At 824,292 km2 (318,261 sq mi), Namibia is the world's thirty-fourth largest country. After Mongolia, Namibia is the second least densely populated country in the world. Namibia got its name from the Namib desert that stretches along the coast of the Atlantic. It is also known for its wildlife.
The Namib is a coastal desert in Southern Africa. According to the broadest definition, the Namib stretches for more than 2,000 kilometres (1,200 mi) along the Atlantic coasts of Angola, Namibia, and northwest South Africa, extending southward from the Carunjamba River in Angola, through Namibia and to the Olifants River in Western Cape, South Africa. The Namib's northernmost portion, which extends 450 kilometres (280 mi) from the Angola-Namibia border, is known as Moçâmedes Desert, while its southern portion approaches the neighboring Kalahari Desert. From the Atlantic coast eastward, the Namib gradually ascends in elevation, reaching up to 200 kilometres (120 mi) inland to the foot of the Great Escarpment. Annual precipitation ranges from 2 millimetres (0.079 in) in the aridest regions to 200 millimetres (7.9 in) at the escarpment, making the Namib the only true desert in southern Africa. Having endured arid or semi-arid conditions for roughly 55–80 million years, the Namib may be the oldest desert in the world and contains some of the world's driest regions, with only western South America's Atacama Desert to challenge it for age and aridity benchmarks.
The Kuiseb River is an ephemeral river in western-central Namibia. Its source is in the Khomas Highland west of Windhoek. From there it flows westwards through the Namib-Naukluft National Park and the Namib desert to Walvis Bay. Several settlements of the Topnaar people are on the banks of the lower Kuiseb, for instance Homeb, Sandfontein, Rooibank, and Utuseb. Inflows of the Kuiseb are Gomab, Ojab, Chausib, Gaub, Koam, Nausgomab and Goagos.
The Skeleton Coast is the northern part of the Atlantic coast of Namibia. Immediately south of Angola, it stretches from the Kunene River to the Swakop River, although the name is sometimes used to describe the entire Namib Desert coast. The indigenous San people, of the Namibian interior called the region "The Land God Made in Anger", while Portuguese sailors once referred to it as "The Gates of Hell".
Swakopmund is a city on the coast of western Namibia, 352 km (219 mi) west of the Namibian capital Windhoek via the B2 main road. It is the capital of the Erongo administrative district. As of 2011, the town had 44,725 inhabitants and 196 km2 (76 sq mi) of land.
The Kaokoveld Desert is a coastal desert of northern Namibia and southern Angola.
Iona National Park is the largest national park in Angola. It is situated in the Southwestern corner of the country, in Namibe Province. It is roughly bound by the Atlantic Ocean to the West, an escarpment to the East that marks the beginning of the interior plateau, the Curoca River to the North, and the Cunene River to the South. It is about 200 kilometres (120 mi) south of the city of Namibe and covers 5,850 square miles (15,200 km2) sq. miles.
Sossusvlei is a salt and clay pan surrounded by high red dunes, located in the southern part of the Namib Desert, in the Namib-Naukluft National Park of Namibia. The name "Sossusvlei" is often used in an extended meaning to refer to the surrounding area. These landmarks are some of the major visitor attractions of Namibia.
Sandwich Harbour, also known as Sandwich Bay, Sandvishawe, Sandvisbaai and Sandfisch Bai is an area on the Atlantic coast of Namibia that includes a bay in the north and a lagoon at the southern end. Sandwich Harbour might have been named after an English whaling ship, the Sandwich, which worked during the 1780s, or the name may be a corruption of the German word "sandfische", a species of shark found in the area. Formerly the bay was a moderately-sized commercial port based around whaling and small-scale fishing, but it is now best known for its birdlife in the lagoon to the south of the bay.
The Swakop River is a major river in western central Namibia. Its source is in the Khomas Highland. From there it flows westwards through the town of Okahandja, the historic mission station at Gross Barmen, and the settlement of Otjimbingwe. It then crosses the Namib desert and reaches the Atlantic Ocean at Swakopmund. The Swakop is an ephemeral river; its run-off is roughly 40 million cubic metres per annum.
