Namibia became independent in 1990 from South Africa, which had taken over the territory during the First World War. Prior to that Germany was in control, and they committed what is considered the “first genocide of the 20th century”, killing tens of thousands of Herero and Nama tribespeople during their brutal occupation. Germany apologised for the first time in August 2020, but made an unacceptable reparation offer, in which the president of Namibia rejected.
Interesting facts about Namibia:
– The name ‘Namib’ translates as “vast place”, which is apt given that Namibia is one of the least crowded country.
– Despite Namibia’s low population, it is still home to 13 different ethnic groups.
– Namibia has 30 languages that are spoken in the country.
– Namibia was the first African country to incorporate environmental protection into its constitution. Hence its bountiful wildlife.
– The Namib Desert, the world’s oldest desert, has been around for at least 55 million years.
– Namibia has some of the highest sand dunes in the world. Big Daddy is the highest dune in the area of Sossusvlei.
– The Gibeon meteorite shower is the largest known meteorite shower on Earth, covering a wide elliptical area of some 275 by 100 kilometres, centred on Brukkaros south of Mariental.
– Namibia has one of the largest concentrations of rock art in Africa
– Namibia is also home to the second-largest canyon in the world, The Fish River Canyon, and is also the oldest in the world. The largest is in Tibet.
– The Dragon’s Breath in Namibia is the largest underground lake in the world.
– Namibia has the largest population of free-roaming cheetahs in the world
– Namibia is one of the only two countries in the world that has desert elephants. The other country is Mali.
– In 2013, Namibia received the Gift to the Earth Award from World Wildlife Fund (WWF) recognising their progressive support for communal conservancies. Local communities run these conservancies and are directly responsible for protecting the land.
Dansk 
English
Pingback: Homepage