General Information On Namibia
Namibia’s land surface covers an area of approximately 823,680 km2, stretching about 1,320 km between the
northernmost and southernmost points. The country is approximately 350 km in breadth at its narrowest point in the
south, while it spans a distance of some 1,440 km where it is widest, between the mouth of the Kunene River and
Impalila Island, far to the east where the borders of Namibia, Botswana, Zambia and Zimbabwe converge on a single
point. The overall perimeter of the country amounts to about 5,760 km, of which some 1,570 km is coastline between
the mouths of the Kunene and Orange rivers. ln addition to the land surface, Namibia’s exclusive economic zone
stretches 200 nautical miles off the coast, covering an area of about 526,000 km.
The dissected and raised western margins of Namibia form part of an elevated rim that extends more or less right
around southern Africa. Further west in Namibia is the coastal plain, the coastline, the continental shelf and,
finally, the deep ocean. The great belt of oceanic hills, known as the Walvis Ridge, extends south-westwards from
the northern Namibian coast for about 2,000 km. The continental shelf is approximately 100 km wide south of the
Walvis Ridge and about 35 km wide north of it. Isolated seamounts (oceanic equivalents of inselbergs) are scattered
here and there on the Atlantic Ocean floor, which is at a depth of more than 4,500 m below the sea surface.
Some Africa History
Africa, a continent of the eastern hemisphere. It is a large, triangular shaped peninsula joined to the Asiatic
mainland by the Isthmus of Suez. The broad, northern part of Africa is separated from Europe by the Straits of
Gibraltar and the Mediterranean Sea. It is bounded on the west by the Atlantic Ocean, and on the east by the Red
Sea and the Indian Ocean. The two oceans meet at the narrow southern tip of the continent called the Cape of Good
Hope. Its 18,400 miles of coastline is remarkably regular, without a single deep gulf or bay. Madagascar is the
only largeisland nearby. If we except Australia, Africa has a more regular and even surface than any other
continent. A narrow fringe of low land runs around the coast; but in places, as at Cape Town and elsewhere, even
this footing is crowded off into the ocean by precipitous sea walls. In general, the surface of the land is an
elevated plateau. The Congo basin divides Africa into two parts. The region of the Sahara on the northwest lies at
an elevation seldom, if ever, exceeding 2,000 feet. The rest of Africa seldom sinks below 2,000 feet in altitude.
The average altitude of Africa is 4,000 feet. The princi- pal mountain ranges are two. The Atlas Mountains run east
and west opposite the Strait of Gibraltar greatest height 14,000 feet. The eastern highlands begin with the
mountains of Abyssinia and continue with wide gaps southward to the vicinity of the Cape of Good Hope. In the
Abyssinian region the highest peak is 19,000 feet above the sea. In the south the greatest altitude does not exceed
10,000 feet. Writers speak of a rift valley, a gigantic crack in the surface, occupied for the greater part of its
course by the Nile River and the large lakes in which that river has its sources. It is along this valley that the
"Cape to Cairo" railway has been built. A second rift, parallel to the first named, lies between Abyssinia and the
sea. Ancient volcanic cones, one of which is still active at times, may be found in these rifts. Of lakes, the
largest are found in the great rift, 2,000 miles from the Mediterranean. The Niger, the Congo, the Nile with its
tributaries, and shorter streams, as the Orange and the Senegal, carry nearly all the water of Africa ultimately to
the Atlantic Ocean. The sole African river of volume emptying into the Indian Ocean is the Zambezi. Africa lies so
evenly balanced on the two sides of the equator that it has less variety of temperature than any other continent.
