Namibia: Geography, History and Contemporary Overview

The name of the state is derived from the Namib, which occupies the entire coastal area of the country. It was chosen as a neutral name at independence in order not to disadvantage any of the many Namibian peoples. Mburumba Kerina is considered the creator of the name Namibia.

On 12 June 1968, the name Namibia was recognised by the General Assembly of the United Nations.

Namibia lies between 17.87° and 29.9808° south latitude and 12° and 25° east longitude.

Namibia is bordered by the Kalahari to the east of Botswana, the Orange River to the south of South Africa, the South Atlantic Ocean to the west and the Kunene and Okavango rivers to the north of Angola. In the northeast there is also a land finger about 450 km long and up to 50 km wide between the northern bordering countries Angola and Zambia and the southern bordering Botswana - the Caprivi Strip, which is bordered in the eastern area by the Zambezi and the lower reaches of the Kwando.

In addition to the border rivers mentioned above, there are numerous other rivers, none of which, however, carries water all year round with any certainty. Outside the rainy season, only dried up river beds (Riviere) can be found.

The entire national territory of Namibia covers about 824,292 square kilometres. Namibia's landscape is essentially characterised by two deserts, in the west by the Namib, which extends from the South African province of the Northern Cape far into Angola, and in the east by the Kalahari. Between the two deserts lies the inland highlands, which are on average 1700 metres high and around the capital Windhoek also exceed the 2000-metre mark. One of the most prominent mountains is the Etjo, but the highest mountain is the 2600 metre high Königstein in the Brandberg massif, near the coast, about 200 kilometres north of the coastal town of Swakopmund. To the east, the inland highlands gradually merge into the Kalahari highlands, which are around 1200 metres high and covered in dry vegetation.

Time zone

Namibia has used the same time as South Africa (UTC+2) all year round since 3 September 2017, as it did between 1990 and 1994.

Geology

The area of today's Namibia is considered one of the oldest parts of the earth's crust. Long before the formation of the supercontinent Gondwana, two shelves formed in the area of today's Africa more than two billion years ago: the Congo Craton and the Kalahari Craton. The latter covers large parts of present-day Namibia. Through various tectonic processes, a huge, coherent continental area was then formed about 550 million years ago, which included today's (partial) continents of Africa, South America, Australia, India and Antarctica: Gondwana.

About 150 million years ago, this supercontinent gradually began to break up and drift apart into the continents we know today. The special climatic conditions in Southwest Africa, which lasted for millions of years, led to the fact that many geological structures, processes and phenomena are particularly well preserved and can therefore still be observed today. Ultimately, this also includes the Namib, which can thus be considered the oldest desert in the world.

Climate

The average climate of Namibia is hot and dry. The largely arid climate is subtropical continental. There are large differences between the individual parts of the country:

Rainfall is extremely rare in the Namib west of the break-off stage. There is a warm, strong wind all year round. Even in winter, temperatures often reach 25°C and more. In the hottest summer months, December and January, temperatures are usually well above 30 °C, while in the coldest months, July and August, they can drop to freezing point at night, but then rise again to around 25 °C during the day. In the mornings and evenings, especially in winter, temperatures can jump by more than 20 °C within a few hours. In the inland highlands, due to the high altitude, there can even be frost at night and, in very rare years, snowfall. During the day it is not quite as hot as in the desert. The Kalahari is similar to the Namib. The precipitation is a little more frequent, but still desert-typical rare.

The area between the Namib and the Atlantic Ocean is one of the regions with the best climate for astronomical observations worldwide. The astro camps established there are therefore visited by many star lovers, especially for the purpose of sky photography.

The climate of the Atlantic coast, in turn, is determined by the cold Benguela Current. This strongly cools the prevailing southwest wind, which prevents the formation of (rain) clouds due to condensation and regularly creates a dense persistent fog near the ground. In summer it is pleasantly cool here and in the winter months it can sometimes be very cold during the day. The water temperature rarely reaches more than 15 °C.

The Caprivi Strip, on the other hand, is characterised by mostly reliable rainfall during the rainy season. These have given rise to an extensive river system and a subtropical savannah forest. The humidity is relatively high here, in contrast to the other parts of the country.

In the central highlands, which cover most of Namibia, summer rains prevail, i.e. irregular but occasionally very heavy rainfall can be expected between November and April; the extreme south, on the other hand, is in the winter rainfall area, so that - if at all - rainfall occurs mainly in the months of June and July. Despite the irregularity of the rainfall in terms of frequency and yield, it increases significantly from the south with less than 50 mm per year towards the northeast with up to 600 mm per year, which, however, does not exclude regional dry periods of several years.

Due to the special climatic conditions, agricultural use of the land is only possible to a limited extent: in the highlands mainly cattle breeding (in the north rather cattle, in the south rather sheep and goats), in the relatively rainy north also agriculture. A special feature of the Namib are the dunes in the area of Sossusvlei. With a height of more than 400 metres, the star dunes are among the highest in the world. The attraction of this dune landscape lies not only in its height, but above all in its play of colours, which depends on the moisture content and the position of the sun.