Get to know Namibia
Namibian Guide
Life in Namibia
Since her independence in 1990, Namibia has gradually become a major African tourist destination. Travelers come from all walks of life to enjoy the desert vistas of the Namib Desert, the geology of places like the Fish River Canyon and some of the unsurpassed game viewing in the world. Here are some basic facts about the country:
- Area: 824,615 km2
- Population: 2,6 million people (2017)
- Population Density: 3.2/km2 (8.3/sq mi)
- Currency: Namibian Dollar (NAD)/South African Rand (ZAR)
- Capital of Namibia: Windhoek
- Time zone: GMT (UTC+2 (CAST))
- Driving Side: Left
- International Dialing Code: +264
- Official Language: English
- Other Languages: Oshiwambo, Afrikaans, Nama, Damara, Otjiherero, German, Rukwangali, Setswana, and others.
- Major Ethnic Groups: Owambo, Kwangali, Damara, Herero, Nama, San, Afrikaner, German, and others.
Conservation in Namibia
A healthy state of biodiversity remains a valuable comparative advantage for Namibia, providing immeasurable socio-economic benefits to her people. Conservation of the Namibian ecosystem has become a norm, and a sense of pride to most Namibians. The country was the first African country to incorporate protection of the environment into its constitution, with the government providing people which are living in communal areas an opportunity to manage their natural resources through the creation of communal conservancies. Together with the government, nonprofit organizations, and other entities, these conservancies have thus successfully restored populations of cheetah, black rhino, lions, and other native wildlife in one of the world’s naturally richest arid countries.
Namibia’s ecotourism initiatives have seen the restoration generate sustainable income for various communities. With wildlife sanctuaries working closely together with sanctuary staff, respective communities, and volunteers from across the globe to better the lives of faunae by creating more safe havens for big cats, baboons, giraffes and more, has been a successful venture. The springbok, gemsbok, zebra and black-faced impala populations have all seen significant multifold growth thanks to these joint organisational efforts. Namibia’s plankton-rich coastal waters also support an amazing array of marine life, including an increasing number of the once near extinct southern right whales.
Namibia also pays homage to a unique population of elephants and lions that have adapted to the hyper arid climate conditions. The ‘desert-adapted’ elephants can go for days without drinking water by merely surviving on moisture acquired from the desert vegetation that they consume.
Organizations such as the Desert Lion Conservation focuses its resources in collecting vital base-line ecological data on lion populations and studying their behaviour, biology and adaptation to the harsh Namib Desert environment. This information is crucial in the collaboration with other conservation bodies, farmers and government in an attempt to continuously find workable solutions to the human-wildlife conflict. The ecotourism value of these ‘desert-adapted’ elephants, lions, the Angolan giraffes, and the black rhino therefore wholly contribute to the conservation of the respective species.