Travelling from the equator northward or southward the tropical heat indeed moderates, but if we exclude certain
elevated regions which, by way of contrast, are delightfully cool, Africa as a whole is decidedly torrid. The
variation in rainfall is extreme. The most northerly region, that of the Atlas Mountains, is well watered. The
vegetation of this region includes the cork oak, fig, olive, vine, and small grains. The brilliant flowers of this
region make it a paradise for botanists. The Sahara is the African end of a large desert region, the greatest in
the world, reaching from the Atlantic eastward across Africa and two thirds of Asia. Save where interrupted by the
Nile and by oases, it is a dreary waste of rock and sand. Copious rains on the distant mountains sink into the
earth and reappear far out in the desert in the form of springs, around which groves of dense green date palms
spring up the grateful oases of the traveller. The valley of the Nile with its peculiar vegetation and animals
crosses the eastern end of the region. The equatorial region from the Gulf of Guinea to the great rift is a region
of heavy rains and dense forests. The waters are full of crocodiles and hippopotami. The forests are the home of
the baboons and man like apes and huge serpents. The elephant, once abundant, has been all but exterminated for the
sake of its ivory tusks. Extending from the Atlantic eastward to Abyssinia, quite around the forest region, and
back to the Atlantic again, like a huge horseshoe, is a savanna or well watered prairie region. This is the home of
the solitary baobab tree and of luxuriant grasses. Giraffes, antelopes, gnus, zebras, and quaggas feed in the open
parks. The savanna region is the home of the lion, the leopard, the hyena, and the jackal. Between the savannas and
the Sahara is a semi arid belt which reappears in the eastern angle of Africa and divides South Africa with the
savannas. If one were to travel in a straight line south from Algiers to Cape Town, he would pass through shifting
scenery. Leaving behind the shipping in the bay and the city with its white walls and round topped mosques, the
traveller would journey between fields, orchards, and vineyards and through palm groves, until the blue
Mediterranean lay far in the rear and he found himself threading the Atlas Mountains. Once over the slope, the
country becomes drier and the vegetation scantier. At the southern foot, thorny camel’s shrubs or acacia bushes
grow in clumps, while the scouring wind whirls the sand in eddies between them. Farther south from the mountains
all signs of vegetation cease. For a thousand miles the eye would rest on a dreary waste of rocks and drifting sand
without sign of life, save now and then a caravan trail marked by the accumulated bones of 2,000 years, and here
and there a welcome oasis with its springs and palm groves, and the tents and flocks of the picturesque Arabs.
Holding still a southward course across the Tropic of Cancer, the traveller would enter the fringe of an occasional
shower from the equatorial regions. Clumps of thorny plants and palms would become more and more numerous until he
encountered fruitful, grassy, flowery savannas, with herds of antelopes; then deep, equatorial forests and the
majestic river Congo. South of the forests, the savannas again, and another region of stinted vegetation lead to
the grassy upland of the Cape region. According to a common view of the geographical distribution of animals the
northern part of Africa belongs to the Mediterranean sub region, while the rest of the continent forms the
Ethiopian region. There are numerous species of apes and monkeys, most of which are peculiar to Africa. They abound
especially in the tropics. The most remarkable are the chimpanzee and the gorilla. The lion is the typical
carnivorous animal of Africa. He has been driven back from the coast settlements to the interior, where he still
reigns king of the forest. There are three varieties. Barbary, Senegal, and Cape lions. The leopard and panther
rank next to the lion among carnivorous animals. Hyenas of varying species and jackals are found all over Africa.
Elephants are found in the forests. Their tusks form a principal article of commerce. These are larger and heavier
than those of Asiatic elephants. The African elephant does not lend itself to domestication as does the Asiatic
elephant. The rhinoceros, like the elephant, is found in Middle and Southern Africa. Hippopotami are found in many
of the large lakes and rivers. The zebra and quagga used to abound in Central and Southern Africa, but the latter
is said to be now entirely extinct. There are at least fifty species of antelopes considered peculiar to Africa and
at one time no less than twenty three of these species were found in the territory now comprised in South Africa.
The giraffe is exclusively an African animal. There are several species of wild buffaloes. The camel is thought to
have been imported from Asia. Many African birds are noted for the brilliancy of their plumage. Africa’s population
is approximately 1 billion (2009) divided roughly, but not equally, into white and black. The northern coastal belt
of the continent is inhabited by Berbers and Moors. The Sudan is inhabited by the most northerly and the blackest
of the true negroes. In this region the slave traders operated, and almost all the negroes in North America are
descended from Sudan negroes. The Bantu country begins immediately south of the Sudan and just north of the
equator. The Bantus are lighter complexioned than are the Sudanese, and are bound together by the ties of language
only, since their physical aspect varies from very small to very large. The Bantu country extends southward over
the remainder of Africa, embracing all except the south western corner, the home of the Hottentots and Bushmen. The
Bushmen and Hottentots are not negroes, both having a yellowish rather than a black skin, and speaking a language
of their own. For thousands of years, the only part of Africa known to the outside world was the ancient Egyptian
civilization along the delta and lower valley of the Nile. Even the habitable sections of the Mediterranean shore
remained largely a mystery until the 10th Century B. C., when the seafaring Phoenicians began to explore and
establish colonies along the coast line. One of their earliest colonies was the city of Carthage, on the site of
what is now Tunisia, which was founded about 800 B. C. The ancient Greeks and Romans were also interested in Africa
and founded several settlements in the coastal area between Suez and the Straits of Gibraltar. But the most
vigorous colonization of the continent came in the 7th Century A.D. under the Arabs. Inspired with religious
fervour, these fierce Moslem warriors swept across all of northern Africa from the Red Sea to the Atlantic Ocean.
