Namibia is a nation in southern Africa, bordering the South Atlantic Ocean, between Angola to the north and South African to the south.
Namibia is mostly high plateau with the Namib Desert along the coast and the Kalahari Desert in east. It is one of the least densly populated nations in the world.
Location of Namibia within southern Africa.
Namibia's major environmental issues include:
- limited natural fresh water resources;
- desertification;
- wildlife poaching;
- habitat fragmentation; and,
- land degradation which has led to few fully protected intact conservation areas.
Most of the country is susceptible to prolonged periods of drought.
South Africa occupied the German colony of Southwest Africa during World War I and administered it as a mandate until after World War II, when it annexed the territory.
Source: CIA World Factbook
In 1966 the Marxist Southwest Africa People's Organization (SWAPO) guerrilla group launched a war of control for the land area that became Namibia, but it was not until 1988 that South Africa agreed to end its administration in accordance with a UN peace plan for the entire region.
Namibia has been governed by SWAPO since the country won independence in 1990.
Hifikepunye Pohamba was elected president in November 2004 in a landslide victory replacing Sam Nujoma who led the country during its first fourteen years of self rule.
Geography
Location: Southern Africa, bordering the South Atlantic Ocean, between Angola and South Africa
Geographic Coordinates: 22 00 S, 17 00 E
Area: 825,418 km2 (825,418 km2 land and 0 km2 water)
arable land: 0.99%
permanent crops: 0.01%
other: 99% (2005)
Land Boundaries: 3936 km. Border countries: Angola 1376 km, Botswana 1360 km, South Africa 967 km, Zambia 233 km
Coastline: 1572 km
Maritime Claims:
Territorial sea: 12 nm
Contiguous zone: 24 nm
Exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
Natural Hazards: Prolonged periods of drought
Terrain: Mostly high plateau; Namib Desert along the coast; Kalahari Desert in east. Its lowest point is Atlantic Ocean (0 metres) and it highest point is Konigstein (2606 metres), located within the Namib Desert in the west of the country.
Climate: Desert; Hot, dry; rainfall sparse and erratic; climate influenced by the Benguela Current.
Ecoregions
Chief ecoregions of Namibia include:
- Etosha Pan halophytics, seasonal saline wetland in the north of the country
- Namib Desert, large dryland along the entire west coast of the country
- Angolan Mopane woodlands, dry forest in northern Namibia and southern Angola
- Kalahari xeric savanna, arid desert and savanna, most of which lies in Botswana
Government
Government Type: Republic
Capital: Windhoek
Independence Date: 21 March 1990 (from South African mandate)
Legal System: based on Roman-Dutch law and 1990 constitution; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal
International Environmental Agreements
Namibia is party to international agreements on: Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, and Wetlands.
People and Society
Population: 2,088,669
Age Structure:
0-14 years: 36.7% (male 386,252/female 379,426)
15-64 years: 59.5% (male 627,752/female 615,241)
65 years and over: 3.8% (male 35,960/female 44,038) (2008 est.)
Population Growth Rate: 0.947% (2008 est.)
Birth Rate: 23.19 births/1,000 population (2008 est.)
Death Rate: 14.07 deaths/1,000 population (2008 est.)
Net Migration Rate: 0.35 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2008 est.)
Life Expectancy at Birth: 49.89 years (2008 est.)
Total Fertility Rate: 2.81 children born/woman (2008 est.)
Languages: English 7% (official), Afrikaans common language of most of the population and about 60% of the white population, German 32%, indigenous languages 1% (includes Oshivambo, Herero, Nama)
Literacy (2001 census): 85% (male: 86.8% - female: 83.5%)
Water
Total Renewable Water Resources: 45.5 cu km (1991)
Freshwater Withdrawal: Total: 0.3 cu km/yr (24% domestic, 15% industrial, 71% agricultural). Per capita: 148 cu m/yr (2000)
Agriculture
Agricultural Products: millet, sorghum, peanuts, grapes; livestock; fish.
