Namibia Facts

These Namibia facts were chosen and researched by kids especially for kids to get more insights into this beautiful country.

Namibia Facts: African sunset, desert, oryx

Interesting Namibia Facts for Kids

Namibia Flag

Continent: Africa
Name: Republic of Namibia
Population: 2.8 million people (2024)
Capital: Windhoek, which means 'windy corner' in the Afrikaans language, is the country's largest city with 477,000 inhabitants.
Nickname: 'The Land of the Brave'

Namibia anthem

Government: Republic
Literacy Rate: 93% of all Namibians 15 years and older can read and write
Language: English (official language), and 132 other recognised languages such as Oshivambo, Nama/Damara, Afrikaans (spoken by most of the population), German (as Namibia was formerly a German colony) and several other African languages
Religion: 97% Christians (more than half of the people are Evangelical Lutherans)
Currency: 1 Namibian dollar (NAD) = 100 cents
Unemployment: 20% of the people
Independence Day: 21 March

Oryx

National Symbols: Flag, coat of arms, oryx (national animal), welwitschia (national flower)
History: For many centuries the country was settled by the Nama, Damara and San people before the country was explored by the Portuguese Diogo Cam and Bartholomeo Diaz in the 15th century. The region became known as German South West Africa during the colonisation by the German Empire. The Herero and Nama geocide took place between 1904 and 1907 when the German killed the local people. During the First World War South Africa occupied Namibia and extended their apartheid system to Namibia as well. Namibia gained independence from South Africa in 1990.
President: Nangalo Mbumba (since 2018, elections will take place in November 2024)

Where is Namibia?

The country is located in Southern Africa. Namibia is located along the western coastline of the African continent and borders the South Atlantic Ocean.

Namibia shares borders with four countries: South Africa in the South, Zambia and Botswana in the East and Angola to the North. The longest border is shared with Botswana over 1,500 km/ 932 miles.

Namibia has a desert climate which is hot and mostly dry all year round.

Map of Namibia

Namibia is about double the size of California or roughly half the size of Alaska.

A flight from London/ England to Windhoek takes about 11 hours and a flight from Johannesburg/ South Africa takes about 3 hours. From the USA, Namibia is reached usually via Frankfurt/ Germany and it takes usually two days to reach this destination.

Namibia Facts:
Namibia Geography

Namibia is known for the huge Namib desert and wildlife. This is the world's second least populated country in the world - after Mongolia, which is double the size of Namibia.

Namibia is half the size of the state of Alaska/ USA and almost as sparsely populated as is Alaska. Namibia is the second sparsely populated country on the African continent, after Western Sahara. The most densely populated areas are along the Angolan border in Namibia's northern region and around the capital city of Windhoek.

Most parts of the country lie on a high plateau. The Namibian central plateau has an elevation over 2,000 m/ 2,650 ft above sea level. There are five geographical areas: The bush veld in the country's North, the coastal plains in the West and the Skeleton Coast, the Namib Desert in the West, the Orange River in the South and the Kalahari Desert in the East.

Dunes landscape in the Namib desert

The Namib Desert stretches along the Atlantic ocean over 1,000 km/ 621 miles with huge dunes as far as the eye can see. This desert is considered the oldest desert in the world and has been arid, which means dry, for more than 55 million years. The Namib also has some of the highest dunes in the world.

The Kalahari Desert stretches along the eastern border of the country and is varied in vegetation. Some parts are very dry and desert-like whereas others have more grassland and mountainous and rocky regions.

Driving through Southern Namibia

The highest mountain in Namibia is the Brandberg mountain ('fire mountain') with its highest peak called Königstein (which is called 'king's peak' in English, actually the name comes from the German and would mean king's rock!) with 2,606 m/ 8,550 ft.

Namibia was the first country to sign a statement that includes the protection of the environment into the country's constitution!

Fish River Canyon

The most important rivers in Namibia are the Zambezi River, the Orange River, the Okavango River and the Fish River. The longest river of Namibia is the Fish River which is 650 km/ 400 miles long.

Fish River Canyon is the second largest canyon in the world - after the Grand Canyon in the USA.

Namibia Facts | Animals in Namibia

In Namibia you can enjoy seeing plenty of wild animals, whether you are visiting places in the desert, close to the Atlantic Ocean or in the bushveld.

The Namibian National Parks and Game Reserves are especially good for viewing some the wildlife in Africa.

