124-883: The Deutsche Höhere Privatschule ( DHPS ) is a private school in Namibia and a German International School Abroad. It is situated in the capital Windhoek . Scholars have the option of leaving with the Cambridge certificate , the common school-leaving certificate in Namibia, in grade 12, or doing the Deutsche Internationale Abiturprüfung [ de ] (DIA, The German International Abitur ), also in grade 12. Both school leaving certificates exempt them for universities and tertiary institutions in Germany, Southern Africa and worldwide. DHPS
248-654: A free and fair election . SWAPO won a plurality of seats in the Constituent Assembly with 57% of the popular vote. This gave the party 41 seats, but not a two-thirds majority, which would have enabled it to draft the constitution on its own. The Namibian Constitution was adopted in February 1990. It incorporated protection for human rights and compensation for state expropriations of private property and established an independent judiciary, legislature, and an executive presidency (the constituent assembly became
372-479: A national referendum on Apartheid in 1992 for the White population alone that asked them if they supported the government's policy to end apartheid and establish elections open to all South Africans: a large majority voted in favour of the government's policy. In the 1994 elections , it expanded its base to include many non-Whites, including significant support from Coloured and Indian South Africans. It participated in
496-796: A backtrack as the Statute of Westminster resolved that British Dominions could not have "total" control over their external concerns, but in 1934 the Status and Seals Acts were passed, granting the South African Parliament even greater power than the British government over the Union. The extreme NP members of the 1930s were known collectively as the Republikeinse Bond. The following organisations, parties and events promoted
620-506: A matter of subsequent agreement as to which territories in the foregoing territories will be brought under the trusteeship system and under what terms". The UN requested all former League of Nations mandates be surrendered to its Trusteeship Council in anticipation of their independence. South Africa declined to do so and instead requested permission from the UN to formally annex South West Africa, for which it received considerable criticism. When
744-671: A member of the British Commonwealth. When this was granted the following year by the London Declaration , It roused much debate in South Africa between the pro-republican NP and the anti-republican UP (under Strauss). It meant that, even if South Africa did become a republic, it did not automatically have to sever all of its ties with the UK and the British Commonwealth. This gained the movement further support from
868-561: A proliferation of right-wing parties siphoned off important segments of its traditional voter base. Throughout its reign, the party's support came mainly from Afrikaners , but other White people were courted by and increasingly voted for the NP after 1960. By the 1980s, however, in reaction to the "verligte" reforms of P. W. Botha , the majority of Afrikaners drifted to the Conservative Party of Andries Treurnicht , who called for
992-641: A republic before changing its mind and deciding that it was too early. The Afrikaner Broederbond , a secret organization founded in 1918 to support the interests of Afrikaners in South Africa, soon became a powerful force in the South African political scene. The Republican Bond was established in the 1930s, and other republican organisations such as the Purified National Party , the Voortrekkers , Noodhulpliga (First-Aid League) and
1116-600: A republic outside the Commonwealth. His decision was received with regret by the Prime Ministers of the UK, Australia and New Zealand but was met with obvious approval from South Africa's critics. Verwoerd said the next day that the move would not affect South Africa's relationship with the United Kingdom. On his homecoming, he was met with a rapturous reception. Afrikaner nationalists were not deterred by
1240-468: A segregated nation. The United Party held a 100,000-vote lead. Consequently, the NP had to rely on the Afrikaner Party's support. It did not, therefore, have the groundswell of public support that it needed to win a referendum, and only when it had that majority on its side could a referendum be held on the republican matter. However, with a small seating majority and a total vote-tally minority, it
1364-787: A sentiment rooted in Boer history. Beginning in 1836, waves of Boers began to migrate north from the Cape Colony to live beyond the reach of the British colonial administration . Eventually, the migrating Boers founded three republics in southern Africa: the Natalia Republic , the South African Republic and the Orange Free State . British colonial expansion in the 19th century led to the annexation of
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#17327724229521488-465: A sewage-to-water treatment project in Namibia not only provides citizens with safe drinking water, but also boosts productivity by 6% per year. All pollutants and impurities are removed using cutting-edge "multi-barrier" technology, which includes residual chlorination, ozone treatment, and ultra membrane filtration. Strict bio-monitoring methods are also used throughout the process to ensure high-quality, safe drinking water. On 8 June 2023, Namibia became
1612-493: A splinter faction became the official opposition during World War II and returned to power. With the National Party governing South Africa from 4 June 1948 until 9 May 1994 , the country for the bulk of this time was only a de jure or partial democracy, as from 1958 onwards non-white people were barred from voting . In 1990, it began to style itself as simply a South African civic nationalist party, and after
1736-489: A westerly and southwesterly direction to as little as 50 mm (2 in) and less per annum at the coast. The only perennial rivers are found on the national borders with South Africa, Angola, Zambia, and the short border with Botswana in the Caprivi Strip. In the interior of the country, surface water is available only in the summer months when rivers are in flood after exceptional rainfalls. Otherwise, surface water
1860-531: Is by far the largest urban settlement in Namibia. Namibia extends from 17°S to 25°S latitude: climatically the range of the sub-Tropical High Pressure Belt. Its overall climate description is arid, descending from the Sub-Humid [mean rain above 500 mm (20 in)] through Semi-Arid [between 300 and 500 mm (12 and 20 in)] (embracing most of the waterless Kalahari) and Arid [from 150 to 300 mm (6 to 12 in)] (these three regions are inland from