The Tsauchab is an ephemeral river in the Hardap Region of central Namibia. Its source is in the southern Naukluft Mountains, from where it flows westwards through the Namib-Naukluft National Park into Sossusvlei, an endorheic basin. The lower river has in the past had a slightly different courses and also formed two other basins, the Deadvlei and the Hiddenvlei.
The Gobabeb Namib Research Institute, short: Gobabeb, is a centre for dry land training and research in Namibia. It is located in the Namib Desert, 120 kilometres (75 mi) south-east of Walvis Bay.
Tourism in Namibia is a major industry, contributing N$7.2 billion to the country's gross domestic product. Annually, over one million travelers visit Namibia, with roughly one in three coming from South Africa, then Germany and finally the United Kingdom, Italy and France. The country is among the prime destinations in Africa and is known for ecotourism which features Namibia's extensive wildlife.
B4 is a national highway of Namibia. It passes through the ǁKaras Region of Namibia in the south-west in a west–east direction for 334 kilometres (208 mi), connecting Lüderitz on the coast to Keetmanshoop.
The Namib Desert horse is a feral horse found in the Namib Desert of Namibia. It is the only feral herd of horses residing in Africa, with a population ranging between 90 and 150. The Namib Desert horse is athletic in appearance, resembling the European light riding horses from which it probably descends, and usually dark in color. Despite the harsh environment in which they live, the horses are generally in good condition, except during times of extreme drought. The horses have been the subject of several population studies, which have given significant insight into their population dynamics and ability to survive in desert conditions.
Acanthoproctus diadematus is an armoured katydid, bush-cricket, or ground cricket endemic to the Namib Desert of southern Africa, where it lives in the tall sand dunes along the Kuiseb River in Namib-Naukluft National Park. The katydid feeds on the !nara melon endemic to the area.
Utuseb is a small settlement in the Erongo Region in western central Namibia. It is situated in the Namib Desert, approximately 40 kilometres (25 mi) from Walvis Bay on the banks of Kuiseb River. Utuseb has approximately 700 inhabitants and belongs to the Walvis Bay Rural electoral constituency. The people living here belong to the ǂAonin community, a subtribe of the Nama people.
The protected areas of Namibia include its national parks and reserves. With the 2010 declaration of Dorob National Park, Namibia became the first and only country to have its entire coastline protected through a national parks network. Protected areas are subdivided into game reserves and/or nature reserves, such as special protected area, wilderness areas, natural areas, and development areas. There are also recreation reserves. Facilities in the national parks are operated by Namibia Wildlife Resorts. Over 19% of Namibia is protected, an area of some 130,000 square kilometres. However, the Ministry of Environment & Tourism auctions limited hunting rights within its protected areas. The Namibia Nature Foundation, an NGO, was established in 1987 to raise and administer funds for the conservation of wildlife and protected area management. Communal Wildlife Conservancies in Namibia help promote sustainable natural resource management by giving local communities rights to wildlife management and tourism.
The Dorob National Park is a protected area in the Erongo region, along the central Namibian coast, which is 1,600 kilometres (990 mi) in length. It was gazetted as a national park under the Nature Conservation Ordinance No.4 of 1975 on 1 December 2010, and with Namib-Naukluft Park it covers an area of 107,540 square kilometres (41,520 sq mi).
The Husab Mine, operated under the Husab Uranium Project, is a uranium mine near the town of Swakopmund in the Erongo region of western-central Namibia. The mine is located approximately 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) south of the larger Rössing uranium mine and 45 kilometres (28 mi) from Walvis Bay. Swakop Uranium believes the Husab Mine has the potential to become the second largest uranium mine in the world after the McArthur River uranium mine in northern Saskatchewan, Canada and the largest open-pit mine on the African continent. Mine construction started in February 2013. The Husab Mine started production towards the end of 2016 after completion of the sulfuric acid leaching plant.
