The West gives way to the Namib , a coastal desert extending along the entire coastline, interspersed with dune belts, dry riverbeds and deeply eroded canyons. The premier holiday resort of Swakopmund nestles on this coastline with nearby Walvis Bay, the only deep-sea harbour being a key player in the fishing industry as well as import and export trade. The southern area gives way to Sossusvlei and the sand-dunes, Luderitz and the majestic Fish River Canyon.

Early History

The desert terrain is good for Precambrian fossils, and scientists from Yale and the American Museum of Natural History explore the limestone deposits of Namibia on an annual basis. The Etosha Pan was filled with water 100,000 years ago, until local rivers shifted their course towards the Atlantic.
Proof of very early human habitation is found in the Kaudom National Park. Estimated from 1.7 to 1.9 million years old, the ancient stone tools were found in the Kavango region on the Kalahari rim of Namibia. So far, most of our evidence for the oldest periods in human evolution come from East Africa. This discovery in Namibia adds important information regarding early human dispersal in Africa. The result could be a major contribution towards understanding early human activities and the intellectual skills of our ancestors.

In a cave in the Huns mountains in southern Namibia, slabs with paintigs were excavated and dated at between 26,000 and 28,000 years old. These drawings are not only the oldest pieces of African art, they also represent one of the earliest known artistic activities of mankind. They are only preceded by a few thousand years by the rock art in the Chauvet Cave in southern France.
Namibia also is particularly rich in rock art. Paintings are generally found on a walls of rock shelters (caves, etc.) formed in cliffs in the mountains. Engravings are also found on the large boulders and open surfaces of rocks lying lower on hillsides.
The age of rock engravings has been established to be from 2000 to 6000 years old. One of the most famous rock engravings site in Namibia is Twyfelfontein in Damaraland where more than 2500 images have been recorded as well as several paintings. Twyfelfontein is a national monument since 1952.

San hunters and gatherers lived in Namibia 2000 years ago. By c.AD 500, Nama herders had entered the region. The Herero people settled in the western and northern areas of Namibia around 1600. The Ovambo migrated into Namibia after about 1800.
Of all these movements, no written records exist. Traces of the events of these times can however still be found in the rich oral traditions that circulate in local communities.

Colonisation
Because Namibia has one of the world's most barren and inhospitable coastlines, it was largely ignored by European explorers. The first European visitors were Portuguese mariners seeking a way to the Indies in the late 15th century, but they confined their activities to some spots on the coast.
It wasn't until the end of the 19th century that Namibia was annexed by Germany, except for the enclave of Walvis Bay, which was taken in 1878 by the British for the Cape Colony.

The period between 1890-1908 was marred by many conflicts and rebellions against the Germans by the pre-colonial Namibian population. Almost a hundred thousand Hereros, Damaras, and Namas, and about a thousand Germans died because of these wars.
During Worldwar I, in 1915, Germany surrendered the administration of Namibia to the South African Prime Minister Louis Botha.

At the end of WWI, South Africa was given a mandate to rule the territory (then known as West South Africa) by the League of Nations. The mandate was renewed by the United Nations following WWII but the organisation refused to sanction the outright annexation of the country by South Africa. Undeterred, the South African government tightened its grip on the territory and, in 1949, granted parliamentary representation to the white population. The bulk of Namibia's viable farmland was parcelled into 6000 farms owned by white settlers, while black workers and their families were confined by law to 'reserves'.

Forced labour had been the lot of most Namibians since the German annexation, and was one of the main factors which led to mass demonstrations and the development of nationalism in the late 1950s. Around this time, a number of political parties were formed and strikes organised. By 1960 most of these parties had merged to form the South West Africa People's Organisation (Swapo), which took the heated issue of South African occupation to the International Court of Justice.
The Namibian Community Based Tourism Association (NACOBTA) offers tours around Katatura. These former townships should not be missed by the visitor to Windhoek. They now stand as monuments of the awkward apartheid legacy.

Modern Namibia
By 1985, South Africa was also feeling the pinch and was distracted by internal problems of its own. A UN-sponsored deal ensured Cuban troops left Angola if South African troops exited Namibia. UN-monitored elections were held in November 1989 and Swapo won a clear majority of the votes.
While the new nation is gaining stability and prosperity, the local ranching, fishing industries and mining are productive, along with growing tourism.

Society today
Namibia is divided into 13 constitutional regions: Omusati, Oshana, Ohangwena, Oshikoto (formerly Owambo), Okavango, Caprivi, Kunene (formerly Kaokoland and a part of Damaraland), Karas, Erongo, Otjozondjupa, Omaheke, Khomas and Hardap.
The estimate population of the country is currently 1.7 million people with an annual growth rate approximately three percent and population density of less than 2 people per square kilometre.

Inhabitants of the Republic of Namibia vary from hunter-gatherers, herders and farmers to an urban population consisting of traders, civil servants, industrialists and individuals in a wide diversity of professions, belonging to many different cultural and ethnic groups.
Music, dance, and the visual and architectural arts are part of the local culture. Namibia's earliest known musicians were the San, whose music emulated the sounds made by animals and was played to accompany dances and storytelling. The early Nama used drums, flutes and stringed instruments; and the later arriving Bantu people added marimbas, gourd rattles and animal horn trumpets. Missionaries established local religious choral groups.

Today it is becoming quite apparent on the local music scene that traditional and modern cultures cross breed, and it is good to note that the music is keeping up with the times, without actually losing the sounds from the roots.
Township art, which develops sober themes in a colourful and generally lighthearted manner, first appeared in the townships of South Africa during the apartheid years. It has taken hold in Namibia and is rapidly developing into a popular art form; names to watch for include Tembo Masala and Joseph Madisia.
The official language of the country is English, although German and Afrikaans are widely spoken. Indigenous languages include Bantu languages such as Owambo, Kavango, Herero, Caprivi and Tswana, Khoisan languages spoken by the Nama-Damara and San (Bushmen) people.

The literacy rate in the country is estimated at 40 percent. There are approximately 1 450 schools and one tertiary institution, the University of Namibia. In addition there are several teacher's and agricultural colleges, computer and information technology training centres, training centres for employers and employees in tourism trade.
The capital of Namibia is Windhoek with a population of approximately 200 000 inhabitants. Other major centres are Rehoboth - the centre of Rehoboth Basters, Okahandja - capital of Herero tribe, Gobabis and Otjiwarongo regarded as a centres of cattle industry, Tsumeb - former mining town, Swakopmund and Walvis Bay at the coast,
Grootfontein, Otavi and Outjo in the north, Mariental, Maltahohe and Karasburg in the south and Gochas, Stampriet and Aranos in the east.