1984-587: Is funded by the German Federal Government as well as by school fees. The school was established in 1909 under the name Kaiserliche Realschule Windhuk (Windhoek Imperial Secondary School). Its name changed to Deutsche Realschule (German secondary school) upon the abdication of the German emperor Wilhelm II at the end of World War I . In 1926 the school introduced the Abitur and thus assumed
2108-408: Is generally flat and the soils sandy, limiting their ability to retain water and support agriculture. The Kalahari Desert, an arid region that extends into South Africa and Botswana, is one of Namibia's well-known geographical features. The Kalahari, while popularly known as a desert, has a variety of localised environments, including some verdant and technically non-desert areas. The Succulent Karoo
2232-453: Is home to over 5,000 species of plants, nearly half of them endemic ; approximately 10 percent of the world's succulents are found in the Karoo. The reason behind this high productivity and endemism may be the relatively stable nature of precipitation. Namibia's Coastal Desert is one of the oldest deserts in the world. Its sand dunes, created by the strong onshore winds, are the highest in
2356-417: Is restricted to a few large storage dams retaining and damming up these seasonal floods and their run-off. Where people do not live near perennial rivers or make use of the storage dams, they are dependent on groundwater. Even isolated communities and those economic activities located far from good surface water sources, such as mining, agriculture, and tourism, can be supplied from groundwater over nearly 80% of
2480-576: Is significantly more productive than the Namib Desert. As summer winds are forced over the Escarpment, moisture is extracted as precipitation. The Bushveld is found in north-eastern Namibia along the Angolan border and in the Caprivi Strip. The area receives a significantly greater amount of precipitation than the rest of the country, averaging around 400 mm (16 in) per year. The area
2604-473: Is situated at the southern edge of the tropics; the Tropic of Capricorn cuts the country about in half. The winter (June – August) is generally dry. Both rainy seasons occur in summer: the small rainy season between September and November, and the big one between February and April. Humidity is low, and average rainfall varies from almost zero in the coastal desert to more than 600 mm (24 in) in
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#17327724229522728-635: Is the Atlantic Ocean . It shares land borders with Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the east and south. Although it does not border Zimbabwe , less than 200 metres (660 feet) of the Botswanan right bank of the Zambezi River separates the two countries. Its capital and largest city is Windhoek . The driest country in sub-Saharan Africa , Namibia has been inhabited since pre-historic times by
2852-501: The Herenigde Nasionale Party (Reunited National Party), which went on to defeat Smuts' United Party in 1948 in coalition with the much smaller Afrikaner Party . In 1951, the two amalgamated to once again become known simply as the National Party. Upon taking power after the 1948 general election , the NP began to implement a program of apartheid – the legal system of political, economic and social separation of
2976-545: The 1961 Commonwealth Prime Ministers' Conference in London to discuss South Africa becoming a republic within the Commonwealth, presenting the Republic of South Africa 's application for a renewal of its membership to the Commonwealth. The Commonwealth had earlier declined to predict how republican status would affect South Africa's membership; it did not want to be seen meddling in its members' domestic affairs. However, many of
3100-624: The German government acknowledge the genocide and agreed to pay €1.1 billion over 30 years in community aid. During World War I, South African troops under General Louis Botha occupied the territory and deposed the German colonial administration. The end of the war and the Treaty of Versailles resulted in South West Africa remaining a possession of South Africa, at first as a League of Nations mandate , until 1990. The mandate system
3224-637: The Herero and Nama which escalated into the first genocide of the 20th century. German rule ended during the First World War with a 1915 defeat by South African forces. In 1920, after the end of the war, the League of Nations mandated administration of the colony to South Africa. From 1948, with the National Party elected to power, this included South Africa applying apartheid to what
3348-583: The Herero and the Namaqua took up arms against ruthless German settlers. In a calculated punitive action by the German settlers, government officials ordered the extinction of the natives in the OvaHerero and Namaqua genocide . In what has been called the "first genocide of the 20th century", the Germans systematically killed 10,000 Nama (half the population) and approximately 65,000 Herero (about 80% of
3472-637: The Khoi , San , Damara and Nama people . Around the 14th century, immigrating Bantu peoples arrived as part of the Bantu expansion . From 1600 the Ovambo formed kingdoms, such as Ondonga and Oukwanyama . In 1884, the German Empire established rule over most of the territory, forming a colony known as German South West Africa . Between 1904 and 1908, German troops waged a punitive campaign against
3596-902: The Natalia Republic by Britain and the First and Second Boer Wars , which resulted in the South African Republic and the Orange Free State being annexed into the Empire as well. Despite Britain's victory in the Second Boer War, Afrikaners resisted British control in southern Africa. In 1914, a group of anti-British Afrikaners led the Maritz rebellion against the Union of South Africa during World War I ; two years later, an NP congress called for South Africa to become
3720-538: The Parliament of South Africa . The White minority of South West Africa, predominantly Germans and Afrikaners, considered its interests akin to those of the Afrikaners in South Africa and therefore supported the National Party in subsequent elections. These reforms bolstered the NP politically, as they removed Black and Coloured influence – which was hostile to the NP – from the electoral process and incorporated
3844-674: The Skeleton Coast to the northwest, the Namib Desert and its coastal plains to the southwest, the Orange River to the south, and the Kalahari Desert to the east. The Central Plateau is home to the highest point in Namibia at Königstein elevation 2,606 metres (8,550 ft). The Namib is a broad expanse of hyper-arid gravel plains and dunes that stretches along Namibia's entire coastline. It varies between 100 and 200 kilometres (60 and 120 mi) in width. Areas within