Irrigated Land: 80 sq km (2003)
Resources
Natural Resources: Diamonds, copper, uranium, gold, silver, lead, tin, lithium, cadmium, tungsten, zinc, salt, hydropower, fish
note: Suspected deposits of oil, coal, and iron ore.
Energy
| Energy in Namibia | |||||
| Production | Consumption | Exports | Imports | Reserves | |
| Electricity | 1.688 billion kWh (2005) | 2.863 billion kWh (2005) | 78 million kWh (2005) | 1.567 billion kWh | |
| Oil | 0 bbl/day (2005 est.) | 18,400 bbl/day (2005 est.) | 0 bbl/day (2004) | 17,580 bbl/day (2004) | bbl (1 January 2006 est.) |
| Natural Gas | 0 cu m (2005 est.) | 0 cu m (2005 est.) | 0 cu m (2005 est.) | 0 cu m (2005) | 59.75 billion cu m (1 January 2006 est.) |
| Source: CIA Factbook | |||||
Health
Prevalence of HIV/AIDS in Adults: 21.3% (2003 est.)
Major Infectious Diseases: Degree of risk: high
Food or waterborne diseases: bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever
Vector-borne disease: malaria
Water contact disease: schistosomiasis (2008)
Conflict
International Disputes: concerns from international experts and local populations over the Okavango Delta ecology in Botswana and human displacement scuttled Namibian plans to construct a hydroelectric dam on Popa Falls along the Angola-Namibia border; managed dispute with South Africa over the location of the boundary in the Orange River; Namibia has supported, and in 2004 Zimbabwe dropped objections to, plans between Botswana and Zambia to build a bridge over the Zambezi River, thereby de facto recognizing a short, but not clearly delimited, Botswana-Zambia boundary in the river
Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons: refugees (country of origin): 4,700 (Angola) (2007)
Economy
The economy is heavily dependent on the extraction and processing of minerals for export. Mining accounts for 8% of GDP, but provides more than 50% of foreign exchange earnings. Rich alluvial diamond deposits make Namibia a primary source for gem-quality diamonds. Namibia is the fourth-largest exporter of non-fuel minerals in Africa, the world's fifth-largest producer of uranium, and the producer of large quantities of lead, zinc, tin, silver, and tungsten. The mining sector employs only about three percent of the population while about half of the population depends on subsistence agriculture for its livelihood. Namibia normally imports about 50% of its cereal requirements; in drought years food shortages are a major problem in rural areas. A high per capita GDP, relative to the region, hides one of the world's most unequal income distributions. The Namibian economy is closely linked to South Africa with the Namibian dollar pegged one-to-one to the South African rand. Increased payments from the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) put Namibia's budget into surplus in 2007 for the first time since independence, but SACU payments will decline after 2008 as part of a new revenue sharing formula. Increased fish production and mining of zinc, copper, uranium, and silver spurred growth in 2003-07, but growth in recent years was undercut by poor fish catches and high costs for metal inputs.
GDP (Purchasing Power Parity): $10.72 billion (2007 est.)
GDP (Official Exchange Rate): $7.4 billion (2007 est.)
GDP- real growth rate: 4.4% (2007 est.)
GDP-per capita (PPP): $5200 (2007 est.)
GDP- composition by sector:
Agriculture: 10.8%
Industry: 33.4%
Services: 55.8% (2007 est.)
Population Below Poverty Line: the UNDP's 2005 Human Development Report indicated that 34.9% of the population live on $1 per day and 55.8% live on $2 per day
Industries: meatpacking, fish processing, dairy products; mining (diamonds, lead, zinc, tin, silver, tungsten, uranium, copper)
Exports: diamonds, copper, gold, zinc, lead, uranium; cattle, processed fish, karakul skins
Export Partners: South Africa 33.4%, US 4% (2006)
Imports: foodstuffs; petroleum products and fuel, machinery and equipment, chemicals
Import Partners: South Africa 85.2%, US (2006)
Economic Aid Recipient: ODA, $123.4 million (2005 est.)
Currency: Namibian dollar (NAD); South African rand (ZAR)
Ports and Terminals: Luderitz, Walvis Bay
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