The Republic of Namibia is a country in southern Africa on the Atlantic coast. It is bordered by Angola, Zambia, and Zimbabwe to the north, Botswana to the east, and South Africa to the south. It gained independence from South Africa in 1990. Before that it was called South West Africa. Its capital is Windhoek.
Before World War I Namibia was a German colony. German is still widely spoken in the country, although English is the official language.
Namibia has a population of 2.1 million people.
The name of the country is from the Namib Desert. This is said to be the oldest desert in the world.
The dry lands of Namibia were lived in since early times by Bushmen, Damara and Nama. About the 14th century AD, Bantu came to the area from central Africa. From the late 18th century onwards, Orlam clans from the Cape Colony crossed the Orange River. They moved into the area that today is southern Namibia.[6] The nomadic Nama tribes were largely peaceful. The missionaries with the Orlams were well received by them,[7] the right to use waterholes and grazing was given. On their way further north, the Orlams met clans of the Herero tribe. They were not as friendly. The Nama-Herero War started in 1880. They did not stop until Imperial Germany sent troops.
The first Europeans to explore the region were the Portuguese navigators Diogo Cão in 1485 and Bartolomeu Dias in 1486. Like most of Sub-Saharan Africa, Namibia was not largely explored by Europeans until the 19th century. At this time traders and settlers arrived, mostly from Germany and Sweden.
Namibia became a German colony in 1884. This was to stop the British. The country was called German South-West Africa.[8] From 1904 to 1907, the Herero and the Namaqua took up arms against the Germans. In the following Herero and Namaqua genocide, 10,000 Nama (half the population) and about 65,000 Hereros (about 80% of the population) were killed.
South Africa began to rule the land in 1915. They defeated the German force during World War I. It was a League of Nations mandate territory from 1919. In 1946 the League was replaced by the United Nations. South Africa would not give up their rule of the land. Many people thought the land should be independent from South Africa. In 1971 South Africa was told their hold on the country was illegal.[9] They still did not leave.
The country officially became independent on 21 March 1990. Sam Nujoma became the first President of Namibia.
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My love for African wildlife started when I was six years old. My parents took me to see Born Free. I was smitten. 36 years later in 2002. I was newly qualified as a safari guide, I started Your Safari and the rest is history. …
