Thursday, July 18, 2024

Namibia

Namibia is one of the safest and cleanest places to visit in all of Africa. 
Located in Southern Africa, with a coast along the Atlantic Ocean, they also have a panhandle named the "Caprivi strip" and at the end of it they share a river border with Zambia.
They also have the world's only Quadrapoint between several nations. Angola, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Botswana.

They were colonised by the Germans, so they spoke German as one of their languages. 

The country is split into 14 regions and the capital Windhoek in the Central Khomas Region, it has the only Airport in the whole nation the "Windhoek's Hosea Kutako International", but there are many smaller domestic airstrips and regional airports. 

The second and third largest cities are Rundu in the northeast and Walvis Bay which holds one of the two shipping ports in the country., named Walvis Bay Harbour which is the only natural Harbor in the country.
Divided by the Pelican Point sand spit.
The Luderitz harbour further south, these cities are connected by the train system the National Train Service "Transnamib".
The planned lines will go from Angola to Botswana.

Now back to the Caprivi strip, what happened was that the Germans (who colonised Namibia), made a deal to give the British the Zanzibar Islands and Heligoland and in return, they got them a little slip known as the Caprivi strip, which lets them access to the Zambezi river.

Namibia is huge, but only 3 people per square kilometre. 
Also, don't sail on the north coast. The Portuguese called it the "Gates to Hell", commonly known as the Skeleton Coast, this is where you can find lots of shipwrecked vessels with ill-equipped sailors. 

Some interesting places to visit are:
Kolmanskop Ghost Town, Sanderburg Castle, the Hoba Meteorite (the largest in the world), the sand dunes of Sossusvlei, the Gibbon Metorites, the Solitare installation, the dinosaur footprints of Otjihaenamaparero, the Tropic of Capricorn, Chistuskirche (The church of Windhoek), the Cheetah conservation fund, Crocodile ranch, the Onbalantu Baobab tree, Twyfelfontein rock carvings, the Independence memorial museum, and lastly Hero's Acre.

Namibia is the driest country in Sub-Saharan Africa, the country is split between 5 geographic regions.
The Nabib desert (the oldest one in the world, home to the Skeleton Coast), west of the Central Plataeu which is where the tallest peak in the country lies, Brandberg Mountain.
And this is where most of the population lives since it is the most arable land.
In the south is the Great Escarpment which is the longest river in the country the Fish River, which also has the Fish River Canyon which is the largest in Africa.

Northeast is the Bushveld the most green and lush part of Namibia, which extends to the Okavango Delta and the Zambezi River.
This is where you can find the Etosha pan, the largest salt pan at around 120 Kilometers long. 

But the smallest natural lake is Lake Guinas which is around 6600 square meters. Which is a sinkhole lake caused by a collapsed cave. 
Finally, we reach the Kalahari desert, which has strange wildlife and plants. This place gets more rain than most deserts. 

And in the Namib desert, there are "Fairy circles" in which grass grows but with an empty sand hole in the middle kinda like a doughnut. Found in dry regions in Africa and Australia. 

But it may be hard to live, it's not inhospitable to animals, around 200+ mammals live here along with the national animal the Oryx. 
Over 600 species of birds, and over 4300 plants 700 being endemic to the country. 

Many of their industries are meats, fish, natural minerals and diamonds, as they are top 10 in the world for diamonds. 

Many Namibians love meat, and when the Germans came and invaded, they taught the Namibians their meat recipes. Some are:
Kapana, Kabjelou (silver cod), Luderitz crayfish, Fat cakes, Pap in vels, Mopane worms, Potjikos, Kalahari truffles, Omajowa mushrooms, and their natural drink Oshikindu, they also do BBQ named Braai it being legally hunted animals. 

With a population of 2.567 million, it is the second least densely packed country in the world after Mongolia. 

Around 50% is Ovambo, then the Kovango at 9%, mixed people at 8%, the Herero and Damara each at 7%, and the rest comprise of white people the Hozi the San and others.

The Namibian dollar is their currency, the D and M plug outlets, and they drive on the left side of the road.
Along with the colonization of Africa around the 1800s, Namibia was under German control for almost 30 years.
Then South African forces took over around 1915.

And since the Germans were here, they left their marks, as they have signs, buildings radio and newspapers in German, but only 2-3% of the population speaks it natively.
It was a co-official language, along with Afrikaans and English.

Most of the population (80-90% are Christian), more on the protestant branch, mainly Lutheran.
Brought over from Germany and strangely Finnish missionaries.

Most of the population can be broken down into 4 groups: the Bantu, the Khoisan, the Mixed and the Whites
the Khoisan are the Nama, San and !Kung (the ! is a click sound).

They are the oldest people groups in the world, dating back to the Stone Age, they are the only Black people that have natural Epicanthic folds, which normally East Asians have. They also are the original creators of Click languages.

Later other Bantu groups would migrate from West Africa around 1000 BC, and would adopt these click sounds into their languages like Xhosa and Zulu.
(Fun fact) The Wakandans in Black Panther use Xhosa to speak.

The largest Bantu group the Ovambo, is along the border with Angola, and they love wearing the colour Fuchsia and they have a fruit harvest festival.

The Kavango and Lozi groups live around the Caprivi strip panhandle and in the lush part of Namibia famous for its woodwork.

The Herero live around the central and eastern parts of the country, their clothing is heavily inspired by the German and Finnish missionaries.

The Himba people are famous for using Otjize paste made from animal fat and ochre used as a natural sunscreen.

The Damara people potentially the oldest Bantu Namibia, were enslaved by the Nama.

Then the mixed people like the Oorlans, and Blasters (people of European and African descent).

Then the Whites like the Germans, Afrikaans and English, still keep German traditions like their own African-style version of Octoberfest.

Namibia has over 30+ constituent and traditional monarchies with 5 chefs ruling over certain areas.

The short history is:
The Khoisan groups, the Bantus migrate south, Diogo Cão a Portuguese comes in but doesn't really care about Namibia ,
Oorlam people cross over during the 1800s, and they make friends with the Nama people,
then the Nama-Herero war, then Germany comes in roughly 1884,
the Nama and the Herero's fight together to expel the Germans,
then the Nama-Herero genocide,
then in 1915 South Africa takes over, and weird police states appear, SWAPO is made of rebels wanting independence,
then independence from South Africa by 1990, Multiparty democracy gets introduced, then the Caprivi strip tried to be a sovereign nation but Namibia said no.

Some people from Namibia with Namibia descent are:

Anna Mungunda (national hero), Sam Nujoma (first President), Jackson Kaujeua, Michelle Mclean (Miss Universe 1992), Gwen Lister (Journalist), Frankie Fredricks (Track Racer), Johanna Benson (another track Runner), Ricardo Manetti (Soccer/Football coach), Gazza (musician), Knowledge katti and Harold Pupkewitz (business people).


For being friends with other nations, 
Lots of Germans come to Namibia , and some even go to Germany to live. Strangely Finland also has good relations with Namibia , they are also good friends with Botswana and South Africa with trade between both countries. 



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