Republic of Namibia

Republic of Namibia


Motto Unity, Liberty, Justice
Anthem Namibia, Land of the Brave


Capital	Windhoek

Government	Republic
President
- From 2011	Hifikepunye Pohamba
Prime Minister
- From 2011	Nahas Angula

Legislature	Parliament
- Upper house	National Council
- Lower house	National Assembly

History
- March 21, 1990	Established

Commonwealth accession	March 21, 1990

Area	825,418 km²

Population
- 2009	2,108,665
Density	2.5/km²

GDP	2009 (PPP)
- Total	US$ 13.9 billion
- Per capita	US$ 6,614

Currency	Namibian dollar

South-West Africa
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The Republic of Namibia is a state in Southern Africa.

Background

South Africa occupied the German colony of South-West Africa during World War I and administered it as a mandate until after World War II, when it annexed the territory. In 1966 the Marxist South-West Africa People's Organization (SWAPO) guerrilla group launched a war of independence for the area that became Namibia, but it was not until 1988 that South Africa agreed to end its administration in accordance with a UN peace plan for the entire region. Namibia has been governed by SWAPO since the country won independence in 1990. Hifikepunye POHAMBA was elected president in November 2004 in a landslide victory replacing Sam NUJOMA who led the country during its first 14 years of self rule. POHAMBA was reelected in November 2009.^[1]

Economy

The economy is heavily dependent on the extraction and processing of minerals for export. Mining accounts for 8% of GDP, but provides more than 50% of foreign exchange earnings. Rich alluvial diamond deposits make Namibia a primary source for gem-quality diamonds. Namibia is the fourth-largest exporter of nonfuel minerals in Africa, the world's fifth-largest producer of uranium, and the producer of large quantities of lead, zinc, tin, silver, and tungsten. The mining sector employs only about 3% of the population while about 35-40% of the population depends on subsistence agriculture for its livelihood. Namibia normally imports about 50% of its cereal requirements; in drought years food shortages are a major problem in rural areas. A high per capita GDP, relative to the region, hides one of the world's most unequal income distributions, as shown by Namibia's GINI coefficient. The Namibian economy is closely linked to South Africa with the Namibian dollar pegged one-to-one to the South African rand. Until 2010, Namibia drew 40% of its budget revenues from the Southern African Customs Union (SACU). Increased payments from SACU put Namibia's budget into surplus in 2007 for the first time since independence. SACU allotments to Namibia increased in 2009, but will drop for 2010 and 2011 because South Africa went into recession during the global economic crisis, reducing overall SACU income. Increased fish production and mining of zinc, copper, uranium, and silver spurred growth in 2003-08, but growth in recent years was undercut by poor fish catches, higher costs of producing metals, and the global recession.^[2]