NAMIBIA, FLAG OF

national flag consisting of diagonal stripes of blue, red, and green separated by narrower white stripes. In the upper hoist corner is a golden sun. The flag has a width-to-length ratio of 2 to 3. From the 1960s the South West Africa People's Organization (SWAPO) was the leading group working toward independence in what was then South West Africa, a de facto colony of neighbouring South Africa. When South Africa, under pressure from the international community, eventually agreed to relinquish control over the territory, a flag design competition was held for the future Republic of Namibia. The electoral victory of SWAPO in 1989 guaranteed that its own flag (a horizontal tricolour of blue, red, and green) would be influential when the choice was made. Working with the 835 proposals submitted, the National Symbols Sub-Committee of the transitional government met throughout January 1990 and finally approved a flag recommended by South African State Herald Frederick Brownell. That design placed the blue-red-green SWAPO stripes diagonally and added white fimbriations (narrow borders) on either side of the red to set off the colours. A golden 12-pointed sun was added in the upper hoist corner to represent life and energy. While no specific colour attributions were originally made, red is now considered to reflect the heroism of the people and their determination to build a future of equal opportunity. Green is for agricultural resources, blue is for the sky and the Atlantic Ocean, and white is for peace and unity. The flag was adopted by the Constituent Assembly on February 2, 1990, and was first officially hoisted on independence day, March 21, that same year. Whitney Smith History The history of Namibia is not well chronicled. Its isolated geographic position limited contact with the outside world until the 19th century. Explorer, missionary, trader, conqueror, and settler sources are neither comprehensive, notable for accuracy, nor unbiased. Professional historiography is a post-1960 development in the country, and the political events of the years since then have coloured most of the written history. Independence before the conquest The earliest Namibians were San (often pejoratively called Bushmen), nomadic peoples with a survival-oriented culture based on hunting and gathering. Their clans were small and rarely federated, and their military technology was so weak that even before the arrival of the Europeans they had been pushed back to the desert margins. The first conquerors in southern Namibia were the Nama (of a people oftenthough not in Namibiapejoratively called Hottentots). They had a larger clan system, with interclan alliances, and a pastoral economy. Closely linked (usually in a dependent role) were the Damara, a people from central Africa whose culture combined pastoralism, hunting, and copper smelting. In northeastern and central Namibia the Herero (a pastoral people from central Africa) built up interlocked clan systems eventually headed by a paramount chief. The unity of the Herero nation, however, was always subject to splintering. In the north the Ovambo people developed several kingdoms on both sides of the Kunene River. They were mixed farmers (largely because of a more hospitable environment for crops) and also smelted and worked copper. To the east the related Kavango peoples had a somewhat similar but weaker state system. On the margins of Namibiai.e., the Caprivi Strip in the far east and on the margins of the Kalaharithe local peoples and groupings were spillovers from southern Zambia (Barotse) and Botswana (Tswana). Until the 1860s, European contact and penetration were slight. Diogo Co and Bartolomeu Dias touched on the Namibian coast in 1486 and 1488 respectively, en route to and returning from the Cape of Good Hope, but there was virtually no contact until the 1670s. Afrikaner explorers after 1670 and Afrikaner traders and settlers about 1790 came to Namibia and eventually reached the southern boundaries of the Ovambo kingdoms, notably at the Etosha Pan. Theytogether with German missionaries, explorers of varied nationality, British traders, and Norwegian whalersdid not play a dominant role before 1860. Instead, they created the first avenues for trade (ivory and later cattle) and introduced firearms. The latter heightened the destructiveness of conflicts among the various clans and peoples. So did the arrival, after the first quarter of the 19th century, of the Oorlam-Nama from the Cape. Their military technology (which included horses, guns, and a small mobile commando organizational pattern) was modeled on that of the Afrikaners. They came to dominate the resident Nama (Red Nation) and Damara. In the middle of the 19th century, a kingdom ruled by the Oorlam but partly Herero and supported by the Red Nation and Damara was established near Windhoek by the Oorlam chief Jonker Afrikaner. Central Namibia was then an area of conflict between the southward-moving Herero and the northward-migrating Nama. In 1870 a peace treaty was signed with the Germans on the border of Herero country. Meanwhile, largely as a result of war pressures, Maherero had emerged as the Herero paramount chief. At this time a South African Creole (Coloured) community, the Rehoboth Basters, had immigrated to a territory south of Windhoek, where they served as a buffer between the Herero and the Germans. Like the