Namibia
|
| Basic Facts |
| Country name |
conventional long form: Republic of Namibia
conventional short form: Namibia local long form: Republic of Namibia local short form: Namibia former: German Southwest Africa, South-West Africa |
| Gevernment type | republic |
| Capital |
name: Windhoek
geographic coordinates: 22 34 S, 17 06 E time difference: UTC+1 (6 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) daylight saving time: +1hr, begins first Sunday in September; ends first Sunday in April |
| Flag description | a large blue triangle with a yellow sunburst fills the upper left section and an equal green triangle (solid) fills the lower right section; the triangles are separated by a red stripe that is contrasted by two narrow white-edge borders |
| Currency | Namibian dollar (NAD); South African rand (ZAR) |
| Internet country code | .na |
| Ports and terminals | Luderitz, Walvis Bay |
| Agriculture products | millet, sorghum, peanuts, grapes; livestock; fish |
| Industries | meatpacking, fish processing, dairy products; mining (diamonds, lead, zinc, tin, silver, tungsten, uranium, copper) |
| Geography |
| Location | Southern Africa, bordering the South Atlantic Ocean, between Angola and South Africa |
| Coordinates | 22 00 S, 17 00 E |
| Continent | Africa |
| Area |
total: 825,418 sq km
land: 825,418 sq km water: 0 sq km |
| Boundaries |
total: 3,936 km
border countries: Angola 1,376 km, Botswana 1,360 km, South Africa 967 km, Zambia 233 km |
| Coastline | 1,572 km |
| Climate | desert; hot, dry; rainfall sparse and erratic |
| Terrain | mostly high plateau; Namib Desert along coast; Kalahari Desert in east |
| Natural resources | diamonds, copper, uranium, gold, lead, tin, lithium, cadmium, zinc, salt, hydropower, fish
note: suspected deposits of oil, coal, and iron ore |
| Natural hazards | prolonged periods of drought |
| People |
| Population | 2,044,147
note: estimates for this country explicitly take into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality and death rates, lower population and growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (July 2006 est.) |
| Ethnic groups | black 87.5%, white 6%, mixed 6.5%
note: about 50% of the population belong to the Ovambo tribe and 9% to the Kavangos tribe; other ethnic groups includes Herero 7%, Damara 7%, Nama 5%, Caprivian 4%, Bushmen 3%, Baster 2%, Tswana 0.5% |
| Religions | Christian 80% to 90% (Lutheran 50% at least), indigenous beliefs 10% to 20% |
| Languages | English 7% (official), Afrikaans common language of most of the population and about 60% of the white population, German 32%, indigenous languages (Oshivambo, Herero, Nama) |