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3968-656: The South African Border War . However, Walvis Bay and the Penguin Islands remained under South African control until 1994. Namibia is a stable parliamentary democracy . Agriculture, tourism and the mining industry – including mining for gem diamonds, uranium , gold , silver and base metals – form the basis of its economy , while the manufacturing sector is comparatively small. Despite significant GDP growth since its independence, poverty and inequality remain significant in
4092-735: The Tripartite Accord , under pressure from both the Soviet Union and the United States. South Africa accepted Namibian independence in exchange for Cuban military withdrawal from the region and an Angolan commitment to cease all aid to PLAN. PLAN and South Africa adopted an informal ceasefire in August 1988, and a United Nations Transition Assistance Group (UNTAG) was formed to monitor the Namibian peace process and supervise
4216-761: The United Nations , the Southern African Development Community , the African Union and the Commonwealth of Nations . The name of the country is derived from the Namib desert, the oldest desert in the world. The word Namib itself is of Nama 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
4340-800: The fall of apartheid in 1994, attempted to become a moderate conservative one. The party's reputation was damaged irreparably by perpetrating apartheid, and it rebranded itself as the New National Party in 1997 before eventually dissolving in 2005. Beginning in 1948 following the general election , the party as the governing party of South Africa began implementing its policy of racial segregation , known as apartheid (the Afrikaans term for "separateness"). Although White-minority rule and racial segregation were already in existence in South Africa with non-Whites not having voting rights and efforts made to encourage segregation, apartheid intensified
4464-466: The oshanas ( Oshiwambo : flood plains) there. The worst floods so far occurred in March 2011 and displaced 21,000 people. Namibia is the driest country in sub-Saharan Africa and depends largely on groundwater. With an average rainfall of about 350 mm (14 in) per annum, the highest rainfall occurs in the Caprivi Strip in the northeast (about 600 mm (24 in) per annum) and decreases in
4588-550: The "Lion of the North", Strijdom made few changes to his cabinet and pursued with vigour the policy of apartheid. By 1956, he successfully placed the Coloureds on a separate voters' roll, thus further weakening ties with the Commonwealth and gaining support for the NP. He also took several other steps to make South Africa less dependent on Britain: Anti-republican South Africans recognised the shift and distancing from Britain, and
4712-544: The 1919 Paris Peace Conference was a definite (if failed) attempt to gain independence. In 1926, however, the Balfour Declaration was passed, affording every British dominion within the British Empire equal rank and bestowing upon them their right of the direction of foreign issues. This resulted the following year in the institution of South Africa's first-ever Department of Foreign Affairs. 1931 saw
4836-572: The ANC and other anti-apartheid movements. In September 1990 the party opened up its membership to all racial groups and rebranded itself as no longer being an ethnic nationalist party only representing Afrikaners, but would henceforth be a civic nationalist and conservative party representing all South Africans. However, there was significant opposition among hardliner supporters of apartheid that resulted in De Klerk's government responding to them by holding
4960-506: The African continent. In December 2014, Prime Minister Hage Geingob , the candidate of ruling SWAPO, won the presidential elections , taking 87% of the vote. His predecessor, President Hifikepunye Pohamba , also of SWAPO, had served the maximum two terms allowed by the constitution. In December 2019, President Hage Geingob was re-elected for a second term, taking 56.3% of the vote. On 4 February 2024, President Hage Geingob died and he
5084-478: The Atlantic Ocean, which accounts for very low precipitation (50 mm (2 in) per year or less), frequent dense fog, and overall lower temperatures than in the rest of the country. In Winter, occasionally a condition known as Bergwind (German for "mountain wind") or Oosweer ( Afrikaans for "east weather") occurs, a hot dry wind blowing from the inland to the coast. As the area behind
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5208-430: The British government was no longer prepared to stand by South Africa's racist policies. Nevertheless, the referendum was a significant victory for Afrikaner nationalism as British political and cultural influence waned in South Africa. However, one question remained after the referendum: would South Africa become a republic outside the Commonwealth (the outcome favoured by the most Afrikaner nationalists)? Withdrawal from
5332-400: The Caprivi Strip. Rainfall is highly variable, and droughts are common. In the summer of 2006/07 the rainfall was recorded far below the annual average. In May 2019, Namibia declared a state of emergency in response to the drought, and extended it by an additional 6 months in October 2019. Weather and climate in the coastal area are dominated by the cold, north-flowing Benguela Current of
5456-434: The Common Roll of Cape Province in 1953. Instead of voting for the same representatives as White South Africans, they could now vote only for four White representatives to speak for them. Later, in 1968, the Coloureds were disenfranchised altogether. In the place of the four parliamentary seats, a partially elected body was set up to advise the government in an amendment to the Separate Representation of Voters Act . This made
5580-432: The Commonwealth would likely alienate English speakers and damage relations with many other countries. Former British colonies such as India, Pakistan and Ghana were all republics within the Commonwealth, and Verwoerd announced that South Africa would follow suit "if possible". In January 1961, Verwoerd's government enacted legislation to transform the Union of South Africa into the Republic of South Africa. The constitution
5704-417: The Conference's affiliates (prominent among them the Afro-Asia group and Canadian Prime Minister John Diefenbaker ) attacked South Africa's racial policies and rebuffed Verwoerd's application; they would go to any lengths to expel South Africa from the Commonwealth. Numerous anti-apartheid movements also campaigned for South Africa's exclusion from the UK. Some member countries warned that they would pull out of
5828-469: The English-speaking populace, which was less worried about being isolated, and the republican ideal looked closer than ever to being fulfilled. Although he could not make South Africa a republic, Malan could prepare the country for this eventuality. In his term of office, from 1948 to 1954, Malan took several steps to break ties with the UK: The 1953 ballot votes saw the NP fortify its position considerably, winning comfortably but still falling well short of
