| |||||
| Anthem | "Namibia, Land of the Brave" | ||||
| Capital | Windhoek | ||||
| Other cities | Swakopmund, Walvis Bay, Rundu | ||||
| Language official |
English, Oshiwambo | ||||
| others | German, Afrikaans, | ||||
| Religion main |
Christianity | ||||
| others | Judaism, Traditional African Religions, Islam | ||||
| Demonym | Namibian | ||||
| Government | Semi-Presidential Representative Democratic Republic | ||||
| Area | 502,351 km² | ||||
| Population | 2,495,000 (2019) | ||||
| Time Zone | Central Africa Time | ||||
| Organizations | United Nations | ||||
Namibia, officially known as the Republic of Namibia is a large and sparsely populated country in Southern Africa. It has a 975-mile (1569-kilometer) boundary with the Atlantic Ocean and shares borders with Angola to the north, Botswana to the east, and the Cape Republic to the south. Namibia is currently a member of both the United Nations and the African Union. Its government is currently a stable multi-party parliamentary democracy.
The earliest Namibians were the nomadic San peoples. Their clans were small and militarily and technologically weak. The Nama, Damara, Herero peoples conquered the region. Before the 1860s, there was little contact with the Europeans. Foreign missionaries of varied nationalities arrived for the ivory and cattle trade and introduced firearms. Germany decided to transform the land into its own colony of Southwest Africa. During The Great War, the South African army took over the colony, defeating the German forces in the colony. After the end of the war, Namibia was incorporated into the Union of South Africa.
During the latter half of the 1900s a series of uprisings and calls for political representation in South Africa had resulted in the UN taking control of the territory in 1966, with South Africa still in de-facto control. Following a guerrilla war an interim government was established in Namibia in 1985 by South Africa. Negotiations would break down eventually. The war resumed until 1996, when the South African apartheid government that had been teetering on the brink of civil war, granted full independence to Namibia. Walvis Bay and the Penguin Islands remained under South African control until the end of the South African civil war, when they were incorporated into Namibia.
Pre-1948 History[]
Pre-Colonial History[]
The first humans to inhabit Namibia lived as early as 25 000 B.C in the Southern Huns Mountains. The oldest ethnic groups in Namibia are believed to be the San and the Damara. During the 1600s, Namibia experienced an influx nomadic, cattle breeding people called the Herero. During the Great Trek of Boers following Britain's occupation of the Dutch Cape Colony, white settlers, mainly Boers, began pushing northward, eventually into what would become Namibia. These settlers commonly came into conflict with the Herero and Damara people. They proved to be militarily superior to the natives and forced them to be displaced and give cattle as tribute.
European exploration of Namibia was limited to mainly stops along the formidable coasts. The Dutch Empire did however take Walvis Bay in 1793, the only deep-water harbor in Namibia. After the Cape Colony fell to the British along did Walvis Bay. The settlement was lightly populated and the British nor the Dutch explored farther inland. As the Scramble for Africa had begun, Britain allowed the Cape Colony to annex Walvis Bay in order to hinder German expansion in the area. In 1883, in fear of Britain declaring the area as a protectorate, the German Empire claimed the entire coastal area of Namibia. The next year German South West Africa was established as a German colony.
German Colonization[]
Hostilities with the natives in the colony began to flare up. German troops would be deployed in an attempt to stabilize the colony, however resistance continued. 3,700 German settlers would live in the colony by 1903 and as diamonds were discovered settlement continued to grow. These settlers would establish farms on land expropriated from the native Africans and at times put the natives into forced labor. This served to increase tensions between the German settlers and the natives. In 1904, the local rebellions escalated after over 150 German settlers were killed during attacks on farms. In retaliation an additional 14,000 German troops were sent to the colony. The native rebels were crushed and the Herero people forced to retreat to a water less region. German troops guarded all wells and prevented anybody from gaining access. As well, some wells were even poisoned. An estimated 50-70% of the Herero population died during the war.
