Republic of Namibia
Southern Africa
Desert · Vast · Stark
Namibia (officially Republic of Namibia) is a country located in Southern Africa. Its capital city is Windhoek, with other major cities including Walvis Bay and Swakopmund. With a population of approximately 2.6M, the main language spoken is English. The country covers an area of 825,615 km². The official currency is the Namibian dollar ($), South African rand (R). Traffic drives on the left side.
The Namib Desert is the world's oldest desert at around 55 million years — and the Skeleton Coast along its shoreline is littered with shipwrecks and whale bones, earning its name from the Namibian Bushmen who called it 'The Land God Made in Anger'.
Windhoek serves as the political, cultural and economic heart of Namibia, positioned in Southern Africa. As the seat of government and often the most populous city, it concentrates the country's main institutions, universities and cultural landmarks. Beyond the capital, major cities include Walvis Bay, Swakopmund — each a hub of regional culture, economy and history. Windhoek sits in the central Namibian highlands at 1,700 metres — a small, orderly city of 400,000 with German colonial architecture including the Christuskirche Lutheran church (1910) and the Alte Feste fortress, remnants of German South West Africa administration that ended in 1915, and a craft beer culture that directly traces its origins to German settlement.
With a population of approximately 2.6M, Namibia is a vibrant society with a rich mix of traditions and communities. The official language is English, which reflects the country's cultural heritage and connects it with a wide international community. Internationally, Namibia is reached via the dialling code +264. Namibians achieved independence in 1990 after the world's longest-running United Nations intervention — SWAPO's armed liberation struggle against South African administration (which imposed apartheid in Namibia) lasted from 1966 to 1989, with the country emerging from independence with the world's most skewed income distribution and the explicit constitutional mandate to correct apartheid-era land inequalities.
Namibia spans 825,615 km², in the Southern Africa subregion of Africa. Geographically centred around 22.0°S, 17.0°E, the country offers a diverse range of landscapes shaped by its location, climate and geology. Road traffic follows the left-hand rule, in line with surrounding Africa convention.
The official currency is the Namibian dollar ($), South African rand (R), used for everyday transactions and commerce throughout the country. Namibia's economy is shaped by its geography, natural resources and trade relationships. Business and daily life operate under UTC+01:00, aligning the country with its regional neighbours.
Football / Rugby holds a special place in the heart of Namibia's national identity. Football is Namibia's dominant sport, while the desert ultramarathon scene — including the annual RacingThePlanet Namibia event through the Namib dunes — attracts international competitors to a landscape where the running conditions (loose sand, extreme temperature ranges, absolute isolation) create a challenge unavailable on any other endurance running course.
The highest point in Namibia is Brandberg, rising to 2,606 metres above sea level. The Namib Desert is the world's oldest desert at 55-80 million years — a coastal desert sustained by the cold Benguela Current that prevents rainfall while the Atlantic fog penetrates 100 kilometres inland each morning, providing the moisture that desert beetles collect on their backs in the Namib fog-basking behaviour that inspired bio-mimetic fog collection systems now used in water-scarce regions worldwide.