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89-512: Gobabis is the centre of this area and also its main business area, as it is linked with the capital of Namibia, Windhoek , by rail and the tarred B6 national road. This infrastructure serves as the main supply line for the region. All the other population centres in the region are linked with Gobabis by road. Many other services are rendered from Gobabis to the region, such as the Police Divisional Headquarters, which

178-461: A decreasing number of first language Afrikaans speakers in South Africa from 13.5% in 2011 to 10.6% in 2022. The South African Institute of Race Relations (SAIRR) projects that a growing majority of Afrikaans speakers will be Coloured . Afrikaans speakers experience higher employment rates than other South African language groups, though as of 2012 half a million were unemployed. Despite

267-697: A few Islamic mosques in the city, including the Windhoek Islamic Center . Rugby union is a popular sport in Namibia. The men's national team has qualified for the Rugby World Cup on seven consecutive occasions, in 1999 , 2003 , 2007 , 2011 , 2015 , 2019 , and 2023 , but is yet to win a game at the tournament. The Welwitschias , who share their name with the national team, has competed in South Africa's domestic Rugby Challenge competition since 2021, and previously competed in

356-614: A higher percentage of the votes. In the 2004 regional election for the National Assembly of Namibia , SWAPO won four of the seven constituencies. Aminuis and Otjinene were won by candidates of NUDO, and in Otjombinde the South West Africa National Union (SWANU) candidate became councillor. In the 2015 regional elections SWAPO obtained 54% of the total votes ( 2010 : 47%) and won four of

445-575: A national, but not official, language. There is a much smaller number of Afrikaans speakers among Zimbabwe's white minority, as most have left the country since 1980. Afrikaans was also a medium of instruction for schools in Bophuthatswana , an Apartheid-era Bantustan . Eldoret in Kenya was founded by Afrikaners. There are also around 30.000 South-Africans in the Netherlands , of which

534-622: A second language. It is widely taught in South African schools, with about 10.3 million second-language students. Afrikaans is offered at many universities outside South Africa, including in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Poland, Russia and the United States. In Afrikaans grammar, there is no distinction between the infinitive and present forms of verbs, with the exception of the verbs 'to be' and 'to have'. In addition, verbs do not conjugate differently depending on

623-472: A stone church that held 500 people; it was also used as a school. Two Rhenish missionaries , Carl Hugo Hahn and Franz Heinrich Kleinschmidt , started working there in late 1842. Two years later they were driven out by two Methodist Wesleyans , Richard Haddy and Joseph Tindall. Gardens were laid out and for a while Windhoek prospered. A series of wars between the Nama and Herero tribes eventually destroyed

712-405: A stylized aloe was the principal emblem, but this was amended to a natural aloe ( Aloe littoralis ) on 15 September 1972. The Coat of Arms is described as "A Windhoek aloe with a raceme of three flowers on an island. Crest: A mural crown Or . Motto: SUUM CUIQUE ( To each their own )". Windhoek formally received its town privileges on 18 October 1965 on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of

801-495: A term also used to refer to the early Cape settlers collectively, or the derogatory 'kitchen Dutch' ( kombuistaal ) from its use by slaves of colonial settlers "in the kitchen". The Afrikaans language arose in the Dutch Cape Colony , through a gradual divergence from European Dutch dialects , during the course of the 18th century. As early as the mid-18th century and as recently as the mid-20th century, Afrikaans

890-410: Is connected by rail to: Expanding the town area has – apart from financial restrictions – proven to be challenging due to its geographical location. In southern, eastern and western directions, Windhoek is surrounded by rocky, mountainous areas, which make land development costly. The southern side is not suitable for industrial development because of the presence of underground aquifers . This leaves

979-515: Is "a pure and proper language" for religious purposes, especially among the deeply Calvinist Afrikaans religious community that previously had been sceptical of a Bible translation that varied from the Dutch version that they were used to. In 1983 a fresh translation marked the 50th anniversary of the 1933 version. The final editing of this edition was done by E. P. Groenewald, A. H. van Zyl, P. A. Verhoef, J. L. Helberg and W. Kempen. This translation

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1068-610: Is a groundswell movement within Afrikaans to be inclusive, and to promote itself along with the indigenous official languages. In Namibia, the percentage of Afrikaans speakers declined from 11.4% (2001 Census) to 10.4% (2011 Census). The major concentrations are in Hardap (41.0%), ǁKaras (36.1%), Erongo (20.5%), Khomas (18.5%), Omaheke (10.0%), Otjozondjupa (9.4%), Kunene (4.2%), and Oshikoto (2.3%). Some native speakers of Bantu languages and English also speak Afrikaans as

