Namibia is formally the Republic of Namibia, a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia as well as Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and east. Although it does not surround Zimbabwe, less than 200 metres (660 feet) of the Botswanan right financial institution of the Zambezi River divides both nations.

Namibia obtained self-reliance from South Africa on 21 March 1990, following the Namibian War of Independence. Its capital as well as largest city is Windhoek. Namibia is a member state of the United Nations (UN), the Southern African Development Neighborhood (SADC), the African Union (AU) as well as the Commonwealth of Nations.

The driest country in sub-Saharan Africa, Namibia has been occupied because pre-historic times by the San, Damara and also Nama individuals. Around the 14th century, arriving Bantu peoples got here as part of the Bantu growth. Ever since, the Bantu groups, the biggest being the Ovambo, have actually dominated the populace of the country; because the late 19th century, they have constituted a majority.

In 1878, the Cape of Excellent Hope, after that a British nest, annexed the port of Walvis Bay and the offshore Penguin Islands; these became an essential part of the brand-new Union of South Africa at its development in 1910. In 1884, the German Realm developed rule over most of the region, forming a colony called German South West Africa.

It established farming and infrastructure. Between 1904 as well as 1908, it committed a genocide against the Herero and Nama people. German policy finished in 1915 with a defeat by South African forces. In 1920, after the end of World war, the Organization of Nations mandated administration of the nest to South Africa. As Necessary power, South Africa enforced its laws, consisting of racial categories as well as regulations.

From 1948, with the National Party chose to power, this consisted of South Africa applying discrimination to what was after that referred to as South West Africa.

In the later 20th century, uprisings and demands for political representation by indigenous African political activists looking for self-reliance caused the UN thinking direct responsibility over the territory in 1966, but South Africa kept de facto rule. In 1973, the UN acknowledged the South West Africa Individuals’s Organisation (SWAPO) as the main agent of the Namibian individuals; the event is controlled by the Ovambo, that are a large plurality in the territory.

Complying with proceeded guerrilla warfare, South Africa set up an acting administration in Namibia in 1985. Namibia got complete independence from South Africa in 1990. However, Walvis Bay and the Penguin Islands remained under South African control until 1994.