Geography of Namibia
The geography of Namibia is divided by three main natural areas, which cross the country from the Kunene River in the north to the Orange River in the south: the coastal strip consisting of Namib Desert and the Skeleton Coast, the Great Escarpment and the inland highlands; The latter eastwards across in the Kalahari Basin.
Namibia is situated in southern Africa between 17.5 ° and 29 ° South latitude and 12 ° and 25 ° east longitude, and is bordered to the north by Angola, Zambia and Botswana to the east, on the south by the Republic of South Africa and to the west by the South Atlantic. The entire territory of Namibia covers about 824,292 km ². Natural boundaries of these were the Kunene River in the northwest, the Okavango and Zambezi River to the northeast and the Orange River in the south. A special feature is the approximately 450 km long and up to 50 km wide Caprivi Strip, which occupies a special position not only in the territory, but also has special geographical and climatic conditions.
- 2.3.1 Etosha Pan
- 2.3.2 Caprivi
- 2.3.3 Kalahari
Statistical data
Natural areas
Coastal strip
The Namibian coastal strip extending from the mouth of the Orange River at Oranjemund to the mouth of the Kunene River on the border with Angola. Significant landscapes of the Namibian coast are the restricted diamond area, the Namib Desert and the Skeleton Coast, all because of the running here Benguela very dry and arid areas.
The barren coast also has a few islands, peninsulas or coves. The only notable exceptions are the Lüderitz Lüderitz and Walvis Bay in Walvis Bay and the so-called Cold Bay at Cape Frio. The only islands are the Penguin Namibian islands, a number of small islands of which Hollam 's Bird Island with 0.65 km ² is the largest.
Huib Plateau
Namib Desert
Dune 7, the highest sand dune in the world
Lunar landscape east of Swakopmund
Seerobbenkolonie at Cape Cross
Skeleton Coast
The arid coastline stretches over a length of 2000 km, but only 80 to 130 km wide from southern Angola to the South African province of Northern Cape, rising from the level of the sea level slowly to around 600 meters. In the north, the coastline is predominantly rocky, partly rocky, sandy desert in the south predominantly ( especially south of the dry Kuiseb River ) with large sand dunes up to 300 m altitude.
Great Escarpment
The Great Escarpment runs through Namibia from north to south as one of the three dominant landforms and separates the coastal plain of the inland highlands.
The west of the escarpment location, coastal part of the country pulls itself as about 2000 km long, but only 80 to 130 km wide strip of southern Angola to the South African province of North Cape and essentially corresponds to the area of the coastal plain. This coastal strip is mainly occupied by the Namib Desert and rises from the level of the sea level only slowly to 600 m altitude. In the north, the coastline is predominantly rocky, partly rocky (see Skeleton Coast ) and in the south predominantly sandy desert ( especially south of the dry Kuiseb River ) with large sand dunes up to 300 m altitude.
The Great Escarpment joins the coastal strip to the east as a steep rise in leading up to up to over 2000 m above sea -reach Escarpment. To the north, between the Kunene and the Huab River, the Great Escarpment formed by the Hartmann, Baynes and the Joubert Mountains, on the south by the Khomas Hochland, the Rantberge, the Naukluft Mountains and Tsaris Mountains, black border and Tiras. Wide and deep, aligned to the coast river valleys cut through the Great Escarpment and open it towards the Namib. In central Namibia, in the range of 19 to 23 degrees latitude, the escarpment is eroded and several hundred kilometers interrupted: the so-called edge stages gap. It is replaced by an inclined continuously rising level and the terrain rises continuously up to the level of the interior plateau at (see also lunar landscape ). Outside the Great Escarpment are the Brandberg Mountain, Erongo and the single island mountains such as the Small and Large Spitzkoppe. From Naukluftgebirge to the Orange River, the Great Escarpment extends over 400 km from north to south as Escarpment ( red edge ) and at the edge of the diamond restricted area rise the granite mountains of the Great Escarpment from the vast plains of the Namib.
Kaokoland (August 2006)
Naukluft
Tirasberge
Fish River Canyon
Inland highlands
Towards the east, the Great Escarpment descends gradually into the highlands of the edge threshold and the central intra-African highlands and goes over into the sand-filled Kalahari Basin, which is part of the central basin landscape of southern Africa. In the north, the Central Plateau is crossed by wide valleys and is relatively fertile. On mountains of the Waterberg and the Otavi Mountains are mentioned. In the center of Namibia, Namib Desert between the west and the Kalahari desert in the east is the average altitude of 1,700 m Khomashochland and up to 2400 m high Auasberge and Erosberge. The capital of Namibia is Windhoek in the pool to around 1600 m. In southern Namibia, the high country is mostly flat and the landscape is broken only by a few deep valleys. Exceptions are the Great Karas Mountains and individual mountain ranges of volcanic origin, as Brukkaros.
Waterberg
Brukkaros
Great Karas Mountains
Etosha Pan
Caprivi
The flat Caprivi lies between the rivers Okavango and Zambezi River and is the only region of Namibia with a subtropical and tropical climate. In particular, the Linyanti constituency is characterized by flooding of the Cuando. In Caprivi are the three National Parks Mudumu, Mamili and Caprivi National Park.
Kalahari
Water regions
The water regions in Namibia are divided by the catchment areas of the rivers in Namibia. The Oranje - water region and Kalahari Fish River - water region in southern Namibia and the Kunene, Oshana, Okavango and Zambezi water regions in northern Namibia are the most important water resources in Namibia. The Fish River is dammed near Mariental and forms the Hardap Dam, the largest dam in Namibia. Other major dams are the Naute Dam near Keetmanshoop and the Oanob dam at Rehoboth.
Located in central Namibia Namib- water region ( with the Rivieren Kuiseb and Swakop ) and the Northern Kalahari Water region ( with the Rivieren Nossob and Omatako ) cause only sporadic water and are important for the drinking water supply of the region - major dams are the Swakoppforte Dam and the von Bach dam, both in Okahandja.
Nature Reserves
Conservation has anchored in Namibia a great value and is in the country's constitution. The environmental policy of Namibia focuses on the conservation of biodiversity and biodiversity and overall ecological balance between humans, animals and plants; Directorates of this furnished Ministry of Environment and Tourism to serve the protection and preservation of the natural resources of the country.