1157-526: Is absent from the other West Germanic standard languages. For example: Both French and San origins have been suggested for double negation in Afrikaans. While double negation is still found in Low Franconian dialects in West Flanders and in some "isolated" villages in the centre of the Netherlands (such as Garderen ), it takes a different form, which is not found in Afrikaans. The following

1246-475: Is an example: Compare with Ek wil dit nie doen nie , which changes the meaning to 'I want not to do this'. Whereas Ek wil nie dit doen nie emphasizes a lack of desire to act, Ek wil dit nie doen nie emphasizes the act itself. The -ne was the Middle Dutch way to negate but it has been suggested that since -ne became highly non-voiced, nie or niet was needed to complement

1335-509: Is based in Gobabis. Hunting, including trophy hunting, is one of the major sources of income for the region. This takes place mainly in the winter months, from June to August. During these months, tourists from the northern hemisphere can be seen in the area, enjoying the mild and dry winter climate and collecting trophies. In 2013 Omaheke had 42 government schools with a total of 18,365 pupils. Upon independence of Namibia , Hereroland East

1424-569: Is neither a creole nor a direct descendant of Dutch, but a fusion of two transmission pathways. Most of the first settlers whose descendants today are the Afrikaners were from the United Provinces (now Netherlands), with up to one-sixth of the community of French Huguenot origin, and a seventh from Germany. African and Asian workers, Cape Coloured children of European settlers and Khoikhoi women, and slaves contributed to

1513-537: Is seen as the dawn of a new era in Afrikaans cinema. Several short films have been created and more feature-length movies, such as Poena Is Koning and Bakgat (both in 2008) have been produced, besides the 2011 Afrikaans-language film Skoonheid , which was the first Afrikaans film to screen at the Cannes Film Festival . The film Platteland was also released in 2011. The Afrikaans film industry started gaining international recognition via

1602-456: Is situated in Gobabis. Clinics in the region are served by medical practitioners based in Gobabis, and there are two hospitals and a clinic serving the region. The agricultural patterns of this region is to a large extent homogenous. Most of the 900 commercial and 3,500 communal farmers in this area are cattle breeders. A regional office of the Ministry of Agriculture, serving the whole region,

1691-412: Is subdivided into the following suburbs and townships: Suburbs Townships In many of Windhoek's townships residents live in shacks . In 2020 the city had a total of 41,900 of these informal housing structures, accommodating close to 100,000 inhabitants. Windhoek has over 300 sunny days per year. It experiences a hot semi-arid climate ( BSh ) according to Köppen climate classification as

1780-471: Is the busiest airport in Namibia in terms of takeoffs and landings. This city airport handles approximately 150 to 200 movements per day, amounting to roughly 50,000 per year. In 2004, the airport served 141,605 passengers, the majority of which are light aircraft. Primarily, limitations such as runway length, noise, and air space congestion have kept Eros from developing into a larger airport. Most of Namibia's charter operators have Eros as their base. Windhoek

1869-498: Is the capital and largest city of Namibia . It is located in central Namibia in the Khomas Highland plateau area, at around 1,700 m (5,600 ft) above sea level, almost exactly at the country's geographical centre. The population of Windhoek, which was 486,169 in 2023, is constantly growing due to a continued migration from other regions in Namibia. Windhoek is the social, economic, political, and cultural centre of

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1958-501: Is the largest of Namibia's seven major prisons. Windhoek's three main access roads from Rehoboth , Gobabis , and Okahandja are paved, and are designed to be able to withstand the largest possible flood to be expected in fifty years. Sealed roads can carry traffic moving at 120 km/h (75 mph) and should last for 20 years. In 1928, Kaiserstraße, now Independence Avenue , was the first paved road in Windhoek. Ten years later

2047-460: The -ne . With time the -ne disappeared in most Dutch dialects. The double negative construction has been fully grammaticalised in standard Afrikaans and its proper use follows a set of fairly complex rules as the examples below show: A notable exception to this is the use of the negating grammar form that coincides with negating the English present participle . In this case there is only

