Portal:Namibia

Topics Culture Geography Health History Mathematics Nature People Philosophy Religion Society Technology Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia (Afrikaans Republiek van Namibië, German: Republik Namibia), is a country in Southern Africa whose western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana and Zimbabwe to the east, and South Africa to the south and east. It gained independence from South Africa on 21 March 1990 following the Namibian War of Independence. Its capital and largest city is Windhoek (German: Windhuk). Namibia is a member state of the United Nations (UN), the Southern African Development Community (SADC), the African Union (AU), the Commonwealth of Nations and many other international organisations. It has been given many names: the land of contrasts, the land God made in anger, the ageless land. For many years it was known only as South West Africa, but it adopted the name Namibia, after the Namib Desert. It is the second least densely populated country in the world, after Mongolia. The dry lands of Namibia were inhabited since early times by Bushmen, Damara, Namaqua, and since about the 14th century AD, by immigrating Bantu who came with the Bantu expansion. It was visited by the British and Dutch missionaries during the late 18th century. It was also visited by Dorsland trekkers (also known as Junker Boers) in 1879, but became a German Imperial protectorate in 1884. In 1920, the League of Nations mandated the country to South Africa, which imposed their laws and from 1948, their apartheid policy. Selected panorama A view of the Brandberg Mountain, Namibia's highest mountain. Selected article The 2009 Angola, Namibia and Zambia floods are a continuing natural disaster which began in early March 2009 and have resulted in the deaths of at least 131 people and have otherwise affected around 445,000 people. The floods have affected seven regions of Namibia, three provinces of Zambia, two regions of Angola and part of Botswana. The floodwaters have damaged buildings and infrastructure and displaced at least 300,000 people. A state of emergency has been declared in northern Namibia and there are fears that a disease epidemic could ensue. The Red Cross agencies and governments of the two countries have responded to the disaster, and aid has been distributed by the World Health Organisation. The border regions of Angola, Namibia and Zambia are dominated by small rivers which flood regularly during the rainy season from December to April. Floods in 2008 lasted from February to March and affected 250,000 people in Namibia with 42 people losing their lives. The floods this year have primarily been caused by heavy rain; more rain has fallen on the region since December than fell in the entire five-month rainy season of last year. As a result the flooding this year has been worse than that usually experienced. (Read more...) Selected picture Credit: Luca Galuzzi Springbok antelope (Antidorcas marsupialis) in the Sossusvlei region, Namib-Naukluft National Park, Namib Desert, Namibia. WikiProject Namibia WikiProject Africa Selected biography Samuel Daniel Shafiishuna Nujoma (born 12 May 1929 in Ongandjera, South West Africa (now Omusati Region)) was the first President of Namibia. He was inaugurated as President on 21 March 1990 and was subsequently re-elected in 1994 and 1999, serving until 2005. He was also President of the South-West Africa People's Organisation (SWAPO) from its founding in 1960 until 2007. Nujoma was born in the north of the country, in Ongandjera, which is part of the cultural area known as Ovamboland. His mother, Kuku Helvi-Mpingana Kondombombolo, died on 26 November 2008 at the age of 108. She was known as the "Grandmother of the Nation. (Read more...) The following Wikimedia sister projects provide more on this subject: What are portals? List of portals Featured portals