Namibia


The surface area of the Republic of Namibia is 824.268 square km. Windhoek is the capital. The country is independant since march 21, 1990 with his first president Hifikepunye Pohamba. It is a multiparty parliament with a democratic constitution. The official language is english. 16 languages are spoken in Namibia, within 13 different ethnic cultures. 65% literacy rate with a population growth of 2,9%. 1.450 schools whereof 94% attend school. The highest mountain in Namibia is the Brandberg with 2.579 m. The popular Spitzkoppe is 1.728 m. Rivers that carry always water are the Orange river which covers the southern border to South Africa, the Kunene, the Okavango, the Zambezi and the Kwando/Linyanti/Chobe, northern border with Angola, Zambia and Botswana. Ephemeral rivers are the Fish, the Kuiseb, the Swakop and the Uugab.

The flora is very rich in Namibia with 14 vegetation zones, 120 species of trees, 200 endemic plant species and 100 species of lichen. The living fossil plant is the Welwitschia Mirabilis. On the fauna side we count under big game in Namibia the elephant, lion, rhino, buffalo, cheetah, giraffe, 20 species of antelope, 240 species of mammals (14 endemic), also 250 species of reptiles, 50 species of frogs and round about 630 species of birds. The physical infrastructure shows 5500 km tarred roads and 37000 km gravel roads. The main harbours are in Lüderitz and Walvisbaai. Mobile communications system: GSM with agreements with 40 countries and 80 networks. Postal Service affiliated to Universal Postal Union. The main sector in economy is mining, fishing, tourism and agriculture. The biggest employer is agriculture with 46%. The fastest growing sector is tourism. Mining in Namibia includes diamonds, uranium, copper, lead, zinc, magnesium, cadmium, arsenic, pyrites, silver and gold, lithium minerals, dimension stones (granite marble, blue sodalite) and many precious stones.