Walvis Bay is a city in Namibia and the name of the bay on which it lies. It is the second largest city in Namibia and the largest coastal city in the country. The city covers an area of 29 square kilometres (11 sq mi) of land. The bay is a safe haven for sea vessels because of its natural deep-water harbour, protected by the Pelican Point sand spit, being the only natural harbour of any size along the country's coast. Being rich in plankton and marine life, these waters also draw large numbers of southern right whales, attracting whalers and fishing vessels.
South West Africa was a territory under South African administration from 1915 to 1966, and under South African occupation from 1966 to 1990. Renamed Namibia by the United Nations in 1968, it became independent under this name on 21 March 1990.
The Union of South Africa was the historical predecessor to the present-day Republic of South Africa. It came into existence on 31 May 1910 with the unification of the Cape, Natal, Transvaal, and Orange River colonies. It included the territories that were formerly part of the South African Republic and the Orange Free State.
The history of Namibia has passed through several distinct stages from being colonised in the late nineteenth century to Namibia's independence on 21 March 1990.
High commissioner is the title of various high-ranking, special executive positions held by a commission of appointment.
Samuel Shafiishuna Daniel Nujoma, is a Namibian revolutionary, anti-apartheid activist and politician who served three terms as the first President of Namibia, from 1990 to 2005. Nujoma was a founding member and the first president of the South West Africa People's Organization (SWAPO) in 1960. Before 1960, SWAPO was known as the Ovambo People's Organisation (OPO). He played an important role as leader of the national liberation movement in campaigning for Namibia's political independence from South African rule. He established the People's Liberation Army of Namibia (PLAN) in 1962 and launched a guerrilla war against the apartheid government of South Africa in August 1966 at Omugulugwombashe, beginning after the United Nations withdrew the mandate for South Africa to govern the territory. Nujoma led SWAPO during the lengthy Namibian War of Independence, which lasted from 1966 to 1989.
The South West Africa campaign was the conquest and occupation of German South West Africa by forces from the Union of South Africa acting on behalf of the British imperial government at the beginning of the First World War. The South African Prime Minister Louis Botha took the unusual move of directly leading his troops into battle as commander-in-chief, to the frustration of his cabinet.
The Basters are a Southern African ethnic group descended from Cape Coloureds and Nama of Khoisan origin. Since the second half of the 19th century, the Rehoboth Baster community has been concentrated in central Namibia, in and around the town of Rehoboth. Basters are closely related to Afrikaners, Cape Coloureds, and Griquas of South Africa and Namibia, with whom they share a largely Afrikaner-influenced culture and Afrikaans language. Other groups of similar mixed ethnic origin, living chiefly in the Northern Cape, also refer to themselves as Basters.
Franz Adolf Eduard Lüderitz was a German merchant and the founder of German South West Africa, Imperial Germany's first colony. The coastal town of Lüderitz, located in the ǁKaras Region of southern Namibia, is named after him.
Chief magistrate is a public official, executive or judicial, whose office is the highest in its class. Historically, the two different meanings of magistrate have often overlapped and refer to, as the case may be, to a major political and administrative officer or a judge and barrister.
United Nations Commissioner for South West Africa was a post created by the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in 1966 to assert the UN's direct responsibility for South West Africa which was then under illegal occupation by apartheid South Africa.
Namibia–South Africa relations refers to the current and historical relationship between Namibia and South Africa. South Africa captured the area now known as Namibia from Germany during World War I and governed it, by the name 'South West Africa', until 1990, when the country gained independence under the name 'Namibia'. During those 75 years, thousands of South Africans settled in the territory and South Africa treated the area as effectively a fifth province of both the Union and the Republic, imposing apartheid laws in South West Africa as it did in South Africa.
Germany–Namibia relations are the bilateral relationship of Germany and Namibia. This relationship is of particular importance as Namibia was colonized and occupied by the German Empire in the 19th century. There is also a community of approximately 30,000 German Namibians residing in Namibia today. Both nations are members of the United Nations. Culturally, both countries are part of the Germanosphere.
German South West Africa was a colony of the German Empire from 1884 until 1915, though Germany did not officially recognise its loss of this territory until the 1919 Treaty of Versailles.
Namibia–United Kingdom relations are the bilateral relations between Namibia and the United Kingdom. Both countries are members of the Commonwealth of Nations and the United Nations.
The rail service in Namibia is provided by TransNamib. The Namibian rail network consists of 2,687 km of tracks (2017).
Namibian nationality law is regulated by the Constitution of Namibia, as amended; the Namibian Citizenship Act, and its revisions; and various international agreements to which the country is a signatory. These laws determine who is, or is eligible to be, a national of Namibia. The legal means to acquire nationality, formal legal membership in a nation, differ from the domestic relationship of rights and obligations between a national and the nation, known as citizenship. Nationality describes the relationship of an individual to the state under international law, whereas citizenship is the domestic relationship of an individual within the nation.
The Imperial Schutztruppe for German South West Africa was the official name of the military formation that maintained the Imperial German rule in its colony of German South West Africa. The Schutztruppe are held responsible for numerous atrocities in the Herero and Nama uprising in 1904. During World War I, the Schutztruppe was defeated by the military of the Union of South Africa.
Brazil and Namibia established diplomatic relations in 1990. Both nations are members of the Group of 77 and the United Nations.