2136-605: The Evangelie volgens Markus ( Gospel of Mark , lit. 'Gospel according to Mark'); however, this translation was never published. The manuscript is to be found in the South African National Library, Cape Town. The first official translation of the entire Bible into Afrikaans was in 1933 by J. D. du Toit , E. E. van Rooyen, J. D. Kestell, H. C. M. Fourie, and BB Keet . This monumental work established Afrikaans as 'n suiwer en ordentlike taal , that

2225-696: The Arabic alphabet : see Arabic Afrikaans . Later, Afrikaans, now written with the Latin script , started to appear in newspapers and political and religious works in around 1850 (alongside the already established Dutch). In 1875 a group of Afrikaans-speakers from the Cape formed the Genootskap vir Regte Afrikaaners ('Society for Real Afrikaners'), and published a number of books in Afrikaans including grammars, dictionaries, religious materials and histories. Until

2314-457: The Currie Cup and Vodacom Cup . The city has several football clubs which include African Stars F.C. , Black Africa F.C. , F.C. Civics Windhoek , Orlando Pirates F.C. , Ramblers F.C. , SK Windhoek , Tigers F.C. , Tura Magic F.C. , and Citizens F.C . Many boxers such as Paulus Moses , Paulus Ambunda and Abmerk Shindjuu are from the city. The Namibia national cricket team ,

2403-476: The Kalahari Desert , the city receives 3,605 hours of sunshine. Precipitation is abundant during the summer season, and minimal during the winter season. The average annual precipitation is 367.4 mm (14.46 in), with lows of 106.7 mm (4.20 in) in the 2018/19 rainy season, and 97 mm (3.8 in) in 1929/30. In 1971, there were roughly 26,000 whites living in Windhoek, outnumbering

2492-644: The National Unity Democratic Organisation (NUDO) with 1,453 votes, and the Rally for Democracy and Progress (RDP) with 1,422 votes. SWAPO also won the 2020 local authority election but lost the majority control over the town council. It obtained 20,250 votes and gained five seats. The Independent Patriots for Change (IPC), an opposition party formed in August 2020, obtained 14,028 votes and gained four seats. Two seats each went to

2581-684: The Ohangwena Region native did not win a majority of the votes in the region. National Unity Democratic Organisation (NUDO)'s Kuaima Riruako , paramount chief of the Herero people, received over 7,000 votes (25%), and the Democratic Turnhalle Alliance (DTA)'s Katuutire Kaura received over 3,700 votes (13%). Only in the much more populated Khomas Region and neighboring Otjozondjupa Region did Riruako gain more votes, and in no other region did NUDO's candidate gain

2670-678: The Roman Catholic and Anglican Churches, were involved. Afrikaans descended from Dutch dialects in the 17th century. It belongs to a West Germanic sub-group, the Low Franconian languages . Other West Germanic languages related to Afrikaans are German, English, the Frisian languages , Yiddish , and the unstandardised language Low German . Afrikaans is also widely spoken in Namibia. Before independence, Afrikaans had equal status with German as an official language. Since independence in 1990, Afrikaans has had constitutional recognition as

2759-589: The Senate , in which the Afrikaans language was declared a variety of Dutch. The Constitution of 1961 reversed the position of Afrikaans and Dutch, so that English and Afrikaans were the official languages, and Afrikaans was deemed to include Dutch. The Constitution of 1983 removed any mention of Dutch altogether. The Afrikaans Language Monument is on a hill overlooking Paarl in the Western Cape Province . Officially opened on 10 October 1975, it

Omaheke Region - Misplaced Pages Continue

2848-538: The Synod of Dordrecht of 1618 and was thus in an archaic form of Dutch. This was hard for Dutch speakers to understand, and increasingly unintelligible for Afrikaans speakers. C. P. Hoogehout, Arnoldus Pannevis  [ af ] , and Stephanus Jacobus du Toit were the first Afrikaans Bible translators. Important landmarks in the translation of the Scriptures were in 1878 with C. P. Hoogehout's translation of

2937-456: The Treaty of Versailles , the territory was placed under a League of Nations Class C mandate and again administered by South Africa. After World War II , more capital became available to improve the area's economy. After 1955, large public projects were undertaken, such as the building of new schools and hospitals, tarring of the city's roads (a project begun in 1928 with Kaiser Street), and