Oorlam, they were Europeanized in military technology as well as civil society and state organization, which were copied from the Afrikaners. The economy Nominally Namibia is a lower-middle-income economy with a per capita gross domestic product (GDP) that is significantly above average for countries in sub-Saharan Africa. But that summary is misleading. Only one-quarter of all Namibians and only one-sixth of black Namibians have adequate incomes; up to two-thirds live in abject poverty with limited access to public services. Economic growth remains problematic because of a shrinking productive sector, lack of capital stock, and severe world market problems for base metals and uranium oxide. Furthermore, the prudent fiscal policy instituted by the government after independence means that, unless foreign assistance commitments rapidly turn into large actual inflows and private external investment in mining, manufacturing, and fishing emerges, the one segment of the GDP that grew rapidly in the 1980s will decline. Superimposed on these factors are near-stagnant wage employment and the collapse of the local economy that arose owing to the presence of South African troops and, later, UNTAG units in the northern towns. Agriculture and fishing Commercial farming (undertaken predominantly by white settlers) is concentrated on the production of karakul sheep and beef for export. It has been damaged by drought and drops in world prices, but in the early 1990s karakul prices, a commitment by the European Community (EC) to purchase beef, and relatively good weather improved short-term prospects. Crop raising is a distinctly secondary activity on commercial farms, but it is almost coequal with livestock production on small African family farms (many of which operate at sub-subsistence level and are headed by women) in the north. Rural development efforts aimed at small farmers and a 1991 land conference to explore land policy point to agricultural improvements in favour of black (and female) farmers, but major results are expected only in the medium term. The 11 percent of GDP produced by the agricultural sector contrasts sharply with the 35 percent of Namibians dependent on it for employment. Fishing is limited by depleted stocks. Better conservation controls and a 200-mile exclusive economic zone have improved its outlook. By 1990 it accounted for more than 3 percent of the GDP and could triple in real terms by the year 2000. The land Relief Namibia is divided from west to east into three main topographic zones: the coastal Namib desert, the Central Plateau, and the Kalahari. The Namib is partly rocky and partly (in the central stretch) dunes. While having complex flora and fauna, it is a fragile and sparsely covered environment unsuitable for pastoral or agricultural activities. Diamonds (probably washed down from the Basotho highlands by the Orange River) and uranium are found at Oranjemund in the south and Arandis in the centre. The Namib, 50 to 80 miles wide over most of its length, is constricted in the north where the Kaokoveld, the western mountain scarp of the Central Plateau, abuts on the sea. The Central Plateau, which varies in altitude from 3,200 to 6,500 feet (975 to 1,980 metres), is the core of the agricultural life of Namibia. In the north it abuts on the Kunene and Okavango river valleys and in the south on the Orange. Largely savanna and scrub, it is somewhat more wooded in parts of the north and is broken throughout by hills, mountains, ravines (including the massive Fish River Canyon), and salt pans (notably the Etosha Pan). Mount Brand (8,445 feet [2,574 metres]), Namibia's highest peak, is located along the plateau's western escarpment. In the east, Namibia slopes gradually downward, and the savanna merges into the Kalahari. In the north, hardpan and rock beneath the sand, in addition to more abundant river water and rainfall, make both herding and cultivation possible. Drainage and soils As noted, only the border rivers are permanent. The Swakop and Kuiseb rivers rise on the plateau, descend the western escarpment, and die out in the Namib (except in rare flood years, when they reach the sea at Swakopmund and Walvis Bay, respectively). The Fish (Vis) River rises in the Central Plateau and (seasonally) flows south to the Orange. Various lesser rivers rise on the plateau and die out downstream in the Namib or Kalahari desert. Namibia's soils range from barren sand and rock to low-quality sand-dominated to relatively fertile soils. The best soils are in the north, in the Otavi Mountains, in parts of the central and southern portions of the plateau, and in the Caprivi Strip. Waternot soil fertilityis the primary constraint on agriculture. Both in the densely populated Ovambo region in the north and in the commercial farming areas, overuse of land has reduced tree and bush cover, compacted soils, led to serious erosion, and lowered the water table by as much as 100 feet in the 20th century. The people 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. The largest denominations are two Lutheran churches, which together encompass about one-half the total population. Roman Catholics comprise another one-fifth of the population, while the Dutch Reformed and Anglican denominations make up about 5 percent each. There are also smaller groups belonging to the African Methodist Episcopal, Methodist, and Presbyterian churches.