and children, including rape and child abuse; discrimination against women, ethnic minorities, and indigenous peoples; child-labor abuses. About half of the 10,000-member national police belong to a paramilitary unit made up primarily of combatants from the former People's Liberation Army of Namibia. In a number of cases, the government took no action against those responsible for abuses.

Culture Life of Namibia

Namibian cultures are diverse. Just as the culture of the Afrikaners differs significantly from that of the German-speaking community and as both of those cultures differ from that of the more varied technical-assistance community, so do African and Creole cultures differ. The Rehobothers closely resemble the rural Afrikaner culture of the mid-20th century, while the Nama have more in common with the other pastoral black communities, and the “Cape Coloured” have a distinct urban culture with both black and European elements. The northern black cultures—while distinctive as to language and forms of music and dance—formed out of a mixed farming context unlike that of the Damara and Herero. The San are a tragic case. Their culture was ruined by ranch serfdom and wartime exploitation as trackers, and efforts to rebuild from the fragments have been limited by lack of knowledge, resources, and space as well as by the paternalism of many of their self-appointed “guardians.”

With the exception of the San, Namibian cultures appear to be alive and evolving, not least in the urban areas. However, rising unemployment may lead to the breakdown of neighbourhood and other social groupings and to the anomie and lawlessness that characterize the townships of many southern African cities, notably in both Zambia and South Africa. The black cultures are not well supported by formal institutions or the government, owing both to doubts as to what would enable rather than smother their development and to a lack of fiscal resources.

A number of holidays and festivals are observed, most of which are religious or historic in significance, albeit not necessarily of specific current content. Sports are popular among both spectators and participants. A wide variety of sports are followed by the white communities, but the black communities concentrate on football (soccer).

Radio and television broadcasting services are government-owned, as is one daily newspaper. All appear to have substantial intellectual and programmatic freedom. A fluctuating band of party, semiparty, and (in one case) independent newspapers exist and are not subject to censorship, but the survival of most is in doubt for economic reasons. They are supplemented by an array of religious, trade union, and other specialized papers that also have complete freedom of expression.

History of Namibia

Early History and Colonialism

The earliest inhabitants of Namibia were San hunters and gatherers, who lived there as early as 2,000 years ago. By c.A.D. 500, Nama herders had entered the region; they have left early records of their activities in the form of cave paintings. The Herero people settled in the western and northern areas of Namibia around 1600. The Ovambo migrated into Namibia after about 1800.

Diogo Cam and Bartolomeu Dias, both Portuguese navigators, landed on the coast in the early 15th cent. Portuguese and Dutch expeditions explored the coastal regions, and in the late 18th cent. Dutch and British captains laid claim to parts of the coast. These claims, however, were disallowed by their governments. In the 18th cent., English missionaries arrived, and they were followed by German missionaries in the 1840s. Britain annexed Walvis Bay in 1878. The Bremen trading firm of F. A. E. Lüderitz gained a cession of land at Angra Pequeña (now Lüderitz) in 1883, and in 1884 the German government under Otto von Bismarck proclaimed a protectorate over this area, to which the rest of South West Africa (Ger. Süd-West Afrika ) was soon added.

Conflicts between the indigenous population and the Europeans, mainly over control of land, led to outbreaks of violence in the 1890s, which worsened in the 1900s. In 1903 the Nama began a revolt, joined by the Herero in 1904. The Germans pursued an uncompromising military campaign that by 1908 had resulted in the death of about 54,000 Herero (out of a total Herero population of about 70,000), many of whom were driven into the Kalahari Desert, where they perished; 30,000 others also died in the revolt. In 1908 diamonds were discovered near Lüderitz, and a large influx of Europeans began.

During World War I the country was occupied (1915) by South African forces, and after the war South Africa began (1920) to administer it as a C-type mandate under the League of Nations. In 1921–22 the Bondelzwarts, a small Nama group, revolted against South African rule, but they were crushed by South African forces employing airpower. After the founding of the United Nations in 1945, South Africa, unlike the other League of Nations mandatories, refused to surrender its mandate and place South West Africa under the UN trusteeship system.

