Namibia

Namibia has some of the most spectacular desert ecosystems in the world. For travellers the highlights of the country include diverse tribal people, fabulous wildlife viewing, rare & strange plants and the stark beauty of the various desert landscapes.

Namibia Safari Africa
Namibia’s 26 parks and reserves range from the open bush of the centre and the north where wildlife is relatively plentiful, to the inhospitable coastal strip with its huge sand dunes. Many of the animals found in Namibia are uniquely adapted to life in this harsh desert country. For the best game viewing a Namibian safari should include Etosha National Park, which harbours 114 mammal species.

Namibia is one of the world’s most sparsely populated countries and most of the people live in the north as the south is particularly lacking in water. Namibia’s population can be divided into at least 11 ethnic groups, the biggest group of which is the Owambo people however as a result of the unfortunate apartheid era the division of people into cultural or tribal groups is an extremely sensitive issue and most people prefer to think of themselves as Namibians.

Owambo, Herero, Himba, Kaokoland, Welwitschia, Kokerboom, Swakop …. All strange and unusual names and that is what Namibia is – strangely beautiful, unusually fascinating and well, well worth the journey.

bout Namibia

Country       Republic of Namibia
Capital     Windhoek
Government type     Republic
Independence     Granted on 21 March 1990 from South African mandate
Population     1,820,916 (July 2002 estimate)
Nationality     Noun is Namibian(s
Adjective     Namibian
Ethnic groups

About 6% of Namibians are of European background, 6.5% are of mixed race and about 87.5% are black Africans. Of these about 50% belong to the Ovambo tribe, 9% to the Kavangos tribe and other ethnic groups include Herero 7%, Damara 7%, Nama 5%, Caprivian 4%, Bushmen 3%, Baster 2%, Tswana 0.5%
Religions

Christian 80% to 90% of these at least 50% are Lutheran. The remainder of the people follow indigenous beliefs
Languages

English is the official language though Afrikaans is commonly spoken by most of the population. German and indigenous languages such as Oshivambo, Herero, Nama are widely spoken.
Currency     Namibian dollar
Area     825,418 sq km making it just a bit more than half the size of Alaska
Borders

The western coast is the Atlantic Ocean, land borders are shared with Angola, Botswana, South Africa and Zambia
Economic overview

The economy is heavily dependent on the extraction and processing of minerals for export and mining accounts for 20% of GDP. Namibia is the fourth-largest exporter of non-fuel minerals in Africa and the world’s fifth-largest producer of uranium. Namibia also produces large quantities of gem-quality diamonds, lead, zinc, tin, silver, and tungsten. About half of the population depends on agriculture (largely subsistence agriculture) for its livelihood. The majority of people live in pronounced poverty because of large-scale unemployment, the great inequality of income distribution, and the large amount of wealth going to foreign companies.

Worth noting is the fact that Namibia was the first country in the world to incorporate the protection of the environment into its constitution; some 14% of the land is protected, including virtually the entire Namib Desert coastal strip