Namibia... A country of striking contrasts

The name Namibia was derived from the Namib Desert , one of the largest features in the country. The word Namib is related to the Bushman word for "the dry place". Even though sparsely populated and predominantly arid, Namibia is home to a wide range of ethnic people ranging from the traditional Himba people of the north-west, to the Bushmen in the north-east, Owambo, Damara, Herero, Nama, Kavango as well as people of European descent.

With a population of a little over 2,000,000 people, Namibia has one of the lowest population densities in the world. The majority of the people live on tribal land, in the northern areas between the Etosha National Park and the Angola border.

An arid country with rainfall varying from year to year, but with diverse features to be admired and enjoyed. Geological processes over more than 2 million years has shaped Namibia to what it is today, wide open landscapes, beautiful dune formations, mountainous areas as well as prolific wildlife in areas such as the Etosha National Park.

Namibia situated in south-west Africa. The country of over 820 000 km borders South Africa to the south, Angola in the north, Botswana on the east as well as Zambia on the northern border of the Caprivi Strip.

The Namib Desert

The coastal desert that stretches along the whole of the Atlantic coast varying in width from 50 to 140 kilometres from the Orange River in the south to the Kunene River in the north, a distance of over 1500 kilometres. The coastline that separates the Atlantic Ocean and the desert is generally known as the Skeleton Coast.

In some areas the desert consists of dunes (mostly linear) whereas in other areas, flat plains of sand and gravel. The Namib is known to be one of the oldest deserts in the world with the present desert form being a second phase after it being a shallow inland sea millions of years ago. The reason for this area being a desert is due to the north flowing cold Benguela current which originates in the Antarctic. This causes the wind to be, predominantly, a south westerly wind which brings the cool air and fog onto land and causes no, or extremely low, rainfall along the coast.

However, the Namib is often called The Living Desert as it has become home to a many desert adapted animals and plants. Animals such as the side winding adder, palmetto gecko, golden mole, oryx, springbok and many species of insect live and thrive in the dune belt. Plants have also adapted, some by growing extremely slowly (Welwitschia mirabillis) and others such as the nara bush having an extremely long tap root.

The central plateau

Rises about a 1000 meters above the dune and desert belt. The formation was formed when Gondwanaland (breaking up of South America and Southern Africa ) broke apart, causing the coastal belt to drop. This region includes most of central Namibia, north to south with landscapes changing from mountains and inselbergs to plateaus (Etendeka / Waterberg etc) as well as open landscapes. Vegetation varies from acacia savannah to mopani woodland and desert shrub. This area or region of Namibia is where the majority of the commercial cattle and sheep farmers live, conditions are favourable to livestock farming. The highest mountain in Namibia, the Brandberg Mountain (about 2500 metres above sea level), is situated on the edge of the Namib.

The Kalahari Desert

The largest sandveld region in the world stretching from northwest South Africa , through Botswana and the eastern areas of Namibia to the southern regions of Angola . It is dominated by savannah woodland growing on sand deposited by wind over millions of years. Most of the region is very flat but ancient dunes are found in some areas. The Kalahari sandveld area lies east of the central plateau and is 500 - 700 metres lower therefore rainfall occurs first on the central higher ground with the lower Kalahari area receiving less.

The Kavango / Caprivi

This region receives the highest rainfall in Namibia and is typical of woodland savannah and sub-tropical forests. Apart from the Kunene and Orange Rivers, this is the only region in Namibia where perennial rivers are found, the Kavango, Kwando , Linyanti, Chobe and Zambezi Rivers. All other rivers are ephemeral flowing only when there is enough rainfall.

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