• The Struggle for Independence

In 1960, Ethiopia and Liberia (both of which had been members of the League of Nations) initiated proceedings in the International Court of Justice to have the mandate declared as being in force and to have South Africa charged with failing to fulfill the terms of the mandate. The court ruled in 1966 that Ethiopia and Liberia had not established a legal right or interest entitling them to bring the case. In frustration at this decision, the South West African People's Organization (SWAPO), operating in exile, undertook small-scale guerrilla warfare in South West Africa.

The UN General Assembly in 1966 passed a resolution terminating the mandate, and in 1968 it resolved that the country be known as Namibia. The International Court of Justice reaffirmed (1971) the General Assembly's resolution, but the South African government maintained that the United Nations had no authority over South West Africa, and it proceeded with plans for establishing ten African homelands (bantustans) in the country and for tying it more closely to South Africa.

South Africa's attempt to repress political opposition was met with SWAPO's extensive boycott of the bantustan elections in Ovamboland in 1973. South Africa held a constitutional conference (the Turnhalle Conference) in 1975 and delayed deciding Namibia's status. Responding to threats from the world community, the government promised Namibian independence by the end of 1978.

In 1977, the government adopted a new constitution that upheld apartheid policies, restricted SWAPO participation in politics, and sought to continue South African control over foreign affairs after independence. SWAPO and other opposition groups effectively waged guerrilla warfare, gaining control of areas in the north. A UN resolution in 1978 called for a cease-fire and UN-monitored elections. South Africa balked at elections, fearing a SWAPO-led Namibian government.

Under a 1988 agreement brokered by the United States, the withdrawal of Cuban troops from Angola was linked with the implementation of the UN plan in Namibia. UN-supervised elections were held in 1989; SWAPO won a majority of the parliamentary seats, and party leader Sam Nujoma was elected president. A constitution was adopted in Feb., 1990, and Namibia became independent on Mar. 21, 1990. The important deepwater port of Walvis Bay, to which South Africa had continued to lay claim, was yielded to Namibia in 1994. In the 1994 elections, SWAPO again won a majority and Nujoma was reelected. A land reform program began in 1996 but proceeded slowly; in 2004 the government began expropriating white-owned farms to accelerate the process of resettlement. In the late 1990s Namibia supplied military aid to President Laurent Kabila of the Congo, who was fighting rebel forces seeking to overthrow him.

President Nujoma was reelected again in 1999, following a constitutional change that permitted him to run for a third term. Suggestions in 2004 that another amendment be made to permit a fourth term proved potentially polarizing within both the ruling party and the nation, but in Apr., 2004, Nujoma announced that he would step down at the end of his third term. In Nov., 2004, Hifikepunye Pohamba, the SWAPO candidate and Nujoma's handpicked successor, was elected president in a landslide, and succeeded him in the post in Mar., 2005. SWAPO also retained a two-thirds majority of the seats in the parliament.

An outbreak of polio in 2006 that resulted in more than 100 cases led to a mass immunization program throughout the country in June and July. Namibia has a significant AIDS problem, with more than 40% of the population infected in some northern areas. In Sept., 2006, the government declared the revived United Democratic party, a group advocating independence for the Caprivi Strip through peaceful means, illegal for secessionist activities. Pohamba was reelected by a large margin in Dec., 2009, and SWAPO again dominated the parliamentary elections.

=Namibia in 2004

Namibia Area: 825,118 sq km (318,580 sq mi) Population (2004 est.): 1,954,000 Capital: Windhoek Chief of state and head of government: President Sam Nujoma, assisted by Prime Minister Theo-Ben ...>>>Read On<<<

Disclaimer

This is not the official site of this country. Most of the information in this site were taken from the U.S. Department of State, The Central Intelligence Agency, The United Nations, [1],[2], [3], [4], [5],[6], [7], [8], [9], [10], [11], [12], [13], [14],[15], [16], [17], [18], [19], [20], [21], [22], [23], [24],[25], [26], [27], [28], [29], [30],[31], [32], [33], [34], and the [35].

Other sources of information will be mentioned as they are posted.