Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the east and south. Although it does not border Zimbabwe, less than 200 metres of the Botswanan right bank of the Zambezi River separates the two countries. Its capital and largest city is Windhoek.
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, renamed to Namibia from 12 June 1968 was a territory under South African administration from 1915 to 1990, after which it became modern-day Namibia. It bordered Angola, Botswana, South Africa, and Zambia. During its administration, South Africa applied its own apartheid system in the territory of South West Africa.
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.
Windhoek is the capital and largest city of Namibia. It is located in central Namibia in the Khomas Highland plateau area, at around 1,700 m (5,600 ft) above sea level, almost exactly at the country's geographical centre. The population of Windhoek, which was 486,169 in 2023, is constantly growing due to a continued migration from other regions in Namibia.
The Namibian Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) is the public broadcaster of Namibia. It was established in 1979, under the name South West African Broadcasting Corporation (SWABC).
The Namibia University of Science and Technology (NUST), formerly known as Polytechnic of Namibia, is a public university located in the city of Windhoek, Namibia. NUST was headed by the founding vice-chancellor Tjama Tjivikua until March 2019. After two acting appointments, Erold Naomab was appointed vice-chancellor in January 2021. The largely ceremonial role of chancellor of the university is held by Peter Katjavivi.
The Turnhalle Constitutional Conference was a conference held in Windhoek between 1975 and 1977, tasked with the development of a constitution for a self-governed South West Africa (Namibia) under South African control. Sponsored by the South African government, the Turnhalle Conference laid the framework for the government of South West Africa from 1977 to independence in 1989.
The Supreme Court of Namibia is the highest court in the judicial system of Namibia. It is the court of last resort and the highest appellate court in the country. It is located in the city centre of Namibia's capital city, Windhoek. A Supreme Court decision is supreme in that it can only be reversed by an Act of Parliament that contradicts it, or by another ruling of the Supreme Court itself.
Nora Schimming-Chase was a Namibian politician and Namibia's first ambassador to Germany from 1992 to 1996. After changing her party membership from South West Africa National Union (SWANU) to Congress of Democrats (CoD), Schimming-Chase became a member of the National Assembly of Namibia from 2000 to 2010.
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.
The Alte Feste is a fortress and museum in downtown Windhoek, the capital of Namibia. It is situated in Robert Mugabe Avenue, next to the Independence Memorial Museum.
The rail service in Namibia is provided by TransNamib. The Namibian rail network consists of 2,687 km of tracks (2017).
The National Archives of Namibia (NAN) is the national archives of Namibia, located in Windhoek. It was established in 1939 and today shares a building with the National Library of Namibia. NAN belongs to the National Library and Archives service of the Namibian government, in the Ministry of Education, Arts and Culture.
Gerhard Karl Hans Tötemeyer was a Namibian academic and politician who served as deputy minister of local government from 2000 to 2004.
The Turnhalle is a building in Windhoek, the capital of Namibia. Built during the era of Imperial Germany's colonisation of South West Africa, it has been through a variety of uses, most prominently as the venue for the 1975–1977 Turnhalle Constitutional Conference, an attempt to quell armed resistance waged by the People's Liberation Army of Namibia against South African occupation. The Turnhalle housed the Tribunal court of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) until disbandment in 2012.
Namibia is a multilingual country in which German is recognised as a national language. While English has been the sole official language of the country since 1990, in many areas of the country, German enjoys official status at a community level. A national variety of German is also known as Namdeutsch.
The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Windhoek, Namibia.
Squatting in Namibia is the occupation of unused land or derelict buildings without the permission of the owner. European settlers arrived in the nineteenth century and acquired land, leaving only 38 per cent of land in indigenous hands by 1902. This led to squatting and the Herero Wars, which ended with the Herero and Namaqua genocide. After Namibian independence in 1990, squatting increased as people migrated to the cities and land reform became a goal for those who had participated in the liberation struggle. By 2020, 401,748 people were living in 113 informal settlements across the country. Squatting continues to be regulated by the Squatters Proclamation of 1985; a challenge to this law was dismissed by the High Court in 2023.
The National Museum of Namibia is a historical and zoological museum in Windhoek, the capital of Namibia. It is governed by the Ministry of Education, Arts and Culture of the Namibian government.