3026-797: The Windhoek Public Library , built in 1925, next to the Alte Feste. The places of worship are predominantly Christian churches and temples: those of Evangelical Lutheran Church in Namibia , Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Republic of Namibia , German-speaking Evangelical Lutheran Church in Namibia (all three members of the Lutheran World Federation ), Baptist Convention of Namibia ( Baptist World Alliance ), Assemblies of God , Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Windhoek ( Catholic Church ). There are also

3115-484: The Winterhoek Mountains at Tulbagh in South Africa, where his ancestors had lived. The first known mention of the name Windhoek was in a letter from Jonker Afrikaner to Joseph Tindall, dated 12 August 1844. In 1840 Jonker Afrikaner established an Orlam settlement at Windhoek. He and his followers stayed near one of the main hot springs, located in the present-day Klein Windhoek suburb. He built

3204-564: The constitution of the Western Cape , which went into effect in 1998, declares Afrikaans to be an official language of the province alongside English and Xhosa . The Afrikaans-language general-interest family magazine Huisgenoot has the largest readership of any magazine in the country. When the British design magazine Wallpaper described Afrikaans as "one of the world's ugliest languages" in its September 2005 article about

3293-526: The monument , South African billionaire Johann Rupert (chairman of the Richemont Group ), responded by withdrawing advertising for brands such as Cartier , Van Cleef & Arpels , Montblanc and Alfred Dunhill from the magazine. The author of the article, Bronwyn Davies, was an English -speaking South African. An estimated 90 to 95 percent of the Afrikaans lexicon is ultimately of Dutch origin, and there are few lexical differences between

3382-479: The predominantly Dutch settlers and enslaved population of the Dutch Cape Colony , where it gradually began to develop distinguishing characteristics in the 17th and 18th centuries. Although Afrikaans has adopted words from other languages, including German and the Khoisan languages , an estimated 90 to 95% of the vocabulary of Afrikaans is of Dutch origin. Differences between Afrikaans and Dutch often lie in

3471-452: The "language of the white oppressor" by some, pressure has been increased to remove Afrikaans as a teaching language in South African universities, resulting in bloody student protests in 2015. Under South Africa's Constitution of 1996, Afrikaans remains an official language , and has equal status to English and nine other languages. The new policy means that the use of Afrikaans is now often reduced in favour of English, or to accommodate

3560-676: The Arabic script. In 1861, L.H. Meurant published his Zamenspraak tusschen Klaas Waarzegger en Jan Twyfelaar ( Conversation between Nicholas Truthsayer and John Doubter ), which is considered to be the first book published in Afrikaans. The first grammar book was published in 1876; a bilingual dictionary was later published in 1902. The main modern Afrikaans dictionary in use is the Verklarende Handwoordeboek van die Afrikaanse Taal (HAT). A new authoritative dictionary, called Woordeboek van die Afrikaanse Taal (WAT),

3649-766: The Boers and their servants." In 1925 Afrikaans was recognised by the South African government as a distinct language, rather than simply a vernacular of Dutch. On 8 May 1925, that is 23 years after the Second Boer War ended, the Official Languages of the Union Act, 1925 was passed—mostly due to the efforts of the Afrikaans-language movement —at a joint sitting of the House of Assembly and

Omaheke Region - Misplaced Pages Continue

3738-519: The Dutch Cape Colony between 1652 and 1672 had a Dutch father. Sarah Grey Thomason and Terrence Kaufman argue that Afrikaans' development as a separate language was "heavily conditioned by nonwhites who learned Dutch imperfectly as a second language." Beginning in about 1815, Afrikaans started to replace Malay as the language of instruction in Muslim schools in South Africa, written with

3827-818: The Eagles, plays the majority of its home games at the Wanderers Cricket Ground . It has also played at other grounds in the city, including the United Ground and the Trans Namib Ground . The team took part in the 2003 Cricket World Cup in South Africa , though they lost all their games. They have played in each edition of the ICC Intercontinental Cup . Men's baseball was introduced to Namibia in 1950 at

3916-522: The German colony were determined in 1890 and Germany sent a protective corps, the Schutztruppe under Major Curt von François , to maintain order. Von François stationed his garrison at Windhoek, which was strategically situated as a buffer between the warring Nama and Herero peoples. The twelve strong springs provided water for the cultivation of produce and grains. Colonial Windhoek

