| Area |
824,292 sq km (318,261 sq miles). |
| Population |
1,826,854 (2001). |
| Capital |
Windhoek- population 216,000 (2001). |
| Climate |
The cold Benguela current keeps the coast of the Namib Desert cool, damp and free of rain for most of the year, with a thick coastal fog. Inland, all the rain falls in summer (November to April). Summer temperatures are high while the altitude means that nights are cool. Winter nights can be fairly cold, but days are generally warm and pleasant. |
| Language |
English is the official language. Afrikaans is spoken by most people. German, Herero, Kavango, Nama and Ovambo (51 per cent) are also spoken. |
| Religion |
Christian majority (90 per cent). |
| Time |
GMT + 2 (GMT + 1 from April to August).
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| Highlights |
Namibia - land of "diamonds & desert' has many attractions including ten national parks each with its own unique scenery. The most outstanding areas include the Namib-Naukluft Park, with its sand dunes, known to be amongst the oldest and the highest in the world (some of them are 1,000 ft high!), the Skeleton Coast, a strange desert shoreline with massive dunes and treacherous rocks, Twyfelfontein, home to a wealth of current and pre-historic rock art (petroglyphs) and fascinating geological sites and Etosha National Park with its huge selection of wildlife. The best way to explore this magical land is by car or light aircraft.
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| Country Facts |
Namibia, a large and mainly barren country in southwest Africa, shares borders with Angola to the north, Botswana to the east, South Africa to the south and, in the Caprivi Strip, a narrow panhandle of Namibian territory jutting from the north-east corner of the country, with Zambia and Zimbabwe. To the west is 795 miles of some of the most desolate and lonely coastline in the world. The port of Walvis Bay, situated roughly halfway down Namibia's coast, is jointly administrated with South Africa. Along its entire length, the vast shifting sand dunes of the Namib Desert spread inland for 50-80 miles. In the interior, the escarpment of a north-south plateau slopes away to the east and north into the vast interior sand basin of the Kalahari. In the far north-west the 25,500 sq. miles of the Kaokoveld Mountains run along the coast, while further inland lies the Etosha Pan (the giant of Namibia's saline lakes), a flat, lifeless, dry river bed, surrounded by grasslands and bush which support a large and varied wildlife. The Etosha Pan National Park & Game Reserve is one of the finest in Africa, in that it remains, to a large extent, free of man's influence. |