5952-436: The Federasie van Afrikaanse Kultuurverenigings (Federation of Afrikaans Cultural Organisations) also came into being. There was a widespread outpouring of nationalist sentiment around the 1938 centenary of the Great Trek and the Battle of Blood River . It was seen to signify the perpetuation of white South African culture, and anti-British and pro-republican feelings grew more assertive. It was obvious in political circles that
6076-406: The Government of National Unity between 1994 and 1996. In an attempt to distance itself from its past, the party was renamed the New National Party in 1997. The attempt was largely unsuccessful and the new party decided to merge with the ANC. The National Party was founded in Bloemfontein in 1914 by Afrikaner nationalists soon after the establishment of the Union of South Africa . Its founding
6200-430: The Hertzog government worked to undermine the vote of Coloureds (South Africans of mixed White and non-White ancestry) by granting the right to vote to White women, thus doubling White political power. In 1934, Hertzog agreed to merge his National Party with the rival South African Party of Jan Smuts to form the United Party . A hardline faction of Afrikaner nationalists led by Daniel François Malan refused to accept
6324-418: The NP was to move all Black South Africans into one of these homelands (although they might continue to work in South Africa as "guest workers"), leaving what was left of South Africa (about 87 per cent of the land area) with what would then be a White majority, at least on paper. As the apartheid government saw the homelands as embryonic independent nations, all Black South Africans were registered as citizens of
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#17327724229526448-430: The NP-led government had South Africa leave the Commonwealth, abandon its monarchy led by the British monarch and become an independent republic. The party's system of apartheid was officially labelled a crime against humanity by the United Nations General Assembly on 16 December 1966. During the 1970s and 1980s, the NP-led white apartheid government faced internal unrest in South Africa and international pressure for
6572-449: The NP-led government led by P. W. Botha and the outlawed ANC led by then-imprisoned Nelson Mandela began in 1987 with Botha seeking to accommodate the ANC's demands and consider releasing Mandela and legalising the ANC on the condition that it would renounce the use of political violence to attain its aims. F. W. de Klerk declared in February 1990 the decision to permit the release of Mandela from prison and ending South Africa's ban on
6696-411: The Namib include the Skeleton Coast and the Kaokoveld in the north and the extensive Namib Sand Sea along the central coast. The Great Escarpment swiftly rises to over 2,000 metres (7,000 ft). Average temperatures and temperature ranges increase further inland from the cold Atlantic waters, while the lingering coastal fogs slowly diminish. Although the area is rocky with poorly developed soils, it
6820-445: The Namibian government has promoted a policy of national reconciliation. It issued an amnesty for those who fought on either side during the liberation war. The civil war in Angola spilled over and adversely affected Namibians living in the north of the country. In 1998, Namibia Defence Force (NDF) troops were sent to the Democratic Republic of the Congo as part of a Southern African Development Community (SADC) contingent. In 1999,
6944-410: The Oorlam very well, granting them the right to use waterholes and grazing against an annual payment. On their way further north, however, the Oorlam encountered clans of the OvaHerero at Windhoek, Gobabis , and Okahandja , who resisted their encroachment. The Nama-Herero War broke out in 1880, with hostilities ebbing only after the German Empire deployed troops to the contested places and cemented
7068-445: The Portuguese did not try to claim the area. Like most of the interior of Sub-Saharan Africa , Namibia was not extensively explored by Europeans until the 19th century. At that time traders and settlers came principally from Germany and Sweden. In 1870, Finnish missionaries came to the northern part of Namibia to spread the Lutheran religion among the Ovambo and Kavango people . In the late 19th century, Dorsland Trekkers crossed
7192-401: The Republican ideal in the 1930s: There was some confusion about the republican ideal during the war years. The Herenigde Nasionale Party , with Hertzog its leader, pushed the issue into the background. After Hertzog left the party, however, it became republican. In 1942 and 1944, D. F. Malan introduced a motion in the House of Assembly in favour of the establishment of a republic, but this
7316-423: The San people as hunter-gatherers . Around the 14th century, immigrating Bantu people began to arrive during the Bantu expansion from central Africa. From the late 18th century onward, Oorlam people from Cape Colony crossed the Orange River and moved into the area that today is southern Namibia. Their encounters with the nomadic Nama tribes were largely peaceful. They received the missionaries accompanying
7440-445: The UK. South Africa now had its first independent constitution. However, the only real constitutional change was that the State President, in charge for seven years, would assume the now-vacant position of the Queen as Head of State. C. R. Swart , the State President-elect, took the first republican oath as State President of South Africa before Chief Justice L. C. Steyn (DRC). Although White inhabitants were generally happy with
7564-515: The UN General Assembly adopted a resolution proclaiming that, in accordance with the desires of its people, South West Africa be renamed Namibia . United Nations Security Council Resolution 269 , adopted in August 1969, declared South Africa's continued occupation of Namibia illegal. In recognition of this landmark decision, SWAPO's armed wing was renamed the People's Liberation Army of Namibia (PLAN). Namibia became one of several flashpoints for Cold War proxy conflicts in southern Africa during
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#17327724229527688-488: The UN General Assembly rejected this proposal, South Africa dismissed its opinion and began solidifying control of the territory. The UN General Assembly and Security Council responded by referring the issue to the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which held a number of discussions on the legality of South African rule between 1949 and 1966. South Africa began imposing apartheid , its codified system of racial segregation and discrimination, on South West Africa during