4005-747: The National Museum, the Alte Feste (historical) showcases a range of colonial items such as wagons and domestic items, while the Owela Museum (scientific; named after Owela , a traditional game played with pebbles) contains displays of minerals, fossils and meteorites and gives an insight into traditional village life. There are also the Independence Memorial Museum , the National Library of Namibia and

4094-558: The Omaheke Region is 34.1%. According to the 2011 census, 43% of the population speak Otjiherero , 30% speak Nama/Damara and 8% speak Afrikaans at home. In the east, Omaheke borders are three districts of Botswana : Domestically, it borders the following regions: Omaheke is traversed by the northwesterly line of equal latitude and longitude. A large part of this region is known as the Sandveld . The northeastern part of

4183-582: The Ramblers sports club in town. The 'Tony Rust Raceway' is located west of Windhoek on the Daan Viljoen road and reopened in 2007. Farm Windhoek , located adjacent to the townlands and owned by the municipality, is a sports venue for hiking, running, and mountain biking. The general institutions of higher education in Windhoek are: Other recognisable institutions of higher learning: Windhoek has 29 secondary schools and 58 primary schools. Some of

4272-433: The Windhoek and Hosea Kutako International Airport to a dual carriageway. This was expected to be completed in 2022. As everywhere in Namibia, public transport is scarce and transportation across town is largely done by taxi; there were 6,492 registered taxis in 2013. Windhoek is served by two airports, with the closest one being Eros Airport , located 7 km (4.3 mi) south of the city centre for smaller craft, and

4361-434: The annual average temperature is above 18 °C (64 °F). The temperature throughout the year would be called mild, due to altitude influence. The annual average high and low temperature range is 13.4 °C (24.1 °F). The coldest month is July, with an average temperature of 13.1 °C (55.6 °F), while the hottest month is December, with average temperature 23.5 °C (74.3 °F). Due to its location near

4450-451: The black population of 24,000. About one third of white residents at the time, at least 9,000 individuals, were German speakers. Windhoek's population currently stands at over 325,858 (65% black; 18% other; 17% white), and is growing 4% annually in part due to informal settlements that have even higher growth rates of nearly 10% a year. In public life, Afrikaans , and to a lesser extent German , are still used as lingua francas even though

4539-476: The building of dams and pipelines to stabilise the water supply. The city introduced the world's first potable re-use plant in 1958, treating recycled sewage and sending it directly into the town's water supply. On 1 October 1966, the then Administrator of South West Africa granted Windhoek the coat of arms, which was registered on 2 October 1970 with the South African Bureau of Heraldry. Initially

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4628-451: The challenges of demotion and emigration that it faces in South Africa, the Afrikaans vernacular remains competitive, being popular in DSTV pay channels and several internet sites, while generating high newspaper and music CD sales. A resurgence in Afrikaans popular music since the late 1990s has invigorated the language, especially among a younger generation of South Africans. A recent trend is

4717-496: The country. Nearly every Namibian national enterprise, governmental body, educational and cultural institution is headquartered there. The city developed at the site of a permanent hot spring known to the local pastoral tribes. It developed rapidly after Jonker Afrikaner , Captain of the Orlam , settled there in 1840 and built a stone church for his community. In the decades following, multiple wars and armed hostilities resulted in

4806-512: The development of Afrikaans. The slave population was made up of people from East Africa, West Africa, Mughal India , Madagascar , and the Dutch East Indies (modern Indonesia). A number were also indigenous Khoisan people, who were valued as interpreters, domestic servants, and labourers. Many free and enslaved women married or cohabited with the male Dutch settlers. M. F. Valkhoff argued that 75% of children born to female slaves in

4895-437: The dominant mountain ridge over the city. At this time, Windhoek's three castles, Heinitzburg , Sanderburg , and Schwerinsburg , were built. The German colonial era came to an end after the end of World War I but South West Africa , and with it Windhoek, had already fallen in 1915. Until the end of the war, the city was administered by a South African military government, and no further development occurred. In 1920, after

4984-459: The early 20th century Afrikaans was considered a Dutch dialect , alongside Standard Dutch , which it eventually replaced as an official language. Before the Boer wars , "and indeed for some time afterwards, Afrikaans was regarded as inappropriate for educated discourse. Rather, Afrikaans was described derogatorily as 'a kitchen language' or 'a bastard jargon', suitable for communication mainly between

