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Namibia Holiday & Travel - General Information - History & Political Development |
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About Namibia |
The Economy |
Tourism |
Physical Infrastructure |
Social Infrastructure |
History & Political Development |
Natural Environment |
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Namibia’s varied geographical features have played a significant role in the history of the Namibian people. In pre-colonial times a relatively stable water supply and the well-wooded terrain in the north-eastern regions of the country encouraged cattle farming and agricultural practices by the Owambo people and tribes along the Okavango River.
Among the earliest inhabitants of the central and southern areas were the San/Bushmen, who were hunter-gatherers; the Damara, about whom little is known other than that they were hunters and to a lesser extent pastoralists; and the Nama, who were nomadic cattle farmers.
According to Herodotus, the first sailors to circumnavigate the continent of Africa were Phoenicians. In 1486 the Portuguese navigator Diego Cão planted a stone cross or padrão at Cape Cross, about 130 km north of Swakopmund. A second cross was planted in 1488 by Bartolomeu Dias at Dias Point in the bay of Angra Pequena (Little Bay), the Lüderitz of today.
Travelling overland from South Africa, Jacobus Coetsé was the first white man to reach Namibia, the land across the Garieb (Orange) River, referred to then as Transgarieb. The Swedish adventurer and explorer, Charles John Andersson, was the first person to refer to today’s Namibia as South West Africa, as he called it in his travel journals. The first missionaries established mission stations at Warmbad and Blydeverwacht in 1805.
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Political history (01.09.2009)
Namibia was proclaimed a German protectorate by Bismarck in 1884.
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Government (01.09.2009)
Namibia is ruled by a Multiparty Parliament and has a democratic constitution that is highly regarded by the international community.
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Regions (01.09.2009)
Following independence, the country was divided into 13 regions as determined by the Delimitation Commission and proclaimed in March 1992. These are Omusati, Oshana, Ohangwena and Oshikoto in the north (referred to informally as the four O regions); Kunene in the north west; Kavango and Caprivi in the north east; Erongo in the west, Otjozondjupa, Omaheke, Khomas and Hardap in the central part of the country; and Karas in the south.
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Diplomatic missions (01.09.2009)
Namibia hosts the following diplomatic missions in Namibia: Algeria, Angola, Botswana, Brazil, China, Congo, DRC, Cuba, Egypt, the European Union, France, Germany, Ghana, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Libya, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, Nigeria, the Russian Federation, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Great Britain, the United States of America, Venezuela, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
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Population (01.09.2009)
In 2010, Namibia’s population stands at an estimated 2.3 million people, having grown at a rate of 2.6% per year over the past 15 years.
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Languages (01.09.2009)
While English is the official language in Namibia, many other languages are spoken. They can be divided into three categories: the Bantu languages spoken by the Owambo, Herero, Kavango, Caprivians and Tswana; the Indo-Germanic languages of Afrikaans, German and English; and the Khoesan languages spoken by the San/Bushmen, Nama and Damara.
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