German South West Africa was invaded in 1915 during the First World War by South Africa. The German colony fell and was promptly occupied. Namibia was administrated as a Class C mandate by South Africa under the League of Nations.
Post-1948 History[]
South African Rule[]
Following the League's succession by the United Nations in 1946, South Africa refused to surrender its earlier mandate to be replaced by a United Nations Trusteeship agreement, requiring closer international monitoring of the territory's administration. Although the South African government wanted to incorporate South West Africa into its territory, it never officially did so, although it was administered as the de facto 'fifth province', with the white minority having representation in the whites-only Parliament of South Africa. In 1959, the colonial forces in Windhoek sought to remove black residents further away from the white area of town. The residents protested and the subsequent killing of eleven protesters spawned a major Namibian nationalist following and the formation of united black opposition to South African rule.
International Pressure and UN Involvement[]
During the 1960s, as the European powers granted independence to their colonies and trust territories in Africa, pressure mounted on South Africa to do so in Namibia, which was then South West Africa. On the dismissal (1966) by the International Court of Justice of a complaint brought by Ethiopia and Liberia against South Africa's continued presence in the territory, the U.N. General Assembly revoked South Africa's mandate. Under the growing international pressure to legitimize its annexation of Namibia, South Africa established in 1962 the ‘Commission of Enquiry into South West Africa Affairs’, better known as the Odendaal commission, named after Frans Hendrik Odendaal, who headed the commission. Its goal was it to introduce South African racist homeland politics in Namibia, while at the same time present the occupation as a progressive and scientific way to develop and support the people in Namibia.
In 1966, South West Africa People's Organisation's (SWAPO) military wing, the People's Liberation Army of Namibia (PLAN) began guerrilla attacks on South African forces, infiltrating the territory from bases in Zambia. The first attack of this kind was the battle at Omugulugwombashe on 26 August. After Angola became independent in 1980, SWAPO established bases in the southern part of the country. The war in Namibia would become apart of the larger South African involvement in Angola's civil war. Hostilities intensified over the years, especially in Ovamboland. In a 1971 advisory opinion, the International Court of Justice upheld UN authority over Namibia, determining that the South African presence in Namibia was illegal and that South Africa therefore was obliged to withdraw its administration from Namibia immediately. The Court also advised UN member states to refrain from implying legal recognition or assistance to the South African presence. South Africa had attempted to comply with UN resolution 435 which called for elections by holding unilateral elections, which were boycotted by SWAPO. Negotiations had seemed to reach a stalemate at this point.
The guerrilla war had begun to make a strain on the South African military and economy as the 1970s concluded. The economy of Namibia from 1977-1988 was stagnant and poor. It experienced drought for 6 years, worsening import-export ratios, mismanagement of the economy by South Africa, and low investor confidence. The war had begun to cost South Africa 1 billion dollars every year. Further negotiations would break down between South Africa and the UN. South Africa had been slightly encouraged by the United States to stall independence of Namibia in order to keep its forces in Southern Angola to fight off the MPLA. South Africa continued to play on the fear by American leaders of communism to make Namibia remain under their control.
Independence[]
Economic downturn in South Africa along with increased racial division, as well as a major defeat by the MPLA in Angola, had eventually brought the country to negotiations again by 1995. On December 5, 1996, South Africa had officially granted Namibia independence. Walvis Bay and the Penguin islands would remain under South African control and were planned to be ceded to Namibia by 1997. However with the outbreak of the South African Civil War, South Africa maintained its control of the two Namibian territories. In 2000, the now Cape Republic ceded the territories to Namibia.
Modern Era[]
As a result of lengthened South African occupation of Namibia, racial stigma was high when Namibia became an independent nation and struggled with the transition from minority apartheid rule to a democracy. Elections were first held in 1997, putting SWAPO in the majority in parliament and putting Sam Nujoma in power as president. Since then, Namibia has successfully transitioned to a stable multi-party state, although concerns were raised during the 2000s over potential land confiscation.