REPUBLIC OF NAMIBIA

• S. Africa • Mozambique • Malawi • Tanzania • Zambia • Botswana • Namibia • S. Africa •

The least known of the southern African countries, Namibia is a land of contrasts. Wide open spaces, immense desert landscapes, the Atlantic Ocean. Unrivalled attractions range from the spectacular red dunes of the Namib desert to the wild Skeleton coast and the game rich Etosha National Park.

This land of rich cultural and wildlife heritage, faces the South Atlantic Ocean, between Angola and South Africa. At 825,418 sq km, it is more than twice the size of Malaysia but has a population of less than 2 million.

Formerly the German colony of South-West Africa, it was occupied then annexed by South Africa. In 1966, the Marxist South-West Africa People's Organization (SWAPO) launched a war for independence. The area was soon named Namibia, but it was not until 1988 that South Africa agreed to end its administration in accordance with a UN peace plan. Independence came only in 1990.

Namibia is remarkably rich in natural resources. It is the fourth-largest exporter of non-fuel minerals in Africa and the world's fifth-largest producer of uranium. It also has diamonds, copper, gold, lead, tin, lithium, cadmium, zinc, salt, vanadium, natural gas, hydropower, and fish, with possibilities of oil, coal, and iron ore deposits!

This is the first country in the world to incorporate environmental protection into its constitution. Some 14% of the land is protected, including virtually the entire Namib Desert coastal strip. Severe lack of natural fresh water poses Namibia’s biggest challenge. The land is prone to prolonged drought and threatened by desertification, wildlife poaching, and land degradation.

The official language is English but languages used include Ovambo, Damara, Kavango and Herero, with German and Afrikaans widely spoken. Namibians have a chequered ancestry traceable to many corners of Africa and Europe. Although per capita GDP is five times that of Africa's poorest countries, the majority of Namibians live in pronounced poverty because of large-scale unemployment, gross inequality of income distribution, and outflow of wealth to foreigners.

Namibia’s attractions include some of the most spectacular wildlife, national parks, the Nabib Desert, and the wild Skeleton coast - one of nature’s most inhospitable, but hauntingly beautiful places. Desolate and uninhabited, it offers sand dunes, windswept plains, towering canyons, salt pans, seal colonies, shipwrecks and one of the most productive fishing grounds on earth.

Of Namibia’s 64,800 km of roads, 59,430 km remains unpaved - a fact pleasing to the off-road diehards of the PETRONAS Adventure Team!