 Wedged
between the Kalahari and the chilly South Atlantic, Namibia
has deserts, seascapes, bushwalking and boundlessness. Blessed
with rich natural resources, a solid modern infrastructure and
diverse traditional cultures, it is a beautiful country of vast
potential.
Namibia, previously known as South West Africa, is bordered by
South Africa in the south, Angola and Zambia in the north and
Botswana and Zimbabwe in the east. The oldest desert in the
world, the Namib Desert stretches along the whole west coast of
the country, while the Kalahari Desert runs along its
southeastern border with Botswana.
Perennial rivers are found only on the country’s borders, being
the Orange River on the southern border and the Kunene,
Okavango, Kwando and Zambesi Rivers on the northern border.
The Namibian landscape varied from vast expanses of desert and
sand dunes – the biggest sand dunes in the world are found here
- to rock formations in the south, contrasting starkly to the
savannah and woodlands of the central regions and the lush and
forested scenery of the northeast. The Brandberg with a height
of 2 579 meters in the southern Kunene region is Namibia’s
highest mountain.
 In
the south the Fish River Canyon is one of the wonders of
Africa.
The 161 km long, 27 km wide ravine with a maximum depth of 550m
is surrounded by high, forbidding cliffs, and is gashed into the
plateau with startling abruptness. The awesome grandeur of the
canyon is surpassed only by the Grand Canyon in the United
States of America.
Weather
Overview
Although it's predominantly desert, Namibia enjoys regional
climatic variations. The whole country sees a minimum of 300
days of sunshine
a year, but temperatures and rainfall vary considerably both
seasonally and geographically. The most arid climate is found in
the central Namib, where summer daytime temperatures climb to
over 40°C (105°F) but can fall to below freezing at night.
Daytime temperatures in the mountainous and semi-arid Central
Plateau (including Windhoek) are generally lower than in the
rest of the country.
Fog is common on the coast.
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Namibia Facts |
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Full Name |
Republic of Namibia |
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Capital City |
Windhoek |
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Area |
825,418 sq km |
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Population |
1,800,000 |
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Time Zone |
GMT/UTC
+2 |
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Languages |
English (official)
Afrikaans (official)
Herero (other)
German (other)
OshiKwanyama (other) |
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Currency |
Namibia Dollar (N$) |
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Climate |
desert, dry, rainfall is sparse and erratic. |
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