NAMIBIA
Also known as: Republic of Namibia

Quick Facts

On this page, you will find:

• Country- Map, Flag & Coat of Arms
• Introduction
• Journey Element 1: Nature & Wildlife (Natural Environment; Plants & Wildlife)
• Journey Element 2: Life & Society (History, Society & Culture, Government & Politics)
• Journey Element 3: Trade, Travel & Economy (Transportation, Communication, Economy, Tourism)
• Journey Element 4: Highlights, Current Events & Helpful Links (Highlights & amazing statistics, Current events, Other Helpful Links)

Country- Map, Flag & Coat of Arms

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Introduction

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 won its independence in 1990 and has been governed by SWAPO since. 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.

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Natural Environment

Plants & Wildlife

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Journey Element 2: Life & Society

History Overview

Significant dates & events

Society & Culture

Namibians are of diverse ethnic origins. The principal groups are the Ovambo, Kavango, Herero/Himba, Damara, mixed race ("colored" and Rehoboth Baster), white (Afrikaner, German, and Portuguese), Nama, Caprivian, San, and Tswana.

The Ovambo make up about half of Namibia's people. The Ovambo, Kavango, and East Caprivian peoples, who occupy the relatively well-watered and wooded northern part of the country, are settled farmers and herders. Historically, these groups had little contact with the Nama, Damara, and Herero, who roamed the central part of the country vying for control of sparse pastureland. German colonial rule destroyed the war-making ability of the tribes but did not erase their identities or traditional organization. People from the more populous north have settled throughout the country in recent decades as a result of urbanization, industrialization, and the demand for labor.

Missionary work during the 1800s drew many Namibians to Christianity. While most Namibian Christians are Lutheran, there also are Roman Catholic, Methodist, Anglican, Jewish, African Methodist Episcopal, and Dutch Reformed Christians represented.

Education and services have been extended in varying degrees to most rural areas in recent years. The estimated adult literacy rate of Namibians was relatively high at 81% as of 2003. However, although the national literacy rate is estimated to be 81%, it is important to note that the number of Namibians who are functionally literate and have the skills that the labor market needs is significantly fewer.

Arts and crafts	Coming from the road!
Dance	Coming from the road!
Dress	Coming from the road!
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 are: Herero 7%, Damara 7%, Nama 5%, Caprivian 4%, Bushmen 3%, Baster 2%, Tswana 0.5%
HIV/AIDS	adult prevalence rate: 21.3% (2003 est.) (Compare to other countries) people living with HIV/AIDS: 210,000 (2001 est.) (Compare to other countries)
Infant mortality rate	total: 48.98 deaths/1,000 live births male: 53 deaths/1,000 live births female: 44.84 deaths/1,000 live births (2005 est.) (Compare to other countries)
Languages	English 7% (official), Afrikaans common language of most of the population and about 60% of the white population, German 32%, indigenous languages: Oshivambo, Herero, Nama
Life expectancy at birth	total population: 43.93 years male: 44.71 years female: 43.13 years (2005 est.) (Compare to other countries)
Literacy (age 15 and over can read & write)	total population: 84% male: 84.4% female: 83.7% (2003 est.)
Music	Coming from the road!
Myths and legends	Coming from the road!
Nationality	noun: Namibian(s) adjective: Namibian
Population	2,030,692 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 and death rates, lower population and growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (July 2005 est.) (Compare to other countries)
Population growth rate	0.73% (2005 est.)
Religion	Christian 80% to 90% (Lutheran 50% at least), indigenous beliefs 10% to 20%
School enrollment (% relevant age group) From UNESCO.	Net primary enrollment: 77.7% (2000) Net secondary enrollment: 37.1% (2000)
Sports	Coming from the road!
Total fertility rate	3.18 children born/woman (2005 est.) (Compare to other countries)
Typical dishes	Coming from the road!