5073-477: The end of warfare, the city has had accelerated growth and development. The city is the administrative, commercial, and industrial centre of Namibia. A 1992/93 study estimated that Windhoek provides over half of Namibia's non-agricultural employment, with its national share of employment in utilities being 96%, in transport and communication 94%, finance and business services 82%. Due to its relative size Windhoek is, even more than many other national capital cities,

5162-473: The government for Afrikaans, in terms of education, social events, media (TV and radio), and general status throughout the country, given that it now shares its place as official language with ten other languages. Nevertheless, Afrikaans remains more prevalent in the media – radio, newspapers and television – than any of the other official languages, except English. More than 300 book titles in Afrikaans are published annually. South African census figures suggest

5251-581: The government only uses English. Currently Windhoek has a population of 431,000 as of 2020. Windhoek is the only self-governed settlement in Khomas Region. It is governed by a multi-party municipal council that has fifteen seats. The council meets monthly; its decisions are taken collectively. SWAPO won the 2015 local authority election and gained twelve seats, by having 37,533 votes. Three opposition parties gained one seat each: The Popular Democratic Movement (PDM), formerly DTA, with 4,171 votes,

5340-406: The increased availability of pre-school educational CDs and DVDs. Such media also prove popular with the extensive Afrikaans-speaking emigrant communities who seek to retain language proficiency in a household context. Afrikaans-language cinema showed signs of new vigour in the early 21st century. The 2007 film Ouma se slim kind , the first full-length Afrikaans movie since Paljas in 1998,

5429-488: The language distance for Anglophones once remarked that the differences between (Standard) Dutch and Afrikaans are comparable to those between the Received Pronunciation and Southern American English . Afrikaans is an official language of the Republic of South Africa and a recognised national language of the Republic of Namibia. Post-apartheid South Africa has seen a loss of preferential treatment by

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5518-581: The language of instruction for half the subjects taught in non-White schools (with English continuing for the other half). Although English is the mother tongue of only 8.2% of the population, it is the language most widely understood, and the second language of a majority of South Africans. Afrikaans is more widely spoken than English in the Northern and Western Cape provinces, several hundred kilometres from Soweto. The Black community's opposition to Afrikaans and preference for continuing English instruction

5607-513: The likes of big Afrikaans Hollywood film stars, like Charlize Theron ( Monster ) and Sharlto Copley ( District 9 ) promoting their mother tongue. SABC 3 announced early in 2009 that it would increase Afrikaans programming due to the "growing Afrikaans-language market and [their] need for working capital as Afrikaans advertising is the only advertising that sells in the current South African television market". In April 2009, SABC3 started screening several Afrikaans-language programmes. There

5696-640: The local branch of the Affirmative Repositioning movement (8,501 votes) and the Landless People's Movement (LPM, a new party registered in 2018, 7,365 votes). PDM (5,411 votes) and NUDO (1,455 votes) obtained one seat each. Windhoek is twinned with: Windhoek is known as the art capital of Namibia. The National Art Gallery , National Theatre and the National Museum are all located here. Two locations are part of

5785-541: The majority are of Afrikaans-speaking Afrikaner and Coloured South-African descent. A much smaller and unknown number of speakers also reside in the Dutch Caribbean . Contrary to popular belief, the majority of Afrikaans speakers today are not Afrikaners or Boers , but Coloureds . In 1976, secondary-school pupils in Soweto began a rebellion in response to the government's decision that Afrikaans be used as

5874-415: The more analytic morphology and grammar of Afrikaans, and different spellings. There is a large degree of mutual intelligibility between the two languages, especially in written form . The name of the language comes directly from the Dutch word Afrikaansch (now spelled Afrikaans ) meaning 'African'. It was previously referred to as 'Cape Dutch' ( Kaap-Hollands or Kaap-Nederlands ),

5963-634: The neglect and destruction of the new settlement. Windhoek was founded a second time in 1890 by Imperial German Army Major Curt von François , when the territory was colonised by the German Empire . Theories vary on how the city got its modern name of Windhoek. Most believe it is derived from the Afrikaans words wind (meaning wind) and hoek (meaning corner). Another theory suggests that Captain Jonker Afrikaner named Windhoek after

6052-429: The next one, Gobabis road, now Sam Nujoma Drive, was also paved. Today, out of approximately 40,000 km (25,000 mi) of Namibia's total road network, about 5,000 km (3,100 mi) is sealed . In 2014, The Roads Authority planned to upgrade the Windhoek- Okahandja road to a dual carriageway. It would cost about N$ 1 billion and was expected to be completed in 2021. Later on, they also planned to upgrade

