Namibia is situated Southern West of Africa, bordering the Atlantic Ocean between Angola and South Africa.

Coastline - 1,572km(Atlantic Ocean), Angola - 1376 km, Zambia - 233 km,

Botswana - 1,360 km, South Africa - 855 km.

Area

Total Area of Namibia is 825,418 sq km (15% of which is Nature Reserves). Namibia is also slightly more than half the size of Alaska.

Namibia is a land with climatic contrasts, three hundred days of the year are sunny, occasional showers of rain can occur in the afternoon during February and March, varying from 500 to 700 mm per year in the north and northeast, 0-50 mm in the western desert areas.

More weather information is available on the Namibia Tourism Board website.

Natural Resources

Gold, diamonds, copper, uranium, lead, tin, lithium, cadmium, zinc, vanadium, salt, natural gas, hydro power and fish.

Windhoek, 204,000 inhabitants, (15% of the total population)

• Population: 1,826,854 million

• Population Density: 2.2 per km2.

• Population Growth Rate: 2.9 %.

• Life Expectancy: 56 years.

• 13 Regions and 13 Ethnic cultures

• 16 Languages and Dialects.

• Literacy Rate: 65%

• 94% of children attend school

• 1,450 Schools.

English is the Official Language and 7% of the white population.

Indigenous Languages are Oshiwambo, Otjiherero and Nama/Damara.

The main sectors are, mining, fishing, tourism and agriculture, the biggest employer is agriculture with 46% of the economy. The fastest growing sector is tourism. The economy is also heavily dependent on the mining and processing of minerals for export.

The Namibian dollar (N$) is fixed to and equals the South African Rand which is also legal tender in Namibia. Travelers cheque and foreign currency can be exchanged during banking hours: weekdays from 09:00 - 15:30 and Saturday from 08:30 - 10:30. Bureau de Change Office at the International Airport.

International Standard privately-run hospitals are in Windhoek, Walfish Bay and Otjiwarongo. Qualification of Medical Practitioners measure up to International Standards. Medical emergency intervention and evacuation services are on call 24 hours a day with ICU facilities which evacuate patients by airplane, helicopter or by ground transport.

Summer: From the first Sunday in September to the first Sunday in April - 2 hours in advance of Greenwich Mean Time.

Winter: From the first Sunday in April to the first Sunday in September 1 hour in advance of Greenwich Mean time.

Namibia boasts with one of the most advanced telecommunication infrastructure's in Africa. Namibia has its own Satellite-Earth Station and an international exchange. Namibia's Cellular Service Provider operates a GSM Network. Agreements with 40 countries and 80 networks, Postal service affiliated with Universal Postal Union.

Namibia has come a long way since 1486 when the Portuguese navigator, Diego Cao landed and planted a stone cross (Padre) at Cape Cross. South Africa occupied the previous German colony of Sud-West Africa and administered it as a C-Mandate until independence in 1990. In 1966 the Marxist, South West Africa's Peoples Organization (SWAPO) guerrilla group launched a war of independence for the area that was then named Namibia, but it was not until 1988 that South Africa agreed to end its administration in accordance with the UN peace plan for the entire region. Independence came into effect on the 21st of March 1990.

Based on Roman-Dutch Law and the 1990 Constitution.

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African Wildlife Sounds used by permission of the South African Broadcasting Company Sound Archives