Government & Politics

Namibia is a multiparty, multiracial democracy, with a president who is elected for 5-year term. The constitution establishes a bicameral Parliament and provides for general elections every 5 years and regional elections every 6 years. Members of the 72-seat National Assembly are elected on a party list system on a proportional basis. Members of the 26-seat National Council are elected from within popularly elected Regional Councils. The three branches of government are subject to checks and balances, and provision is made for judicial review. The judicial structure in Namibia largely parallels that of South Africa and comprises a Supreme Court, the High Court, and lower courts. Roman-Dutch law has been the common law of the territory since 1919. Namibia's unitary government is currently in the process of decentralization.

The constitution provides for the private ownership of property and for human rights protections, and states that Namibia should have a mixed economy and encourage foreign investment.

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Journey Element 3: Trade, Travel & Economy

The Namibian economy has a modern market sector, which produces most of the country's wealth, and a traditional subsistence sector. Namibia's gross domestic product (GDP) per capita is relatively high among developing countries but obscures one of the most unequal income distributions on the African continent. Although the majority of the population depends on subsistence agriculture and herding, Namibia has more than 200,000 skilled workers, as well as a small, well-trained professional and managerial class.

The country's sophisticated formal economy is based on capital-intensive industry and farming. However, Namibia's economy is heavily dependent on the earnings generated from primary commodity exports in a few vital sectors, including minerals, livestock, and fish. Furthermore, the Namibian economy remains integrated with the economy of South Africa, as the bulk of Namibia's imports originate there.

Since independence, the Namibian Government has pursued free-market economic principles designed to promote commercial development and job creation to bring disadvantaged Namibians into the economic mainstream. To facilitate this goal, the government has actively courted donor assistance and foreign investment. The liberal Foreign Investment Act of 1990 provides for freedom from nationalization, freedom to remit capital and profits, currency convertibility, and a process for settling disputes equitably.

Namibia is part of the Common Monetary Area (CMA) comprising Lesotho, Swaziland, and South Africa. Both the South African rand and the Namibian dollar are legal tender in Namibia, but the Namibian dollar is not accepted in South Africa. As a result of the CMA agreement, the scope for independent monetary policy in Namibia is limited. The Bank of Namibia regularly follows actions taken by the South African central bank.

Given its small domestic market but favorable location and a superb transport and communications base, Namibia is a leading advocate of regional economic integration. In addition to its membership in the Southern African Development Community (SADC), Namibia presently belongs to the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) with South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, and Swaziland. Within SACU, no tariffs exist on goods produced in and moving among the member states. SACU is currently negotiating a Free Trade Agreement with the United States--the first of its kind in Sub-Saharan Africa. The SACU Secretariat is located in Windhoek.

Over 80% of Namibia's imports originate in South Africa, and many Namibian exports are destined for the South African market or transit that country. Outside of South Africa, the EU (primarily the U.K.) is the chief market for Namibian exports. Namibia's exports consist mainly of diamonds and other minerals, fish products, beef and meat products, grapes and light manufactures. Under the U.S. African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), apparel exports are rapidly growing.

Namibia is seeking to diversify its trading relationships away from its heavy dependence on South African goods and services. Europe has become a leading market for Namibian fish and meat, while mining concerns in Namibia have purchased heavy equipment and machinery from Germany, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Canada. The Government of Namibia is actively taking advantage of AGOA. Since early 2002 several apparel manufacturers have invested in assembly facilities, generating thousands of jobs.

In 1993, Namibia became a General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) signatory, and the Minister of Trade and Industry represented Namibia at the Marrakech signing of the Uruguay Round Agreement in April 1994. Namibia has been a member of the World Trade Organization since its creation in 1995 and is a strong proponent of the Doha Development Agenda announced at the Fourth Ministerial Conference in Doha, Qatar, in November 2001. Namibia also is a member of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, and participates in the European Union's Cotonou Agreement.

Mining and Energy
Mining contributed approximately 7% of GDP in 2003. Diamond mining activities alone represented more than 5%. Other important mineral resources are uranium, copper, lead, and zinc. The country also is a source of gold, silver, tin, vanadium, semiprecious gemstones, tantalite, phosphate, sulfur, and salt.