6141-429: The notable schools are: Afrikaans language Afrikaans ( / ˌ æ f r ɪ ˈ k ɑː n s / AF -rih- KAHNSS , / ˌ ɑː f -, - ˈ k ɑː n z / AHF -, -⁠ KAHNZ ) is a West Germanic language , spoken in South Africa , Namibia and (to a lesser extent) Botswana , Zambia and Zimbabwe . It evolved from the Dutch vernacular of South Holland ( Hollandic dialect ) spoken by

6230-502: The other being Hosea Kutako International Airport , 42 km (26 mi) east of the city. A number of foreign airlines operate to and from Windhoek. Air charters and helicopter and fixed-wing aircraft rentals are also available. Hosea Kutako International Airport handles over 800,000 passengers a year. It has one runway without capacity limitations. The other international airport is located in Walvis Bay , with domestic airports at Lüderitz , Oranjemund , and Ondangwa . Eros Airport

6319-434: The other official languages. In 1996, for example, the South African Broadcasting Corporation reduced the amount of television airtime in Afrikaans, while South African Airways dropped its Afrikaans name Suid-Afrikaanse Lugdiens from its livery . Similarly, South Africa's diplomatic missions overseas now display the name of the country only in English and their host country's language, and not in Afrikaans. Meanwhile,

6408-410: The other way round. Mutual intelligibility thus tends to be asymmetrical, as it is easier for Dutch speakers to understand Afrikaans than for Afrikaans speakers to understand Dutch. In general, mutual intelligibility between Dutch and Afrikaans is far better than between Dutch and Frisian or between Danish and Swedish . The South African poet writer Breyten Breytenbach , attempting to visualise

6497-411: The past tense is also often replaced with the perfect.) When telling a longer story, Afrikaans speakers usually avoid the perfect and simply use the present tense, or historical present tense instead (as is possible, but less common, in English as well). A particular feature of Afrikaans is its use of the double negative ; it is classified in Afrikaans as ontkennende vorm and is something that

6586-634: The region is still very much wilderness. Anthropologically, almost the entire Ovambanderu and Gobabis-Juǀwa ethnic groups reside in the region. Furthermore, it is a rich cultural area for Herero, Damara-Nama, Tswana, Afrikaners and Germans. One of its notable events is the annual Meat Festival. 22°00′S 19°30′E  /  22.000°S 19.500°E  / -22.000; 19.500 Windhoek Windhoek ( / ˈ w ɪ n d h ʊ k / , Afrikaans : [ˈvəntɦuk] ; German : Windhuk [ˈvɪnthʊk] ; Khoekhoe : ǀAi-ǁGams ; Otjiherero : Otjomuise )

6675-459: The second foundation of the town by von François. In 1971, the Namibian general contract workers started from Windhoek with the goal of abolishing the contract labour system, opposing apartheid , and promoting Namibia's independence. Since independence in 1990, Windhoek has remained the national capital, as well as the provincial capital of the central Khomas Region . Since independence and

6764-477: The settlement. After a long absence, Hahn visited Windhoek again in 1873 and was dismayed to see that nothing remained of the town's former prosperity. In June 1885, a Swiss botanist found only jackals and starving guinea fowl amongst neglected fruit trees. A request by merchants from Lüderitzbucht resulted in the declaration in 1884 of a German protectorate over what was called German South West Africa ( Deutsch-Südwestafrika ), now Namibia. The borders of

6853-430: The seven constituencies. NUDO obtained 23% of the total votes ( 2010 : 26%) and won Aminuis and Otjinene, while Otjombinde was won by an independent candidate . Although SWAPO's support dropped to 44% of the total votes in the 2020 regional election , it won five of the seven constituencies, while NUDO (23% total) kept its strongholds Otjinene and Aminuis. According to the 2012 Namibia Labour Force Survey, unemployment in

6942-485: The social, economic, and cultural centre of the country. The University of Namibia is based in the city, as well as nearly every national enterprise, including the country's only theatre, all ministry head offices, and all major media and financial entities. The governmental budget of the city of Windhoek nearly equals those of all other Namibian local authorities combined. Of the 3,300 US$ -millionaires in Namibia, 1,400 live in Windhoek. The Windhoek Correctional Facility