7812-432: The UP grew increasingly anxious, doing all it could to persuade Parliament to retain Commonwealth links. Strijdom, however, declared that South Africa's participation (or otherwise) in the Commonwealth would be determined only by its best interests. The question of apartheid dominated the 1958 election, and the NP took 55% of the vote, thus winning a clear majority for the first time. When Strijdom died that same year, there
7936-440: The Union of South Africa was headed inevitably towards republicanism. Although it remained a Dominion after unification in 1910, the country was granted increased amounts of self-government ; indeed, it already had complete autonomy on specific issues. It was agreed in 1910 that the South African government would look after domestic matters but that the country's external affairs would remain British-controlled. Hertzog's trip to
8060-544: The accommodation of non-Whites in South Africa. It resulted in policies of granting concessions to the non-White population while still retaining the apartheid system, such as the creation of Bantustans that were autonomous self-governing Black homelands (criticised for several of them being broken up into unconnected pieces and that they were still dominated by the White minority South African government), removing legal prohibitions on interracial marriage, and legalising certain non-White and multiracial political parties (excluding
8184-542: The anniversary of several historical events, the 1902 Treaty of Vereeniging, which ended the Anglo-Boer War; South Africa's becoming a union in 1910; and the first hoisting of the Union flag in 1928. The Afrikaner republican dream had finally come to reality. The significance of Commonwealth withdrawal turned out to be less than expected. It was not necessary for South Africa to amend its trading preferences, and Prime Minister Macmillan reciprocated Verwoerd's assurance that withdrawal would not alter trade between South Africa and
8308-407: The apartheid era. Its popular vote record was more mixed: While it won the popular vote with a comfortable margin in most general elections, the NP carried less than 50% of the electorate in 1948, 1953, 1961, and 1989. In 1977, the NP got its best-ever result in the elections with the support of 64.8% of the White voters and 134 parliamentary seats out of 165. After this, the party's consent declined as
8432-434: The area on their way from the Transvaal to Angola. Some of them settled in Namibia instead of continuing their journey. Namibia became a German colony in 1884 under Otto von Bismarck to forestall perceived British encroachment and was known as German South West Africa ( Deutsch-Südwestafrika ). The Palgrave Commission by the British governor in Cape Town determined that only the natural deep-water harbour of Walvis Bay
8556-412: The clear majority it sought: it had 94 seats in parliament to the UP's 57 and the Labour Party's five. Malan retired in 1954 at the age of eighty. The two succession contenders were J. G. Strijdom (Minister of Lands and Irrigation) and Havenga (Minister of Finance). Malan personally preferred the latter and, indeed, recommended him. Malan and Strijdom had clashed frequently over the years, particularly on
8680-502: The coast is a desert, these winds can develop into sand storms, leaving sand deposits in the Atlantic Ocean that are visible on satellite images. The Central Plateau and Kalahari areas have wide diurnal temperature ranges of up to 30C (54F). Efundja , the annual seasonal flooding of the northern parts of the country, often causes not only damage to infrastructure but loss of life. The rains that cause these floods originate in Angola, flow into Namibia's Cuvelai-Etosha Basin , and fill
8804-533: The country. More than 100,000 boreholes have been drilled in Namibia over the past century. One third of these boreholes have been drilled dry. An aquifer called Ohangwena II, on both sides of the Angola-Namibia border, was discovered in 2012. It has been estimated to be capable of supplying a population of 800,000 people in the North for 400 years, at the current (2018) rate of consumption. Experts estimate that Namibia has 7,720 km (1,850 cu mi) of underground water. According to African Folder,
8928-406: The country. 40.9% of the population is affected by multidimensional poverty , and more than 400,000 people continue to live in informal housing . Income disparity in the country is one of the world's highest with a Gini coefficient of 59.1 in 2015. With a population of 3,022,401 people today, Namibia is one of the most sparsely populated countries in the world. Namibia is a member state of
9052-600: The downfall of the Herero in Namibia was a model for the Nazis in the Holocaust . The memory of what happened under German rule has contributed to shape the ethnic identity in independent Namibia and has kept its significance in today's relations with Germany. The German minister for development aid apologised for the Namibian genocide in 2004. However, the German government distanced itself from this apology. Only in 2021 did
9176-457: The electorate entirely White, as Indian South Africans had never had any representation. In a move unrecognised by the rest of the world, the former German colony of South West Africa (now Namibia ), which South Africa had occupied in World War I , was effectively incorporated into South Africa as a League of Nations mandate , with seven members elected to represent its White citizens in
9300-710: The first Southern African country and the eighth country in Africa to accede to the Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes (UN Water Convention). National Party (South Africa) The National Party ( Afrikaans : Nasionale Party , NP ), also known as the Nationalist Party , was a political party in South Africa from 1914 to 1997, which
9424-416: The foundations for residential segregation in urban areas. Apartheid laws passed by the NP after 1948 included the 'Prohibition of Mixed Marriages Act', the 'Immorality Act', the 'Population Registration Act', and the 'Group Areas Act', which prohibited non-white males from being in certain areas of the country (especially at night) unless they were employed there. The NP strongly advocated republicanism ,
9548-589: The government by advocating a "two-stream" policy of equal rights for the English and Afrikaner communities. Afrikaner nationalists in the Transvaal and Cape provinces soon followed suit, so that three distinct provincial NP organisations were in existence in time for the 1915 general elections . The NP first came to power in coalition with the Labour Party in 1924, with Hertzog as Prime Minister . In 1930
