Regions of Namibia

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Updates: 

Neil Parker contributed more variations of the regional capitals from two more sources. Morris Fisher also provided alternate capitals from the website devoted to addresses of world leaders. I discovered the Association of Regional Councils website and updated regional areas using its data. (This site lists populations that exactly correspond to the 1991 census, and areas that are rounded to the nearest tenth of a hectare - about 10,000 square feet, which may be higher precision than is justified.)

Alan Pritchard, of the Global Gazetteer , drew my attention to the new census results  posted on the Website of the Namibia Ministry of Health and Social Services.

Country overview: 

South-West Africa was a German protectorate at the beginning of the 20th century. After World War I, when Germany was divested of all its colonies, South-West Africa was made a Class C mandated territory of South Africa (Treaty of Versailles, effective 1920-12-17). After World War II, there was a prolonged dispute in which South Africa continued to exercise its mandate, while the United Nations ineffectually revoked it. The United Nations renamed it from South-West Africa to Namibia on 1968-06-12. Namibia finally gained its independence from South Africa on 1990-03-21.

Other names of country: 

1. Afrikaans: Suidwes-Afrika (obsolete)
2. Danish: Namibia
3. Dutch: Namibië, Republiek Namibië (formal)
4. English: Republic of Namibia (formal), South West Africa (obsolete)
5. Finnish: Namibia
6. French: Namibie f
7. German: Namibia n
8. Icelandic: Namibía
9. Italian: Namibia f
10. Norwegian: Namibia, Republikken Namibia (formal)
11. Portuguese: Namíbia, República f da Namíbia f (formal)
12. Spanish: Namibia, República f de Namibia f (formal)
13. Swedish: Namibia

Origin of name: 

after the Namib Desert, from a Nama word variously translated as bare place, vast arid plain, area where there is nothing.

Primary subdivisions: 

Namibia is divided into thirteen regions.

* Capitals: Different sources disagree about the regional capitals. In the table above, I've tried to give the majority opinion. "The Statesman's Year-Book", 1997-98 edition (SY); "The Times Comprehensive Atlas of the World", 2001 edition (TA); a 1994 book called "Payscope" (P) published by Encyclopaedia Universalis; a more recent Encyclopaedia Universalis  online (subscribers only) map (EU); Johan van der Heyden's Global Statistics  (GS) website; Werner Fröhlich's geonames.de  (GN) website; the website of the Association of Regional Councils in the Republic of Namibia  (RC); and the Address Directory For The Governmental Leaders of The World  (AD) website have varying information about the capitals of six regions. (Note that AD is less trustworthy, because the address for a regional governor is not necessarily the regional capital.) The following list shows sources that disagree with the capitals listed in the table. These are all different places, and not just alternate names of the same place. (The book "Administrative Subdivisions of Countries" shows the same capitals as "The Statesman's Year-Book", which was my most trusted source for the data at the time it was written.)

1. Erongo: SY says Omaruru; P says both Omaruru and Swakopmund.
2. Kunene: GS says Outjo; P says that Khorixas, Opuwo, and Outjo are all capitals.
3. Ohangwena: EU, GN, and RC say Eenhana; AD says Ondangwa; GS says there is no capital, only villages.
4. Omusati: Oshakati (GS and RC), Ongandjera (SY), Omusati (P), or Ombalantu (AD and EU). GN uses the spelling Outapi. Oshakati is not even located in Omusati, although that doesn't prove anything.
5. Oshana: GS says Etosha; P says Oshana.
6. Otjozondjupa: GS says Okahandja; SY, TA, and P say Grootfontein.

Further subdivisions:

See the Constituencies of Namibia page.

Territorial extent: 

In the division into districts prevailing before 1990, Hereroland East was split into two disjoint parts, separated by Gobabis. The Caprivi Strip (Afrikaans: Caprivi Zipfel), a panhandle in the northeast, consisted of Caprivi East and part of Kavango.

