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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 in 2020 was 431,000 which is growing continually due to a continued migration from other regions in Namibia.
A slum is a highly populated urban residential area consisting of densely packed housing units of weak build quality and often associated with poverty. The infrastructure in slums is often deteriorated or incomplete, and they are primarily inhabited by impoverished people. Although slums are usually located in urban areas, in some countries they can be located in suburban areas where housing quality is low and living conditions are poor. While slums differ in size and other characteristics, most lack reliable sanitation services, supply of clean water, reliable electricity, law enforcement, and other basic services. Slum residences vary from shanty houses to professionally built dwellings which, because of poor-quality construction or lack of basic maintenance, have deteriorated.
Otjozondjupa is one of the fourteen regions of Namibia. Its capital is Otjiwarongo. The region further contains the municipalities of Okahandja and Grootfontein and the towns Okakarara and Otavi. As of 2020, Otjozondjupa had 97,945 registered voters.
A shanty town, squatter area or squatter settlement is a settlement of improvised buildings known as shanties or shacks, typically made of materials such as mud and wood. A typical shanty town is squatted and in the beginning lacks adequate infrastructure, including proper sanitation, safe water supply, electricity and street drainage. Over time, shanty towns can develop their infrastructure and even change into middle class neighbourhoods. They can be small informal settlements or they can house millions of people.
Otjimbingwe is a settlement in the Erongo Region of central Namibia. It has approximately 8,000 inhabitants.
The Trans-Kalahari Corridor is a paved highway corridor that provides a direct route from the port of Walvis Bay and Windhoek in central Namibia, through Botswana, to Pretoria in Gauteng province in South Africa. It initially cost approximately 850 million Namibian dollars and was officially opened in 1998.
The Swakop River is a major river in western central Namibia. Its river 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.
Slum/Shack Dwellers International (SDI), is a global social movement of the urban poor that started in 1996. It forms a network of community-based organisations in more than 30 countries across Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean.
Vyf Rand is an informal settlement outside of Okahandja, located north of Windhoek in the Okahandja constituency of the Otjozondjupa region of Namibia. "Vyf rand" is an Afrikaans phrase that translates to "five rand". The name originates from the initial rental fee of five rand per month tenant farmers paid for a small plot of land on large farms in Namibia.
The B1 is a national highway of Namibia, and is the country's longest and most significant road, running the length of the country from south to north. It connects Noordoewer in the south on the South African border with Oshikango in the north on the Angolan border via Namibia's capital city Windhoek.
Okahandja railway station is a railway station serving the town of Okahandja in Namibia. It is part of the TransNamib Railway.
Kahimemua Nguvauva was chief of the Ovambanderu, a Herero clan in Namibia.
Gross Barmen is a historic settlement and a recreational spa on the Swakop River in central Namibia, north of Windhoek. It is situated on the District Road 1972, 25 km south-west of Okahandja in the Otjozondjupa Region. Its close proximity to the capital Windhoek makes it a popular weekend destination for locals.
Namibia is an arid country that is regularly afflicted by droughts. Large rivers flow only along its northern and southern borders, but they are far from the population centers. They are also far from the country's mines, which are large water users. In order to confront this challenge, the country has built dams to capture the flow from ephemeral rivers, constructed pipelines to transport water over large distances, pioneered potable water reuse in its capital Windhoek located in the central part of Namibia, and built Sub-Saharan Africa's first large seawater desalination plant to supply a uranium mine and the city of Swakopmund with water. A large scheme to bring water from the Okavango River in the North to Windhoek, the Eastern National Water Carrier, was only partially completed during the 1980s.
The Namibia Women's Super League, also called the FNB Women's Super League for sponsorship reasons, is a semi-professional level women's association football league in Namibia. It is organized by the Namibia Football Association.
The A1 is a national highway in Namibia. The 76 kilometres (47 mi) stretch of road between Windhoek and Okahandja is the only A-rated road in Namibia. Consisting of freeway for its entire length, it came into existence in 2017 when freeway sections of the B1 were redesignated A1 in accordance with new standards of the Roads Authority Namibia. The entirety of the A1 forms part of the Trans-Kalahari Corridor and, together with the B1, also forms part of the Tripoli-Cape Town Highway.
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.
Squatting in Ghana is the occupation of unused land or derelict buildings without the permission of the owner. Informal settlements are found in cities such as Kumasi and the capital Accra. Ashaiman, now a town of 100,000 people, was swelled by squatters. In central Accra, next to Agbogbloshie, the Old Fadama settlement houses an estimated 80,000 people and is subject to a controversial discussion about eviction. The residents have been supported by Amnesty International, the Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions and Shack Dwellers International.
Havana is a suburb of Windhoek, the capital of Namibia. It is one of the most impoverished informal settlements in Windhoek. Havana is located northwest of Windhoek, in the Khomas region. It was named after the capital city of Cuba. It was established about two decades ago when the City of Windhoek experienced a high rate of urbanisation due to many people travelling to the capital city for a better way of living and for employment purposes.
References
- ↑ Nakale, Albertina (4 October 2018). "40% of Namibians live in shacks". New Era .
- 1 2 "Okahandja Park, Havana informal settlements get electricity". Namibia Economist . 11 November 2019.