9672-589: The homelands, not of the nation as a whole, and were expected to exercise their political rights only in the homelands. Accordingly, the three token parliamentary seats reserved for White representatives of Black South Africans in the Cape Province were scrapped. The other three provinces – Transvaal Province , the Orange Free State Province , and Natal Province had never allowed any Black representation. Coloureds were removed from
9796-549: The ills of apartheid. Commonwealth members were determined to isolate South Africa. There were numerous internal factors which had paved the way for and may be viewed as influences on the result: The opposition accused Verwoerd of trying to break from the Commonwealth and the West, thus losing South Africa's trade preferences. The NP, however, launched a vigorously enthusiastic political campaign with widely advertised public meetings. The opposition found it very difficult to fight for
9920-434: The last South African troops had been withdrawn from Namibia, all political prisoners granted amnesty, racially discriminatory legislation repealed, and 42,000 Namibian refugees returned to their homes. Just over 97% of eligible voters participated in the country's first parliamentary elections held under a universal franchise . The United Nations plan included oversight by foreign election observers in an effort to ensure
10044-543: The late 1940s. Black South West Africans were subject to pass laws , curfews, and a host of residential regulations that restricted their movement. Development was concentrated in the southern region of the territory adjacent to South Africa, known as the " Police Zone ", where most of the major settlements and commercial economic activity were located. Outside the Police Zone, indigenous peoples were restricted to theoretically self-governing tribal homelands . During
10168-627: The late 1950s and early 1960s, the accelerated decolonisation of Africa and mounting pressure on the remaining colonial powers to grant their colonies self-determination resulted in the formation of nascent nationalist parties in South West Africa. Movements such as the South West African National Union (SWANU) and the South West African People's Organisation (SWAPO) advocated for the formal termination of South Africa's mandate and independence for
10292-512: The latter years of the PLAN insurgency. The insurgents sought out weapons and sent recruits to the Soviet Union for military training. As the PLAN war effort gained momentum, the Soviet Union and other sympathetic states such as Cuba continued to increase their support, deploying advisers to train the insurgents directly as well as supplying more weapons and ammunition. SWAPO's leadership, dependent on Soviet, Angolan, and Cuban military aid, positioned
10416-639: The least rainfall of any country in sub-Saharan Africa. The Namibian landscape consists generally of five geographical areas, each with characteristic abiotic conditions and vegetation, with some variation within and overlap between them: the Central Plateau, the Namib, the Great Escarpment , the Bushveld , and the Kalahari Desert. The Central Plateau runs from north to south, bordered by
10540-641: The mandate as a veiled annexation and made no attempt to prepare South West Africa for future autonomy. As a result of the Conference on International Organization in 1945, the League of Nations was formally superseded by the United Nations (UN) and former League mandates by a trusteeship system. Article 77 of the United Nations Charter stated that UN trusteeship "shall apply...to territories now held under mandate"; furthermore, it would "be
10664-689: The merger and maintained a rump National Party called the Gesuiwerde Nasionale Party ( Purified National Party ). The Purified National Party used opposition to South African participation in World War II to stir up anti-British feelings amongst Afrikaners. This led to a reunification of the Purified Nationalists with the faction that had merged with the South African Party; together, they formed
10788-463: The movement firmly within the socialist bloc by 1975. This practical alliance reinforced the external perception of SWAPO as a Soviet proxy, which dominated Cold War rhetoric in South Africa and the United States. For its part, the Soviet Union supported SWAPO partly because it viewed South Africa as a regional Western ally. Growing war weariness and the reduction of tensions between the superpowers compelled South Africa, Angola, and Cuba to accede to
10912-399: The name Deutsche Oberrealschule (German senior secondary school). When the Abitur was replaced by the matric in 1941, the school was renamed Höhere Privatschule (lit. Higher private school), and it got its current name in 1958. DHPS offers boarding school facilities, a kindergarten and pre-school and primary and secondary grades from grade 1 to 12. Various sporting facilities are part of
11036-490: The national assembly). The country officially became independent on 21 March 1990. Sam Nujoma was sworn in as the first President of Namibia at a ceremony attended by Nelson Mandela of South Africa (who had been released from prison the previous month) and representatives from 147 countries, including 20 heads of state. In 1994, shortly before the first multiracial elections in South Africa, that country ceded Walvis Bay to Namibia. Since independence Namibia has completed
11160-515: The national government quashed a secessionist attempt in the northeastern Caprivi Strip . The Caprivi conflict was initiated by the Caprivi Liberation Army (CLA), a rebel group led by Mishake Muyongo . It wanted the Caprivi Strip to secede and form its own society. In 2007, Twyfelfontein was inscribed as a cultural UNESCO World Heritage Site , a prehistoric site with one of the largest concentrations of rock engravings on
11284-524: The organisation unless South Africa were expelled. Verwoerd disregarded the censure, arguing that his Commonwealth cohorts had no right to question and criticise his country's domestic affairs. On this issue, he even had the support of his parliamentary opposition. Thus, on 15 March 1961, ostensibly to Britain an awkward decision and causing a split within the Commonwealth, but more likely to avoid further condemnation and embarrassment, Verwoerd withdrew his application and announced that South Africa would become
11408-581: The party won 126 out of the 170 seats in Parliament. By 1960, however, much of the South African electorate called for withdrawal from the Commonwealth and establishing South Africa as a republic. It was decided that a republican referendum was to be held in October. International circumstances made the referendum a growing necessity. In the aftermath of the World War II , former British colonies in Africa and Asia were gaining independence and publicising
