Namibia, or Republic of Namibia, is a country located in southern Africa. It is geographically bordered to the west by the Atlantic Ocean, to the north by Angola, to the south by South Africa, to the east by Botswana and to the northeast by Zambia. Largely desert, the country owes its name to the Namib Desert, which covers its Atlantic coast. Its eastern borders are largely covered by the Kalahari Desert. The capital, which is the most populated city in the country, is Windhoek. With a population of approximately 2.6 million inhabitants for an area of 825,418 km2, its population density is the lowest in Africa and the penultimate in the world. The population consists largely of Bantu ethnic groups, notably the Ovambos who constitute almost half of the population. Although the country is secular, almost 90% of residents are Christian. English is the official language of the country, but several other languages are also spoken there. The country’s territory was colonized by Germany in 1884 and then became German South West Africa. Between 1904 and 1908, a genocide was committed against the Herero and Nama peoples. During World War I, the territory became South West Africa, a mandated territory of South Africa, under which apartheid was imposed in the late 1940s. A war of independence broke out in 1966 and resulted in upon the country’s independence in 1990. Since then, the country has been a republic with a semi-presidential regime. The country’s economy is mainly based on agriculture, fishing, mining and tourism.
Etosha National Park
Etosha National Park is a large protected area in Namibia located in the Kunene region, 400 km north of the capital Windhoek and 125 km south of the border with Angola. Originally established as a hunting reserve in 1907, during the era of German colonization, it originally covered 93,240 km2. In 1967 it obtained national park status, but in the meantime its area was reduced to 22,935 km2. The public only has access to about a third of the park, corresponding to the dry salt lake of the Etosha pan. Visited by 200,000 people each year, Etosha is one of the tourist hotspots in Namibia and one of the largest wildlife reserves in Africa, home to 114 species of mammals and 340 species of birds.
Damaraland
Damaraland was an autonomous Bantustan located in the west of South West Africa (then managed by South Africa) between 1980 and 1989. It brought together Africans of the Damara ethnic group and the official language was Nama. The term is still used in a tourism context, the region comprising various points of interest. Damaraland means land of the Damaras.
Namib Desert
The Namib Desert or Namib Erg is a hot coastal desert located in southwest Namibia. It is considered the oldest desert in the world, having been subject to arid or semi-arid conditions for at least 55 million years. The desert conditions there are the result of the cold Benguela Current of Antarctic origin, which cools ocean air masses off the coast of Namibia. When these air masses pass over warmer continental lands, they heat and expand, preventing them from releasing the moisture they contain as rain. However, it is estimated that these fogs deposit between 1 and 10 l/m2 of water per day, essential for the development of life in these arid areas.