Namibia Travel Advice

General information for Namibia

Continent: Africa

Geographical location: southwestern Africa, in the southern hemisphere located

Highest point: Königstein (2573 m above sea level)

Longest river: Orange River (2160km)

Form of government: Republic

Government System: Semipräsidiale democracy

Languages: English, various national languages, including German

neighbors: Angola, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, South Africa

Capital: Windhoek

Area: Approx. 824 116 km²

Residents: Approx. 2,324,000 people (2016)

Population density: 3 people per km²

Religions: About 87% Christians, 13% followers of traditional religions, very few Muslims, very few followers of Judaism

Currency: Namibia dollar (NAD, South African rand is also accepted), 1 euro is around 16 NAD.

Climate: hot and dry, subtropical climate

Time zone: UTC + 1 and UTC + 2

Area code: +264

Country code: NAM

Electricity: In Namibia, type D and M sockets are used. The mains voltage is 3 x 220V with a 50Hz change interval. A travel plug adapter is an advantage.

Check a2zdirectory for old history of Namibia and agooddir for modern history of Namibia.

Cities and regions in Namibia

Namibia has been divided into fourteen administrative regions since 2013, each of which has its own regional administrations with limited capacity. The regions are called Karas, Zambezi, Otjozondjupa, Omusati, Oshana, Oshikoto, Ohangwena, Hardap, Kunene, Erongo, Omaheke, Khomas, Kavango-West and Kavango-East.

The most important cities in Namibia are:

Windhoek

With 320,000 residents (2011), Windhoek is the capital and the political and economic center of Namibia and, due to its social security and the coexistence of the Namibian ethnic groups, is considered an exemplary social model of a major African city. The cityscape is characterized by modern architecture and Wilhelmine buildings from the German colonial era. On the cultural level, the German influence can be felt, the carnival and Oktoberfest are fixed components of the annual calendar of events. The architectural sights in Windhoek include the Old Fortress, which houses the National Museum of Namibia, the colonial buildings on Independence Avenue, St. Mary’s Cathedral, the three city castles Heinitzburg, Schwerinsburg and Sanderburg as well as the Ink Palace, in which the parliament is housed. The Tukondjeni Market is also worth a visit.

Lüderitz

The Namibian port city of Lüderitz is located on the Atlantic coast in the southwest of the country in Lüderitz Bay. The name goes back to the tobacco trader Adolf Lüderitz from Bremen, who in 1883 bought land in what was then called Angra Pequena in order to search for mineral resources.

The city has about 12,500 residents on an area of 16 km² and owns one of the two deep sea ports of Namibia.

Many of the city’s buildings and facilities date from the Wilhelmine Empire and are built in the Art Nouveau style. During the 1990s, entire streets were extensively restored and today offer a beautiful insight into Namibia’s colonial history. The nine national monuments that are in Lüderitz include the train station, the Felsenkirche, the Goerke-Haus, the Kreplinhaus and the building of the former Deutsche Afrika Bank. Ten kilometers from Lüderitz is the Kolmanskuppe, a settlement that was once wealthy thanks to its rich diamond deposits and is now a ghost town.

The lake location of the municipality offers some charming coastal sections, z. B. the southern large bay, beyond the Griffith bay or the sandy bays, beaches and lagoons of the Lüderitz peninsula. The stone cross at the top of the Diaz or the penguins and flamingos around Halifax Island are worth seeing.

Swakopmund

Swakopmund is located on the Namibian South Atlantic coast, directly north of the mouth of the Swakop River. In what was once the most important port city for German immigrants, around 44,700 residents (2011) now live on an area of 196 km². The city of Swakopmund is now Namibia’s most popular holiday resort. The city center is a tourist magnet with architectural pearls of the Wilhelmine style and approaches to Art Nouveau. Sights in Swakopmund include the lighthouse, the city’s landmark, the Swakopmund Museum with exhibits on archeology, mineralogy, botany, prehistory and early history and the German colonial history of Namibia, the Imperial District Court, the Hohenzollern House, the Woermann House and the Locomobile from colonial times.

Walvis Bay

Walvis Bay is located on the central Atlantic coast of Namibia and is the country’s most important seaport. Approx. 62,000 people (2011) live here on an area of approx. 32.5 km². The pleasantly mild coastal climate makes the city and the surrounding area a popular tourist destination on the South Atlantic, especially during the months of October to March. The Rhenish Mission Church and the Hope Lokomotive train station museum are well worth a visit. In the vicinity of the city there are a number of worthwhile excursion destinations such as the lagoon with its significant mudflats and bird colonies or the guano platform Bird Island.

Medical information for Namibia

For legal reasons, we as a tour operator are not allowed to communicate any binding medical information for Namibia and therefore refer to the information provided by the Foreign Office of the Federal Republic of Germany , the Robert Koch Institute and the German Society for Tropical Medicine and International Health

Travel advice for Namibia

You can obtain current travel and safety information, information on entering and leaving the country, as well as special criminal information and recommendations for your stay in Namibia from the Federal Foreign Office.