Namibia is located on the southern margin of the tropics and has distinct seasons. The coast is cooled by the Benguela Current (which carries with it the country’s rich and recovering fish stocks) and averages less than 2 inches (50 millimetres) of rainfall annually. The Central Plateau and the Kalahari have wide diurnal temperature ranges, more than 50 °F (30 °C) on summer days and less than 20 °F (10 °C) in winter. In Windhoek, on the plateau, the average temperature for December is 75 °F (24 °C), and the average maximum 88 °F (31 °C). In July these averages are 55 °F (13 °C) and 68 °F (20 °C), respectively. Humidity is normally low, and rainfall increases from about 10 inches (250 millimetres) on the southern and western parts of the plateau to about 20 inches in the north-central part and more than 24 inches on the Caprivi Strip and Otavi Mountains. However, rainfall is highly variable, and multiyear droughts are common. In the north and adjacent to mountains, groundwater is as important as—but only slightly less variable than—rainfall. Kalahari rainfall—in its Namibian portion—is not radically different from that of the plateau, but, except in the northern Karstveld and isolated artesian areas, groundwater is less available.

Plant and animal life

Both the Namib and Kalahari deserts are characterized by exotic, fragile desert plants. The mountains are sparsely wooded, and the plateau is predominantly scrub bush and grass. Trees are much more frequent in the north. Varieties of aloe are common throughout the plateau and the less sandy portions of the Kalahari.

Namibia is richly endowed with game, albeit poaching has seriously diminished it in parts of the north. Throughout the ranching zone, game (notably antelope and giraffes) coexists with cattle and sheep. The Etosha Pan in the north is a major game area and tourist attraction.

Namibia has established several parks and reserves to celebrate and protect its rich plant and animal life. These include Etosha National Park, Skeleton Coast Park, Namib Naukluft Park, and Sperrgebiet National Park. |Ai-|Ais and Fish River Canyon Park, along Namibia’s southern border, merged with South Africa’s Richtersveld National Park in 2003 to form the |Ai-|Ais–Richtersveld Transfrontier Park.

Settlement patterns

Less than 1 percent of the country is estimated to be arable, though almost two-thirds is suitable for pastoralism. Wasteland (mountain and desert) and bush or wooded savanna, plus a small forest zone, constitute the remainder.

About half of the entire population live in the far north, roughly 15 percent in the commercial ranching areas north and south of Windhoek, 10 percent in central and southern ex-Black homelands, more than 10 percent in Greater Windhoek, and the remainder in coastal towns and inland mining towns. More than one-third of the total population live in urban areas. Namibia’s population is young—some two-fifths are 16 years of age or younger—and is growing at a relatively modest rate compared with those of other African countries.

Ethnic and linguistic composition

About 85 percent of Namibians are Black, 5 percent of European ancestry, and 10 percent, in South African terminology, Coloured (Cape Coloured, Nama, and Rehobother). Of the Black majority, about two-thirds are Ovambo, with the Kavango, the Herero, the Damara, and the Caprivian peoples following in population size. Other ethnic groups have much smaller populations. Afrikaners and Germans constitute two-thirds and one-fifth of the European population, respectively. Most ethnic Europeans are Namibian citizens, though some have retained South African citizenship.

English is the national language, though it is the home language of only about 3 percent of the population. Ovambo languages are spoken by more than 80 percent of the population, followed by Nama-Damara with about 6 percent. Kavango and Caprivian languages and Herero, as well as Afrikaans, constitute about 4 percent of home languages. Many Namibians speak two or more indigenous languages and at least a little of two of the three European languages (English, Afrikaans, German) in common use.

Religion

Some 80 to 90 percent of the population at least formally adheres to a Christian confession. About one-half of the population is Protestant, most of whom are Lutheran. Roman Catholics constitute almost one-fifth of the population. Smaller Christian denominations include Dutch Reformed, Anglican, African Methodist Episcopal, Methodist, and Presbyterian groups. A small segment of the population adheres to traditional beliefs.

Demographics

Namibia’s annual rate of population growth is approximately 2 percent. The average life expectancy is about 63 years. The country has a young population, almost two-fifths of the population being under age 15 and more than one-fourth between the ages of 15 and 29. Infant mortality remains a serious problem, but the overall rate is about average for countries in southern Africa and is below that of most countries in sub-Saharan Africa. Like almost all other human welfare indicators, the Black-white disparity in demographics is very high—a legacy, in large part, of the South African occupation regime’s practice of apartheid.

Slightly more than half of Namibia’s population is rural. Internal migration is primarily from rural to urban areas, a result of rural poverty, war dislocation, and removal of residence restrictions. Many exiles returned to the country after independence, while some 10,000 Europeans and almost as many Black South African hired troops and auxiliaries departed.