7031-442: The subject. For example, Only a handful of Afrikaans verbs have a preterite , namely the auxiliary wees ('to be'), the modal verbs , and the verb dink ('to think'). The preterite of mag ('may') is rare in contemporary Afrikaans. All other verbs use the perfect tense, het + past participle (ge-), for the past. Therefore, there is no distinction in Afrikaans between I drank and I have drunk . (In colloquial German,

7120-537: The two languages. Afrikaans has a considerably more regular morphology, grammar, and spelling. There is a high degree of mutual intelligibility between the two languages, particularly in written form. Afrikaans acquired some lexical and syntactical borrowings from other languages such as Malay , Khoisan languages , Portuguese, and Bantu languages , and Afrikaans has also been significantly influenced by South African English . Dutch speakers are confronted with fewer non-cognates when listening to Afrikaans than

7209-439: The vast Brakwater area north of town the only feasible place for Windhoek's expansion. Windhoek's city council has plans to dramatically expand the city's boundaries such that the town area will cover 5,133.4 km (1,982.0 sq mi). Windhoek would become the third-largest city in the world by area, after Tianjin and Istanbul , although its population density is only 63 inhabitants per square kilometre. Windhoek

7298-419: Was absorbed into Omaheke Region. The region comprises seven constituencies : As in all other regions, SWAPO was by far the strongest political party since Namibian independence . However, Omaheke is a region where there has always been considerably support for opposition parties. In the 2004 presidential election , the Omaheke Region supported SWAPO 's Hifikepunye Pohamba with 13,005 votes (46%) but

7387-589: Was erected on the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Society of Real Afrikaners , and the 50th anniversary of Afrikaans being declared an official language of South Africa in distinction to Dutch. The earliest Afrikaans texts were some doggerel verse from 1795 and a dialogue transcribed by a Dutch traveller in 1825. Afrikaans used the Latin alphabet around this time, although the Cape Muslim community used

7476-420: Was founded on 18 October 1890, when von François fixed the foundation stone of the fort, which is now known as the Alte Feste (Old Fortress). After 1907, development accelerated as indigenous people migrated from the countryside to the growing town to seek work. More European settlers arrived from Germany and South Africa. Businesses were erected on Kaiser Street (presently Independence Avenue ), and along

7565-572: Was influenced by Eugene Nida 's theory of dynamic equivalence which focused on finding the nearest equivalent in the receptor language to the idea that the Greek, Hebrew or Aramaic wanted to convey. A new translation, Die Bybel: 'n Direkte Vertaling was released in November 2020. It is the first truly ecumenical translation of the Bible in Afrikaans as translators from various churches, including

7654-697: Was known in standard Dutch as a 'kitchen language' (Dutch: kombuistaal ), lacking the prestige accorded, for example, even by the educational system in Africa, to languages spoken outside Africa. Other early epithets setting apart Kaaps Hollands (' Cape Dutch ', i.e. Afrikaans) as putatively beneath official Dutch standards included geradbraakt , gebroken and onbeschaafd Hollands ('mutilated, broken, or uncivilised Dutch'), as well as verkeerd Nederlands ('incorrect Dutch'). Historical linguist Hans den Besten theorises that modern Standard Afrikaans derives from two sources: So Afrikaans, in his view,

7743-679: Was the translation of the whole Bible into Afrikaans. While significant advances had been made in the textual criticism of the Bible, especially the Greek New Testament , the 1933 translation followed the Textus Receptus and was closely akin to the Statenbijbel . Before this, most Cape Dutch-Afrikaans speakers had to rely on the Dutch Statenbijbel . This Statenvertaling had its origins with

7832-549: Was under development As of 2018. The official orthography of Afrikaans is the Afrikaanse Woordelys en Spelreëls , compiled by Die Taalkommissie . The Afrikaners primarily were Protestants, of the Dutch Reformed Church of the 17th century. Their religious practices were later influenced in South Africa by British ministries during the 1800s. A landmark in the development of the language

7921-622: Was underlined when the government rescinded the policy one month after the uprising: 96% of Black schools chose English (over Afrikaans or native languages) as the language of instruction. Afrikaans-medium schools were also accused of using language policy to deter Black African parents. Some of these parents, in part supported by provincial departments of education, initiated litigation which enabled enrolment with English as language of instruction. By 2006 there were 300 single-medium Afrikaans schools, compared to 2,500 in 1994, after most converted to dual-medium education. Due to Afrikaans being viewed as

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