Namibian wildlife around a waterhole in Omaruru

Animals around a Waterhole in Omaruru

On this photo you can see lots of animals that came to drink at the waterhole at sunset. We captured this image at the Omaruru Game Lodge, which is located in the centre of Namibia.

Namibia Facts | Namibia People

Namibia is a multicultural country as there are many different cultural groups living in this region. Namibia once was a former German colony, and you will encounter still many German speaking people in Namibia.

Some towns like Swakopmund, Lüderitz and Walvis Bay will still display German names and signs on shops or offer German dishes on menus, but you will also be able to hear quite a few locals communicating in German when out and about.

Herero woman with children

There are many different people sharing the land, of which there are the Herero, the Nama, the Himba and Kavango or the San Bushmen are the largest groups, but there are many others. In the photo above, you can see a Herero woman dressed in traditional clothes, donning a special headwear. These women tend to wear many layers of skirts.

The Owambo which live mainly in the northern parts of Namibia, are the biggest ethnic group. More than half of all Namibians belong to the Owambo people.

Interesting Language Facts

Several indigenous African languages are spoken as home languages in Namibia. Oshiwambo is the African local language which is most widely spoken and understood. This is how you can say 'hello' to the locals (in German, in Oshiwambo and in 'Namibian' English):

Namibia Meerkats by Ecoprint/Shutterstock - how to say hello in Namibia - Kids World Travel Guide.com

Hello - in German, Oshiwambo and Namibian English

Even though English is the official language in Namibia, many people are more comfortable with speaking Afrikaans or German as they learned it in school.

About one third of Namibians still speak German because Namibia as South West Africa was settled by German immigrants during the last century and many families shared traditions with the Germans as they worked and lived together in rural areas.

Namibia was a German colony between 1884 and 1915 and after this, was named South West Africa and ruled by South Africa until Independence in 1990. Many Namibians therefore now speak Afrikaans at home. Afrikaans is one of the official languages in South Africa and is a mix of Dutch, German, English and some African languages.

Namibia Facts | Namibia Food

There is a wide variety of food available in Namibia with the ocean supplying fish and seafood and the farms in the countryside providing lamb, beef and ostriches.

There are as well exotic sounding game dishes made with with kudu and springbok meat in form of steaks, fillets or as ingredient in a typical potjiekos or stew.

Potjiekos

The most commonly known dishes are:

pap: porridge made with cornmeal, usually very thick so it can be eaten with the hands
potjiekos: slow cooked stew made with a variety of vegetables and meat in a heavy cast iron pot, made usually over the open fire.
braaivleis: grilled BBQ-meat
Mopane worms: crispy fried caterpillars
kapana: grilled meat strips, usually sold in townships or in street markets, can be made with any kind of meat
cray fish or rock lobster: seafood is common along the coast, where the town of Lüderitz celebrates an annual oyster and crayfish festival in April.

Namibia Attractions:
What is great to visit in Namibia?

Colourful colonial houses in Lüderitz

Lüderitz and Swakopmund: Explore the colonial history
Orange River and Fish River: Canoe or hike in the canyons
Windhoek, the capital city: Visit museums and learn about the countries history, culture and geology and admire the meteorites on display in the pedestrian zone

Kolbmankop Ghost Town in Namibia was popular during Diamondrush and Colonial times

Kolmanskop - former German colony in the desert near Lüderitz

'Ghost Town' Kolmanskop: Go back to 'Diamond Fever' time of the former German colony
Etosha Pan and the North: Great for wildlife viewing and visiting Himba people
Caprivi strip: the narrow panhandle in the countries north eastern region.
Soussousvlei and Kalahari: Desert and dunes as far as you can see

Dunes with Oryx

Interesting Namibia Facts

Did you know…?

...that Namibia is the second least densely populated country on earth? Only Mongolia is more deserted but it's bigger in size!

Namibia Facts | References

Central Intelligence Agency. "Namibia." CIA World Facebook. Last edited 3 October 2024. Last accessed 16 October 2024
Info Namibia. "Fish River Canyon." InfoNamibia. Last accessed 16 October 2024
Kingfisher Geography Encyclopedia Africa, Namibia, (London: Macmillan 2008), p.43
National Geographic (eds.) Africa Adventure Atlas. (Cape Town: map Studio, 2008)
The Children's Visual World Atlas, Namibia, (Sydney: Fog City Press, 2004), p. 140-143
The 100 Most Beautiful National Parks of the World, Namibia (Lisse: REBO Publishers, 2007), p. 190

We hope you enjoyed our Namibia Facts for kids and will visit again.

Image Credits: own images and shutterstock.com

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