Did you know? Namibia's facts


Some well known and not so facts about Namibia.

* You can see elephants just 1 hour of driving from Windhoek - at Okambara Ranch near Witvlei
* The inhabitant of the Namib desert, the fossil plant Welwitschia Mirabilis has a lifespan of up to 2000 years.

* The Republic of Namibia has been the first country to include protection of the environment in the Constitution of the country.
* Approximately 13.6  percent of the country's  surface area is protected, either as a nature reserve, recreation area or game park.
* On the last Sunday in August every year members of Herero community gather in small town Okahandja to pay respect to their heroes fallen during colonial times and independence struggle.
* The colourful dresses of Herero women were adapted from the dresses of the wives of Finnish missionaries in  the 19th century.baloons.JPG (11864 bytes)
* An unusual aloe species, Aloe viridiflora, which is endemic to Namibia is found in central region of the country and in the mountains around Windhoek.
The plant flowers in August and in September.
* The Gibeon Meteorite shower is the largest ever discovered in 1838 by the explorer Sir J. Alexander.
* Hunting season in Namibia is open from 1 January to 30 of November.
Hunting in the country ranges from trophy to safari hunts.
* Arnhem Cave is the longest cave system in Namibia. Situated on the farm Arnhem, 120 km east of Windhoek. There are six bat species in the cave, including the giant leaf-nosed bat.
* The largest Namibia's population group is Owambo, living in the northern part of the country.
* The Tsumeb mine  which has  been closed recently down was once the richest source of lead and zinc in Africa. More than 200 different minerals have been found in and around Tsumeb.
It is up and running again!
* Dragon's Breath is the largest underground lake in the world and situated on the farm Hariseb, 46 km north - west from Grootfontein off the road C42 to Tsumeb.
* Hoba Meteorite, discovered in the 1920s, is the largest known meteorite in the world and situated 20 km from Grootfontein. The meteorite is approximately 80 000 years old and its weight is more than 50 tons.
* There is a large amount of artillery and ammunition that was dumped by retreating German forces in 1915 on the bottom of the Otjikoto lake which is located 20 km north-west of town Tsumeb. A number of extracted cannons, machine guns and other weapons can be seen in Tsumeb museum and in Alte Feste Museum in Windhoek.
* The Namib Desert is regarded as the oldest desert in the world.
* The Giants' Playground - site littered with huge balancing  basalt  boulders and  Quiver Tree Forest can be seen approximately 14 km north-east of Keetmanshoop near Quiver Tree Forest Camp.
* Namibia has the largest free-roaming cheetah population in  the world - an estimated 2 500.
* Rossing Mine is the largest open-cast uranium mine in the world.
* Mine in a small town Uis is the largest known tin reserve.
* Farm Bitterwasser is renowned amongst soaring enthusiast where many international records have been established. The farm is situated south-east of Windhoek.
* Hot air balloon excursions over Sossusvlei are offered from Sesriem and on the NamibRand Nature Reserve, one of the largest privately-owned game reserves in Africa.
* The major export product in the southern part of Namibia is karakul pelts. The karakul sheep was brought from Asia and introduced in Namibia in 1907.
* The Petrified Forest is a protected site of prehistoric petrified trunks situated 40 km west of Khorixas.
* The Hardap Dam is the largest man-made lake in the country and situated 15 km north-west of town Mariental.
* Republic of Namibia has had a total of 559 674 visitors in 1998 - 11.49% more than a previous year.
* There are a horse graves site on the way to Walvis Bay just outside of Swakopmund where more than 1650 horses and mules were shot in 1915 by South African army.
* The word "safari" means "travel" in Swahili.
* The first railway line in the country was built at Cape Cross by the Damaraland Guano Company in 1895.
* First cinema in Namibia was built in Kolmanskop.

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