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Southern Africa

Namibia

Namibia is a southernern African country of roughly 3.0M people, covering 825,615 km² with its capital at Windhoek. Its economy is worth about $13B in nominal terms, anchored by mining, tourism, green hydrogen.

Population
3.0M
Projected population, 2026
Source: UN World Population Prospects
Capital
Windhoek
GDP
$13B
Area
825,615 km²
Currency
Namibian dollar

Map

Interactive map of NamibiaSouthern AfricaMap placeholder

Overview

Namibia is a southernern African country of roughly 3.0M people, covering 825,615 km² with its capital at Windhoek. Its economy is worth about $13B in nominal terms, anchored by mining, tourism, green hydrogen.

Government

Namibia operates as a presidential republic. Independence: 1990. Executive, legislative and judicial functions are exercised from Windhoek.

Economy

Nominal GDP is approximately $13B, or around $4,298 per capita. The currency in circulation is the Namibian dollar. Leading sectors are mining, tourism, green hydrogen.

Population

Namibia has a projected population, 2026 of 3,024,925 people (United Nations Population Division, World Population Prospects 2024 Revision, Online Edition — medium variant), a density of roughly 4 people per km². Values from 2024 onwards are medium-variant projections rather than live counts.

Cities

The largest urban centres are Windhoek, Walvis Bay, Swakopmund. Windhoek serves as the seat of government.

History

Modern Namibia took shape through pre-colonial states, the colonial partition of the late nineteenth century, and independence in 1990. Our History section covers each period in depth.

Languages

Widely used languages include English, Oshiwambo, Afrikaans. Official-language policy shapes schooling, courts and broadcasting.

Culture

Music, cuisine, film, textiles and sport in Namibia form part of a fast-growing creative economy with an expanding export footprint.

Education

Primary enrolment is near-universal in most of the region; the constraints sit at secondary completion, technical training and higher-education funding.

Healthcare

Health spending across Africa averages about 5.7% of GDP. Namibia's system combines public facilities, private providers and donor-funded programmes.

Business

Company registration, tax administration and access to finance are the practical determinants of doing business in Namibia. See our Business section for sector reporting.

Investment

Investors typically look at mining, infrastructure and consumer services. Regulatory clarity and FX access are the recurring diligence questions.

Tourism

Visitors come for landscape, heritage and city life. Entry requirements, seasonality and internal transport are covered in our Travel guides.

Transportation

Road remains dominant; rail, ports and aviation capacity vary sharply and are the focus of most current infrastructure investment.

Infrastructure

Electricity access, broadband coverage and logistics quality are the three infrastructure metrics most closely tied to Namibia's growth outlook.

Statistics

Full time series for population, GDP, trade, inflation, internet usage, education, health, tourism, agriculture and climate are published in The360Africa Data Center.

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