Namibia is a country in Southern Africa that is formally known as the Republic of Namibia. The Atlantic Ocean forms its western border. It is bordered on the north by Zambia and Angola, on the east by Botswana, and on the south and east by South Africa. The Botswanan right bank of the Zambezi River separates the two countries by less than 200 meters (660 feet), despite the fact that it does not border Zimbabwe. Its capital and largest city is Windhoek.
Sub-Saharan Africa’s driest country, the Herero, Damara, and Nama people have lived in Namibia since prehistoric times. Immigrant Bantu peoples arrived in the 14th century as part of the Bantu expansion. Namibia is a stable multi-party parliamentary democracy with a population of 2.55 million people. Agriculture, tourism, and the mining industry – which includes gem diamonds, uranium, gold, silver, and base metals are the backbones of the country’s economy, although manufacturing is a minor contributor. Namibia is one of the world’s least densely populated countries, owing to the vast, arid Namib Desert, from which the country takes its name.
TRENDING FASHION IN NAMIBIA
ACCESSORIES IN NAMIBIA
TRIBES IN NAMIBIA AND THEIR FASHION
The Herero people
The Herero are Bantu ethnic group who live in Southern Africa. In 2013, Namibia’s Herero population was projected to be around 250,000. They speak the Bantu language Otjiherero. Though the Herero are mostly found in Namibia, they are also found in Botswana and Angola in substantial numbers. The Herero are pastoralists by nature. They support themselves by tending to livestock. Many Bantu pastoralist tribes utilize cattle terminology that proves Bantu herders originally got cattle from Cushitic pastoralists in Eastern Africa.
The Damara people
The Damara, also known as the Daman or Damaqua, are a Namibian ethnic group that accounts for 8.5 percent of the country’s population. They speak the Khoekhoe language and dwell primarily in Namibia’s northwestern regions, but they can also be found across the country.
The Nama people
Nama, also called Naman, Namakwa, or Namaqua, any member of a people who live in southern Namibia and are by far the largest Khoekhoe ethnic group, maybe greater than all the others combined. They make to around one-eighth of Namibia’s population, with smaller numbers in South Africa and Botswana.
TOURIST AND HISTORICAL PLACES IN NAMIBIA
Twyfelfontein- it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of Namibia’s most popular tourist destinations. The rock engravings at this site extend back over 6000 years, making it unquestionably one of Namibia’s most fascinating places to visit.
Kolmanskop Ghost Town – In the past, this is affluent German diamond mining town. It is presently slowly sinking into the sand dunes of the Namib Desert.
Walvis Bay – This is a major port on Namibia’s coast and a well-known destination for most tourists. Due to the strong winds over the lake, adventure seekers can even try kitesurfing at the lagoon.
Epupa Falls – The Kunene River is the source of the falls, which stretch for over a mile. Despite the fact that Epupa Falls is difficult to get due to restricted transportation choices, it remains one of Namibia’s most popular tourist locations.
Fish River Canyon – The Fish River Canyon is massive. From your vantage point on the cliff, you have a panoramic view of a huge flat country carved by rivers that have flowed for millennia.
Quiver trees and strange cacti dot the barren plains above ground, and the whole experience is frightening in its solitude, as if you’d stumbled onto a location shoot for the sequel to Texas Chainsaw Massacre.
Northern Lights – if the sky is clear, tourists are nearly assured of seeing a display. In the north, there are many hotels that cater exclusively to visitors who wish to see the lights. Additionally, you can sign up for free email alerts about the Northern Lights through the Finnish Meteorological Institute.
Namib-Naukluft Park – The Namib-Naukluft park, which spans 50,000 square kilometers, begins on a plateau in central Namibia and descends to the Namib Desert’s huge basin, which contains the 20-million-year-old remains of an ancient sea.
Caprivi – It’s on the same floodplain, with the same rivers flowing through it, and the same animals migrating in and out of the two countries.
Victoria Falls – Victoria Falls is a one-mile-wide cliff that drops 100 meters straight down. The Zambezi plunges at a mind-boggling rate of 90 million litres per minute down this cliff. The noise is intimidating, the vertigo is frightening, and the view – from a rain forest across the gorge at eye level with the cascade is hypnotic.
Kaokoland – Kaokoland is Damaraland on steroids, with a drive to become the least explored portion of one of the world’s most sparsely populated countries.
Damaraland – Damaraland, with its Rocky Mountains, grass-covered plains, and every possible shade of brown from dark russet to bleached blonde, is at once gorgeous, unusual, and fascinating, home to desert-adapted elephants, rhinos, and lions, as well as oryx, springbok, and hundreds of bird species.
Skeleton Coast – a foggy desert wasteland with furious seas, an apparently lifeless interior, and plenty of visual peculiarities
Kalahari – The Kalahari is a region of beauty, introspection, and enormous venison steaks, with its share of wildlife including lions, oryx, and those beautiful meerkats bopping their heads and chirruping at each other all day.