11532-464: The population). The survivors, when finally released from detention, were subjected to a policy of dispossession, deportation, forced labour, racial segregation, and discrimination in a system that in many ways foreshadowed the apartheid established by South Africa in 1948. Most Africans were confined to so-called native territories, which under South African rule after 1949 were turned into "homelands" ( Bantustans ). Some historians have speculated that
11656-432: The preservation of British links. There were numerous pro-republican arguments: There were also numerous arguments against the establishment of a republic: On 5 October 1960, 90.5% of the White electorate turned out to vote on the issue. 850,458 (52%) voted in favour of a republic, while 775,878 were against it. The Cape, Orange Free State and Transvaal were all in favour; Natal, a mainly English-speaking province,
11780-531: The pro-nationalist Whites of South-West Africa. The NP increased its parliamentary majority in almost every election between 1948 and 1977. Numerous segregation laws had been passed before the NP took power in 1948. Among the most significant were the 'Natives Land Act, No 27 of 1913', and the 'Natives (Urban Areas) Act of 1923'. The former made it illegal for Blacks to purchase or lease land from Whites except in reserves, which restricted Black occupancy to less than eight percent of South Africa's land. The latter laid
11904-464: The question of whether a republican South Africa should be inside or outside the Commonwealth. Strijdom, however, had the support of Verwoerd and Ben Schoeman , and he was eventually voted in as Prime Minister. Strijdom was a passionate and outspoken Afrikaner and republican who wholeheartedly supported apartheid. He was completely intolerant towards non-Afrikaners and liberal ideas, utterly determined to maintain White rule with zero compromise. Known as
12028-663: The races intended to maintain and extend political and economic control of South Africa by the White minority. The party's actions made South Africa for the most part a pariah state across the world. Apartheid was officially labelled a crime against humanity by the United Nations General Assembly on 16 December 1966. In 1959 the Bantu Self-Government Act established so-called Homelands (sometimes pejoratively called Bantustans ) for ten different Black tribes. The ultimate goal of
12152-415: The radical political movements elsewhere in Africa as vindication of his belief that White and Black nationalism could not work within the same system. Verwoerd also presented the NP as the party best equipped to deal with the widely perceived threat of communism. By the end of his term (caused by his assassination), Verwoerd had solidified the NP's domination of South African politics. In the 1966 elections
12276-558: The relinquishment of Commonwealth membership, for they regarded the Commonwealth as little more than the British Empire in disguise. They believed that South Africa and the United Kingdom had absolutely nothing in common, and even UP leader Sir De Villiers Graaff praised Verwoerd for his handling of the situation. On 31 May 1961, South Africa became a republic. The date was a significant one in Afrikaner history, as it heralded
12400-458: The republic, united in their support of Verwoerd, the Blacks defiantly rejected the move. Nelson Mandela and his National Action Council demonstrated from 29 to 31 May 1961. The republican issue would strongly intensify resistance to apartheid. In October 1961, Verwoerd appointed the National Party's two first English-speaking ministers. The NP won most parliamentary seats in all elections during
12524-465: The return of refugees. The ceasefire was broken after PLAN made a final incursion into the territory, possibly as a result of misunderstanding UNTAG's directives, in March 1989. A new ceasefire was later imposed with the condition that the insurgents were to be confined to their external bases in Angola until they could be disarmed and demobilised by UNTAG. By the end of the 11-month transition period,
12648-489: The segregation with stern penalties for non-Whites entering into areas designated for Whites-only without having a pass to permit them to do so (known as the pass laws ), interracial marriage and sexual relationships were illegal and punishable offences. Black people faced significant restrictions on property rights . After South Africa was condemned by the British Commonwealth for its policies of apartheid,
12772-508: The spacious campus in the centre of town, e.g. swimming pool, hostel, basketball courts, soccer fields, beach volleyball field and roller hockey rink. This Namibia school-related article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Namibia Namibia ( / n ə ˈ m ɪ b i ə / , / n æ ˈ -/ ), officially the Republic of Namibia , is a country in Southern Africa . Its western border
12896-627: The status quo among the Nama, Oorlam, and Herero. In 1878, the Cape of Good Hope , then a British colony, annexed the port of Walvis Bay and the offshore Penguin Islands ; these became an integral part of the new Union of South Africa at its creation in 1910. The first Europeans to disembark and explore the region were the Portuguese navigators Diogo Cão in 1485 and Bartolomeu Dias in 1486, but
13020-562: The striking workers would later join SWAPO's PLAN as part of the South African Border War. As SWAPO's insurgency intensified, South Africa's case for annexation in the international community continued to decline. The UN declared that South Africa had failed in its obligations to ensure the moral and material well-being of South West Africa's indigenous inhabitants, and had thus disavowed its own mandate. On 12 June 1968,
13144-450: The territory. In 1966, following the ICJ's controversial ruling that it had no legal standing to consider the question of South African rule, SWAPO launched an armed insurgency that escalated into part of a wider regional conflict known as the South African Border War . In 1971 Namibian contract workers led a general strike against the contract system and in support of independence. Some of
13268-620: The transition from white minority apartheid rule to parliamentary democracy. Multiparty democracy was introduced and has been maintained, with local, regional and national elections held regularly. Several registered political parties are active and represented in the National Assembly, although the SWAPO has won every election since independence. The transition from the 15-year rule of President Nujoma to his successor Hifikepunye Pohamba in 2005 went smoothly. Since independence,
13392-474: The very popular African National Congress (ANC), which the government still viewed as a terrorist organisation). Those identified as Coloureds and Indian South Africans were granted separate legislatures in 1983 alongside the central legislature that represented Whites to provide them self-government while maintaining apartheid, but no such congress was supplied to the Black population as their self-government