All the conquered people were forced to accept Mohammedanism except the Egyptians, who were permitted to retain
their Coptic Church. The Ethiopians, who were not subdued, also retained Christianity. The crusading Arabs,
however, were blocked from further expansion by the forbidding terrain. The seemingly endless Sahara desert
prevented extension to the south from the Mediterranean, and the dense jungles of equatorial Africa halted their
penetration inland from settlements along the eastern seaboard, In ancient times, some of the bolder Phoenicians
had sailed through the Straits of Gibraltar and ventured along the western bulge of Africa. But it was not until
the 14th Century A. D. that Bartholemew Dias of Portugal explored the entire western coast line and reached the
Cape of Good Hope. Another Portuguese sailor, Vasco da Gama, became the iirst to circumnavigate the southern tip of
Africa and establish an all water route to India. The findings of these two adventurers plus those of Prince Henry
the Navigator gave Portugal the lead over Italy and Spain in colonizing Africa. The Portuguese however, limited
their settlements chiefly to the regions along the coast and made only weak attempts to penetrate the dark
interior. But the power of this nation gradually declined and by the 17th Century the French, English, and Dutch
had become the leading colonizers of Africa. The major European powers showed little interest in Africa in the 18th
Century except to ply the profitable slave trade between the western coast and America. The chief exploration of
this period was that of James Bruce, a Scot, who spent two years in Ethiopia and the Anglo Egyptian Sudan tracing
the course of the Blue Nile to its confluence with the White Nile. The 19th Century, however, introduced the great
era of African exploration. Adventurers, scientists, and missionaries from many countries probed deep into the
heart of the "dark continent" and paved the way for future colonies and trade. Three of the most famous explorers
of this time were Heinrich Barth, a German in English service; David Livingstone, a Scot; and Henry M. Stanley, an
Anglo-American. Barth spent four years in central Africa, the Sahara, and Nile valleys, and made a valuable
contribution to the knowledge of African geography. Livingstone entered Africa in 1841 and carried on explorations
and missionary work there until his death in 1873. Two years earlier the outside world had believed him dead until
he was found in Ujiji on Lake Tanganyika by a relief expedition headed by Stanley. Stanley later spent five years
exploring the Congo region. The rivalry among the large European powers for possession of African territory became
so intense that the Berlin Conference was called in 1884 to settle the claims of Great Britian, France, Portugal,
Spain, Belgium, Italy, and Germany. The Conference partitioned the continent into spheres of influence with Great
Britian and France receiving the larger share. Great Britain increased her African holdings by crushing the Dutch
and colonists of South Africa in the Boer War of 1899-1902 and annexing Transvaal and the Orange Free State. In
1910 these two states were made a part of the Union of South Africa. Two years earlier, Belgium announced
possession of the Congo, the exploration of which had been initiated by Leopold II in 1876. Another change in the
political map of Africa was made after the Turkish Italian War of 1911-1912. The victorious Italians assumed
control over the Turkish vilayets of Tripoli and Cyrenaica and formed them into one province, Libya. After World
War I, the German colonies, totaling almost 1,000,000 square miles,were mandated to France, Great Britain, Bel-
gium, and Portugal. The political geography of Africa underwent another change in 1936, when Italy conquered
Ethiopia and made this formerly independent country part of Italian East Africa. During World War II, Africa was
the scene of heavy and bitter fighting for three years. Italy entered the conliict in June, 1940, and successfully
invaded British Somaliland later that year. In 1940 and 1941, Italian and British forces battled each other to a
standstill across the hot, dusty sands of northern Africa. But in eastern Africa, the Italians were forced to
withdraw from Somaliland, and Ethiopia, which revolted in 1941, re established its independence. In 1942, however,
the German "Africa Corps" aided by Italian forces, invaded Egypt and pushed rapidly toward the Suez Canal. The Axis
thrust led by the German Marshal Rommel was halted only sixty miles from Alexandria at El Alamein on October 23,
1942, by the British under command of Field Marshal Montgomery. This battle was the turning point in the African
campaign. From Egypt, the British began a drive westward across the Sahara to meet American and British forces of
General Eisenhower which had landed in Morocco and Algeria, November 7, 1942. The Allied offensive became a three
pronged attack when General Giraud’s Free French Army pushed north from Lake Chad to join the Allied drive. The
Axis army gave ground until it was completely trapped on the Cape Bon Peninsula, Tunisia, and surrendered on May
12, 1943. The fall of the Italian African Empire gave the Allies a base from which to invade Sicily and Italy later
that year.
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