During the pre-independence period, large areas of Namibia, including offshore, were leased for oil prospecting. Natural gas was discovered in 1974 in the Kudu Field off the mouth of the Orange River. The field is thought to contain reserves of over 1.3 trillion cubic feet. A decision to develop the field or not is expected in 2005. Offshore exploration licenses have now been issued. Plans have been put forward to build the country's first combined cycle power station near Oranjemund.  Government officials have warned that in the absence of new domestic sources of energy, Namibia will face power shortages as early as 2007.

Agriculture
Although Namibian agriculture--excluding fishing--contributed less than 5% of Namibia's GDP in 2003, about 70% of the Namibian population depends on agricultural activities for livelihood, mostly in the subsistence sector. In 2003, food and live animal exports constituted roughly 15% of total Namibian exports.

In the largely white-dominated commercial sector, agriculture consists primarily of livestock ranching. Cattle raising is predominant in the central and northern regions, while karakul sheep, goat, and ostrich farming are concentrated in the more arid southern regions. Subsistence farming is 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.

The government's land reform policy is shaped by two key pieces of legislation: the Agricultural (Commercial) Land Reform Act 6 of 1995 and the Communal Land Reform Act 5 of 2002. The government remains committed to a "willing seller, willing buyer" approach to land reform and to providing just compensation as directed by the Namibian constitution. As the government addresses the vital land and range management questions, water use issues and availability are considered.

Fishing
The clean, cold South Atlantic waters off the coast of Namibia are home to some of the richest fishing grounds in the world, with the potential for sustainable yields of up to 1.5 million metric tons per year. Commercial fishing and fish processing is one of the fastest-growing sectors of the Namibian economy in terms of employment, export earnings, and contribution to GDP.

At the time of independence, fish stocks had fallen to dangerously low levels due to the lack of protection and conservation of the fisheries and the overexploitation of these resources. This trend appears to have been halted and reversed since independence, as the Namibian Government is now pursuing a conservative resource management policy along with an aggressive fisheries enforcement campaign.

Manufacturing and Infrastructure
In 2004, Namibia's manufacturing sector contributed about 11% of GDP. Namibian manufacturing has historically been inhibited by a small domestic market, dependence on imported goods, limited supply of local capital, widely dispersed population, small skilled labor force and high relative wage rates, and subsidized competition from South Africa.

Labor
While most Namibians are economically active in one form or another, the bulk of this activity is in the informal sector, primarily subsistence agriculture. In the formal economy, official estimates of unemployment range from 30% to 40% of the work force. A large number of Namibians seeking jobs in the formal sector are held back due to a lack of necessary skills or training. The government is aggressively pursuing education reform to address this problem.

In late 2004, Namibia passed a new "Labour Act" to replace legislation dating back to 1992. The new law will be stricter with respect to discrimination in the workplace and will establish new protections for pregnant workers as well as employees infected with HIV/AIDS.

Transportation

Walvis Bay has a well-developed, deepwater port, considered by many the best in Western Africa, and Namibia's fishing infrastructure is most heavily concentrated there. The Namibian Government expects Walvis Bay to become an important commercial gateway to the Southern African region.

Namibia also boasts modern civil aviation facilities and an extensive, well-maintained land transportation network. Construction continues to expand two major arteries--the Trans-Caprivi and Trans-Kalahari Highways--which will further open up the region's access to Walvis Bay.

Airports	136 (2004 est.) (Compare to other countries)
Highways	total: 42,237 km paved: 5,406 km unpaved: 36,831 km (2002) (Compare to other countries)
Ports and Harbors	Luderitz, Walvis Bay

Communication

Economy

Tourism

Tourism is a rapidly growing sector of the Namibian economy and a significant generator of employment. It is the third-largest source of foreign exchange after mining and fisheries. Although the majority of Namibia's international visitors originate in the region, other international travelers are increasingly attracted by the country's unique mix of political stability, cultural diversity, and geographic beauty. Tourism in Namibia has had a positive impact on resource conservation and rural development. Some 29 communal conservancies have been established across the country, resulting in enhanced land management while providing tens of thousands of rural Namibians with much needed income.

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Journey Element 4: Highlights, Current Events & Helpful Links

Highlights & amazing statistics

Current events

Other Helpful Links

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