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Namibia

Namibia

Namibia officially the Republic of Namibia is a country in southern Africa on the Atlantic coast. It shares borders with Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east, and South Africa to the south. Namibia is a member state of the United Nations (UN), the Southern African Development Community (SADC), the African Union (AU), and the Commonwealth of Nations.

Country name:

  • conventional long form: Republic of Namibia
  • conventional short form: Namibi
  • local long form: Republic of Namibia
  • local short form: Namibia
  • former: German Southwest Africa, South-West Africa

Nationality:

  • noun: Namibian(s)
  • adjective: Namibian

Capital:

  • name: Windhoek
  • geographic coordinates: 22 34 S, 17 05 E
  • time difference: UTC+1 (6 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)
  • daylight saving time: +1hr, begins first Sunday in September; ends first Sunday in April

Independence:

  • 21 March 1990 (from South African mandate)

Population:

  • 2,088,669
    note: estimates for this country explicitly take into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality, higher death rates, lower population growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (July 2008 est.)
  • Population growth rate: 0.947% (2008 est.)

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:

  • 21.3% (2003 est.)

Ethnic groups:

  • black 87.5%
  • white 6%
  • mixed 6.5%
  • note: about 50% of the population belong to the Ovambo tribe and 9% to the Kavangos tribe; other ethnic groups include Herero 7%, Damara 7%, Nama 5%, Caprivian 4%, Bushmen 3%, Baster 2%, Tswana 0.5%

Religions:

  • Christian 80% to 90% (Lutheran 50% at least)
  • Indigenous beliefs 10% to 20%

Languages:

  • English 7% (official)
  • Afrikaans common language of most of the population and about 60% of the white population
  • German 32%
  • Indigenous languages 1% (includes Oshivambo, Herero, Nama)

Literacy:

  • definition: age 15 and over can read and write
  • total population: 85%
  • male: 86.8%
  • female: 83.5% (2001 census)

Government type:

  • Republic

Location:

  • Southern Africa, bordering the South Atlantic Ocean, between Angola and South Africa

Area - comparative:

  • slightly more than half the size of Alaska

Land boundaries:

  • total: 3,936 km
  • border countries: Angola 1,376 km, Botswana 1,360 km, South Africa 967 km, Zambia 233 km

Climate:

  • desert; hot, dry; rainfall sparse and erratic

Natural resources:

  • diamonds, copper, uranium, gold, silver, lead, tin, lithium, cadmium, tungsten, zinc, salt, hydropower, fish
  • note: suspected deposits of oil, coal, and iron ore

Economy - overview:

The economy is heavily dependent on the extraction and processing of minerals for export. Mining accounts for 8% of GDP, but provides more than 50% of foreign exchange earnings. Rich alluvial diamond deposits make Namibia a primary source for gem-quality diamonds. Namibia is the fourth-largest exporter of nonfuel minerals in Africa, the world's fifth-largest producer of uranium, and the producer of large quantities of lead, zinc, tin, silver, and tungsten. The mining sector employs only about 3% of the population while about half of the population depends on subsistence agriculture for its livelihood. Namibia normally imports about 50% of its cereal requirements; in drought years food shortages are a major problem in rural areas. A high per capita GDP, relative to the region, hides one of the world's most unequal income distributions. The Namibian economy is closely linked to South Africa with the Namibian dollar pegged one-to-one to the South African rand. Increased payments from the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) put Namibia's budget into surplus in 2007 for the first time since independence, but SACU payments will decline after 2008 as part of a new revenue sharing formula. Increased fish production and mining of zinc, copper, uranium, and silver spurred growth in 2003-07, but growth in recent years was undercut by poor fish catches and high costs for metal inputs.

GDP - real growth rate:

  • 4.4% (2007 est.)

GDP - per capita (PPP):

  • $5,200 (2007 est.)

Background:

South Africa occupied the German colony of South-West Africa during World War I and administered it as a mandate until after World War II, when it annexed the territory. In 1966 the Marxist South-West Africa People's Organization (SWAPO) guerrilla group launched a war of independence for the area that was soon named Namibia, but it was not until 1988 that South Africa agreed to end its administration in accordance with a UN peace plan for the entire region. Namibia has been governed by SWAPO since the country won independence in 1990. Hifikepunye POHAMBA was elected president in November 2004 in a landslide victory replacing Sam NUJOMA who led the country during its first 14 years of self rule.

Environment - current issues:

  • limited natural fresh water resources
  • desertification
  • wildlife poaching
  • land degradation has led to few conservation areas

For more info please contact:
African Studies
(310) 825-3686
africa@international.ucla.edu