Origins of names: 

1. Bethanien: German for Bethany, after the Biblical city
2. Damaraland: Land of the Damaras (Hottentot tribe)
3. Erongo: for Erongo Mountain
4. Hardap: for Hardap Dam
5. Karas: for Karas mountain range
6. Khomas: for Khomas Hochland mountain range
7. Kunene: for Kunene River
8. Omaheke: Herero word for Sandveld, a dry grassland with sandy soil
9. Oshana: = intermittent lake
10. Warmbad: = warm bath (hot springs)

Change history: 

Dr. Klaus Dierks has an extensive website on Namibian history . I found a number of details for the change history there.

1. 1903: According to Dierks , the German protectorate had six regional offices: Gibeon, Keetmanshoop, Omaruru, Outjo, Swakopmund, and Windhoek.
2. 1909-02-07: Schuckmannsburg became first capital of Caprivi Strip.
3. 1910: Warmbad district split from Keetmanshoop.
4. 1915-05-01: Capital of the German protectorate of South-West Africa moved to Grootfontein.
5. 1922: Walvis Bay (then called Walfisch Bay) transferred from Cape Province of the Union of South Africa to Namibia (then called South West Africa).
6. 1936: Capital of Caprivi Strip moved to Katima Mulilo.
7. 1936: Capital of Kavango moved from Nkurenkuru to Rundu (called Runtu until the late 1940s).
8. 1948: South Africa reclaimed sovereignty over Walvis Bay.
9. This table appeared in the Encyclopædia
   Britannica World Atlas, 1957 edition.

1. ~1977: Divisions of Namibia reorganized. Kavango and Bushmanland split from Grootfontein. Part of Outjo and all of Walvis Bay (a district adjacent to the enclave of Walvis Bay) annexed to Swakopmund. Damaraland formed from parts of Outjo, Omaruru, and Swakopmund. Owambo formed from Ovamboland and a small part of Grootfontein. Hereroland West formed from parts of Grootfontein, Gobabis, and Otjiwarongo. Part of Rehoboth transferred to Windhoek. Hereroland East split from Gobabis. Gibeon (capital Mariental) split into Mariental (with the addition of part of Rehoboth) and Namaland (with the addition of parts of Bethanien and Keetmanshoop). Other, lesser boundary adjustments occurred. Names of Kaokoveld and Warmbad changed to Kaokoland and Karasburg, respectively. The resulting divisions were:

1. 1992-08: Walvis Bay placed under joint Namibian and South African administration.
2. 1992-08-31: Regional Councils Act (Act 22 of 1992) promulgated. Under this act, Namibia reorganized from 26 districts to 13 regions. (Dierks:)  in 1990, the Delimitation Commission and the Cabinet proposed the region names Liambezi, Maroela, Mopane, and Waterberg. By the time the regions were actually created, those names had been changed to Caprivi, Ohangwena, Omusati, and Otjozondjupa, respectively.
3. 1994-03-01: Walvis Bay fully incorporated into Namibia as part of Erongo region.

Other names of subdivisions: 

1. Caprivi: Liambezi (variant)
2. Ohangwena: Ohanguena (variant)
3. Okavango: Kavango (variant)
4. (former divisions:)
5. Bushmanland: Boesmanland (Afrikaans)
6. Caprivi East: Caprivi Oos (Afrikaans); Caprivi, East Caprivi (variant)
7. Hereroland East: Hereroland Oos (Afrikaans)
8. Hereroland West: Hereroland Wes (Afrikaans)
9. Kaokoland: Kaokoveld (obsolete)
10. Karasburg: Warmbad (obsolete)
11. Outjo: Outjo/Kamanjab (variant)
12. Owambo: Owamboland (variant)
13. Walvis Bay: Walfisch Bay (obsolete); Walvisbaai (Afrikaans)
14. Windhoek: Windhuk (German)