Sossusvlei – a never-ending sea of rust-red dunes, a bleached white pan, and its twisted ancient trees in front of a vivid red dune that reaches into the deep blue sky above, Sossusvlei is the oryx flashing its flowing tail and providing you front and side views of its amazing features.
Windhoek – This is Namibia’s capital and largest city, and it is the most visited place in the country.
The Spitzkoppe Rocks – one of Namibia’s most famous monuments, are yet another stunning and fascinating destination to visit. The natural rock formations here will astound you, and it is one of those sites where the wonders of nature will leave you speechless.
MUSIC IN NAMIBIA
Namibian music encompasses folk, pop, rock, reggae, jazz, house, and hip hop, as well as pop, rock, reggae, jazz, house, and hip hop. Weddings and traditional festivals, such as the Caprivi Arts Festival, feature traditional Namibian dances. Folk music is often played in conjunction with storytelling or dance. The Nama people play a variety of strings, flutes, and drums, whilst the Bantu play xylophones, gourds, and horn trumpets.
Some musicians in Namibia include:
Garth Prince
Gazza
Some art work in Namibia include:
MEALS IN NAMIBIA
Mahangu soup – a typical Namibia dish made with fish, goat meat or lamb and rice.
Mieliepap – a dish made into a porridge papa for breakfast.
Potjiekos – it is traditionally cooked in a round, cast iron pot.
Meal skewers – marinated beef with vegetables.
Bullfrog cocktail – a blue hard liquor drink.
Hake fillets – white fish prepared by spicing and barbecuing
Mahangu soup
Mieliepap
Potjiekos
Meal skewers
Bullfrog cocktail
Hake fillets
Oysters – meal prepared from oysters
Mopane – fried and tasty meal from mopane worms
Biltong – a form of dried, cured meat that originated from Southern Africa.
Lobster – a seafood commonly served with bboiled corn on the cob, potatoes and a side of melted butter.
Omajowa – delicious meal made from mushrooms.
Bratwurst – a typical and delicious sausage.
Cabbage roll – this meal is one of the most popular veggies available
Oysters
Mopane
Biltong
Lobsters
Omajowa
Bratwurst
ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION AND HABITAT PROTECTION IN NAMIBIA
According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Namibia is forested 8.9% of the time, or around 7,290,000 acres.
Forest Cover Change: Between 1990 and 2010, Namibia lost an average of 73,600 ha per year, or 0.84 percent. Namibia lost 16.8 percent of its forest cover, or roughly 1,472,000 acres, between 1990 and 2010.
Living forest biomass in Namibia’s woods contains 210 million metric tons of carbon. Biodiversity and Protected Areas: According to the World Conservation Monitoring Centre, Namibia contains 1066 known species of amphibians, birds, mammals, and reptiles. 4.5 percent are endemic, meaning they can only be found in one country, and 3.1 percent are endangered. There are at least 3174 vascular plant species in Namibia, with 21.6 percent of them being indigenous. IUCN classifications I-V preserve 3.9 percent of Namibia’s land.
EFFECT OF CLIMATE CHANGE IN NAMIBIA
Climate change puts this delicate balance under jeopardy. According to experts, Namibia’s mean annual temperature will rise 2.7 degrees Celsius during the next two decades, while yearly precipitation will fall by 7%. As rain patterns change, this will result in more frequent and longer droughts, more heat waves, and even more flooding.
GENDER EQUALITY IN NAMIBIA
In Namibia, 91.7 percent of legal frameworks that promote, implement, and monitor gender equality, with an emphasis on violence against women, are in place, according to the SDG indicator. 6.9% of women aged 20–24 who were married or in a union before the age of 18 are still married or in a relationship. Women held 44.2 percent of seats in parliament as of February 2021.
Some prominent women in Namibia include:
Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah – Namibian politician who served as Deputy Prime Minister of Namibia.
Yvonne Dausab – Namibian cabinet minister responsible for Minister of Justice.
Kornelia Shilunga – Namibian politician and Member of the National Assembly.
Sophia Shaningwa – Namibian politician currently serving as Secretary General of SWAPO party in Namibia.
Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah
Yvonne Dausab
Kornelia Shilunga
Sophia Shaningwa
Marlene Mungunda – Namibian teacher and politician, who served in several portfolio as minister.
Lempy Lucas – Namibian politician and member of the National assembly. She is currently the Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Water and Forestry.
Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila – Prime Minister of Namibia since 2015 and member of the National Assembly of Namibia.
Libertina Inaviposa Amathila – Namibian physician and politician, who served as Deputy Prime Minister in Namibia 2005 to 2010.
Marlene Mungunda
Lempy Lucas
Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila
Libertina Inaviposa Amathila
