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:NAMIBIA FACTFILE:
Capital: Windhoek
Location : Southern Africa, bordering the South Atlantic Ocean, between Angola and South Africa
Surface Area : 825,418 sq km (water: 0 sq km)
Climate: Desert; hot, dry; rainfall sparse and erratic
Population: 1,797,677 (July 2001 est.)
Languages: English 7% (official), Afrikaans
Religions: Christian 80% to 90% (Lutheran 50% at least), indigenous beliefs 10% to 20%
Literacy: 38% (male: 45%, female: 31%)
Executive branch: Chief of state: President Sam Shafishuna NUJOMA (since 21 March 1990)
Currency: Namibian dollar (NAD); South African rand (ZAR) |
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Intro
Windhoek is the capital city of Namibia. This beautiful city with its 150,000 inhabitants is the biggest in the country. Its beauty lies in a combination of the architecture of a modern city with numerous buildings in the style of the German colonial era. The influence of the German language and culture is in many sectors still present. Though the official language is English, one can get by with German. Afrikaans and other African languages are also spoken.
Windhoek is located in a basin between the Khomas Highland and the Auas and Eros mountains. Whether due to pure luck or a brilliant stroke of Germanic planning, Windhoek is situated in almost the exact centre of Namibia. This makes it the ideal place to start and plan any Namibian travel arrangements.
Windhoek has had several names the earliest of which were the Damara /Ais //Gams (/ indicates a click in Nama spelling) which means firewater and the Herero Otjimuise or place of steam. The area was also called Queen Adelaide's Baths for a brief time. Most people believe that in 1840 Jan Jonker Afrikaner, a Nama leader, named the area Winterhoek, after the farm in South Africa where he was born. Windhoek, or windy corner, is a corruption of this name.
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