13516-460: The western escarpment ) to the Hyper-Arid coastal plain [less than 100 mm (4 in)]. Temperature maxima are limited by the overall elevation of the entire region: only in the far south, Warmbad for instance, are maxima above 40 °C (104 °F) recorded. Typically the sub-Tropical High Pressure Belt, with frequent clear skies, provides more than 300 days of sunshine per year. It
13640-578: The world. Because of the location of the shoreline, at the point where the Atlantic's cold water reaches Africa's hot climate, often extremely dense fog forms along the coast. Near the coast there are areas where the dune-hummocks are vegetated. Namibia has rich coastal and marine resources that remain largely unexplored. The Caprivi Strip extends east from the northeastern corner of the country. Namibia has 13 cities, governed by municipalities and 26 towns, governed by town councils. The capital Windhoek
13764-590: Was a tripartite succession contest between Swart, Dönges and Verwoerd. The latter, devoted to the cause of a republican South Africa, was the new Prime Minister. Verwoerd, a former Minister of Native Affairs, played a leading role in the institution of the apartheid system. Under his leadership, the NP solidified its control over South African apartheid-era politics. To gain the support of the English-identified population of South Africa, Verwoerd appointed several English speakers to his cabinet. He also cited
13888-429: Was defeated. When the NP came to power in 1948 (making it the first all-Afrikaner cabinet since 1910), there were two uppermost priorities that it was determined to fulfil: Between 1948 and 1961, Prime Ministers D. F. Malan , J. G. Strijdom and Hendrik Verwoerd all worked very hard for the latter, implementing a battery of policies and changes in a bid to increase the country's autonomy. Divided loyalty, they felt,
14012-636: Was finalised in April. It merged the authority of the British Crown and Governor-General into a new post, State President of South Africa . The State President would have relatively little political power, serving more as the ceremonial head of state. The political power was to lie with the Prime Minister (head of government). The Republic of South Africa would also have its monetary system, employing Rand and Cents. In March 1961, Verwoerd visited
14136-436: Was formed as a compromise between those who advocated for an Allied annexation of former German and Ottoman territories and a proposition put forward by those who wished to grant them to an international trusteeship until they could govern themselves. It permitted the South African government to administer South West Africa until that territory's inhabitants were prepared for political self-determination. South Africa interpreted
14260-573: Was holding South Africa back. They wanted to break the country's ties with the United Kingdom and establish a republic, and many South Africans grew confident that a republic was possible. Unfortunately for its republicans, the NP was not in a strong parliamentary position. Although it held a majority (only five) of seats, many of these were in rural constituencies, which had far fewer voters than urban constituencies. Malan appealed to many rural voters due to his agricultural policy, meaning black workers relied on white farmers for work, fuelling his quest for
14384-459: Was immediately succeeded by vice-president Nangolo Mbumba as new President of Namibia. At 825,615 km (318,772 sq mi), Namibia is the world's thirty-fourth largest country (after Venezuela). It lies mostly between latitudes 17° and 29°S (a small area is north of 17°), and longitudes 11° and 26°E . Being situated between the Namib and the Kalahari deserts, Namibia has
14508-469: Was impossible for now for Malan and his ardently republican Nats to bring about a republic constitutionally. In the interim, the NP would have to consolidate itself and not antagonise the British. Many English speakers did not want to break their ties with the United Kingdom. However, in 1949, at the 1949 Commonwealth Prime Ministers' Conference in London (with Malan in attendance), India requested that, despite its newly attained republican status, it remain
14632-578: 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
14756-523: Was not. It was a narrow victory for the republicans. However, a considerable number of Afrikaners did vote against the measure. The few Blacks, Indians and Coloureds allowed to vote were decidedly against the measure. English speakers who voted for a republic had done so on the condition that their cultural heritage be safeguarded. Many had associated a republic with the survival of the White South Africans. Macmillan's speech illustrated that
14880-514: Was responsible for the implementation of apartheid rule . The party was an Afrikaner ethnic nationalist party, which initially promoted the interests of Afrikaners but later became a stalwart promoter and enactor of white supremacy , for which it is best known. It first became the governing party of the country in 1924. It merged with its rival, the SAP, during the Great Depression , and
15004-476: Was rooted in disagreements among South African Party politicians, particularly Prime Minister Louis Botha and his first Minister of Justice, J. B. M. Hertzog . After Hertzog began speaking out publicly against the Botha government's "one-stream" policy in 1912, Botha removed him from the cabinet. Hertzog and his followers in the Orange Free State province subsequently moved to establish the National Party to oppose
15128-550: Was then known as South West Africa . In the later 20th century, uprisings and demands for political representation resulted in the United Nations assuming direct responsibility over the territory in 1966, but South Africa maintained de facto rule until 1973, when the UN recognised the South West Africa People's Organisation ( SWAPO ) as the official representative of the Namibian people. Namibia gained independence from South Africa on 21 March 1990, following
15252-495: Was to be provided through the Bantustans. The NP-led government began changing laws affected by the apartheid system that had come under heavy domestic and international condemnation, such as removing the pass laws, granting Blacks full property rights that ended previous significant restrictions on Black land ownership, and the right to form trade unions. Following escalating economic sanctions over apartheid, negotiations between
15376-519: Was worth occupying and thus annexed it to the Cape province of British South Africa. In 1897, a rinderpest epidemic caused massive cattle die-offs of an estimated 95% of cattle in southern and central Namibia. In response the German colonisers set up a veterinary cordon fence known as the Red Line . In 1907 this fence then broadly defined the boundaries for the first Police Zone. From 1904 to 1907,
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