Namibia gets its name from the Namib Desert which stretches along the entire coast. The name was chosen as a neutral name for the country to ensure that none of the many different tribes and races would be upset by it. The country was known as South West Africa until 1990 and was under South African rule. Before that, it was known as “Deutsch-Südwestafrika” while under German control until 1919. Namibia gained its independence on the 21 March 1990.

After Independence, English was declared the official language, however, most of the population speak the local language Afrikaans.

Namibia stretches along the Atlantic Ocean, bordering South Africa in the south, Angola in the north, Zambia in the north east and Botswana in the east. The Caprivi strip even borders Zimbabwe at a point, so that here you will find the only 4 point border worldwide, where 4 different countries meet.

Although Namibia is more than double the size of Germany, the population is very small. Most of the people live in Windhoek, the capital and the rest are spread out in smaller towns like Keetmanshoop, Walvis Bay, Swakopmund, Oshakati and in a few other towns in the north. The desert is basically uninhabited except for the aforementioned coastal towns. According to the stats taken in 2005, Namibia has a total population of approximately 2 million people.

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