Caprivi Strip

The Caprivi Strip (English Caprivi Strip, back translation: Caprivi Strip ) is a geographic designation of the ear- shaped bulge in the northeast of the national territory of Namibia. It covers those areas of the former German South West Africa, which protrude toward the east over the long continuous eastern border of Namibia at 21 ° East and reached to the Zambezi River at about 25 ° East, or the present-day administrative region Zambezi (formerly Caprivi ) and of the region Kavango East (formerly part of the Kavango region ) the constituency Mukwe.

The point was named by Theodor Leutwein in honor of German Chancellor Georg Leo von Caprivi de Caprera de Montecuculi so.

History

Shape and name go back to the fact that in 1890 in the wake of several territorial exchange transactions with the UK ( Article III of the " Zanzibar Treaty ." - Island of Helgoland in the German Reich) German South West Africa should have access to the Zambezi. The negotiations were led by Caprivi.

1908 took Captain Kurt Streit Wolf ( Imperial Resident of the Caprivi Strip ) on behalf of the then Governor of Bruno Schuckmann an expedition through the Caprivi Strip (formerly known under the name " German Barotseland " or " German Zambeziland " known). Streitwolf came to the conclusion that the Caprivi Strip is of high value for the protected area and only against something really valuable - should be exchanged - for example, the Walvis Bay. On January 27, 1909, the Caprivi Strip was administratively incorporated into the reserve and came after the First World War under the administration of the Union of South Africa.

During the time of the South African mandate administration from 1919 he was one of South-West Africa, later Namibia, and especially after 1970, gradually developed in the Caprivi Strip which Homelands Kavangoland and eastern Caprivi.

With Namibia's independence in 1990 and the reorganization of regions in 1994, the boundaries between the regions of Caprivi (CA ) and Kavango (OK) have been redefined.

Since then, the constituencies Kongola form (CA ) and Mukwe (OK) the eastern or western part of the West Caprivi. Since the 1990s, there is one by the United Democratic Party - supported Caprivi Freedom independence movement for the Caprivi in its historical geographic range. On 7 October 2002 the people of the Itengese declared their home region as the Free State of Caprivi Strip independence of Namibia. However, this was not recognized by the central government. The exile government of the Caprivi African National Union ( CANU ) adopted a flag based on the flag of the former homelands.