Namibia: Map & History

History

The name of the country is derived from the Namib desert, the oldest desert in the world. The word Namib itself is of Khoi origin and means "vast place". The name was chosen by Mburumba Kerina, who originally proposed "Republic of Namib". Before Namibia became independent in 1990, its territory was known first as German South-West Africa (Deutsch-Südwestafrika), and then as South West Africa, reflecting its colonial occupation by Germans and South Africans, respectively.

"The dry lands of Namibia have been inhabited since prehistoric times by the San, Damara, and Nama. For thousands of years, the Khoisan peoples of Southern Africa maintained a nomadic life, the Khoikhoi as pastoralists and the San people as hunter-gatherers.

Government and politics

Namibia is a unitary semi-presidential representative democratic republic. The President of Namibia is elected to a five-year term and is both the head of state and the head of government. All members of the government are individually and collectively responsible to the legislature.

Executive: executive power is exercised by the President and the Government.

Legislature: Namibia has a bicameral Parliament with the National Assembly as lower house, and the National Council as the upper house.

Judiciary: Namibia has a system of courts that interpret and apply the law in the name of the state.

While the constitution envisaged a multi-party system for Namibia's government, the SWAPO party has been dominant since independence in 1990.

Economy

The trans-African automobile route – the Tripoli-Cape Town Highway and the Trans-Kalahari Corridor pass through Namibia. Namibia's economy is tied closely to South Africa's due to their shared history. In Q3 2023, the largest economic sectors were mining (18.0% of GDP), public administration (12.9%), manufacturing (10.1%), and education (9.2%).

Namibia has a highly developed banking and financial services sector with modern infrastructures, such as online banking and cellphone banking. The Bank of Namibia (BoN) is the central bank of Namibia responsible for performing all other functions ordinarily performed by a central bank. There are five BoN authorised commercial banks in Namibia: Bank Windhoek, First National Bank, Nedbank, Standard Bank and Small and Medium Enterprises Bank.

Culture

Namibian culture is similar to South African culture due to their tied history and family nationalities. Few Namibians express interest in permanently settling in other countries; they prefer the safety of their homeland, have a strong national identity, and enjoy a well-supplied retail sector. Namibians are typically very social and are consistently among the highest alcohol consumption rates per capita, and ranked first in Africa for beer consumption per capita.

The most popular sport in Namibia is association football.