Namibia
Namibia map
Capital: Windhoek
Area: 825,418 sq km
Population: 2,044,147 (July 2006 est.)
Climate: desert; hot, dry; rainfall sparse and erratic
Currency: Namibian dollar (NAD) - Currency Converter

Namibia is a country in southern Africa on the Atlantic coast.Namibia is a member state of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the African Union (AU).

The dry lands of Namibia were inhabited since early times by Bushmen, Damara, Namaqua, and since about the fourteenth century AD, by immigrating Bantu who came with the Bantu expansion. The region was not extensively explored by Europeans until the 19th century, when the land came under German control as South-West Africa. Namibia was administered by South Africa under a League of Nations mandate after WWI, and annexed as a province of South Africa after WWII. The South-West African People's Organization (SWAPO) launched a guerrilla war for independence in 1966, but did not gain independence until 1990.

Namibia generally attracts eco-tourists with the majority visiting to experience the different climates and natural geographical landscapes such as the great eastern desert and plains. There are many lodges and reserves for eco-tourists to travel to and stay over. In 2006, Namibia gained international notoriety as a tourist destination when US celebrities Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie chose the country as a sanctuary from the media for the birth of their daughter Shiloh Nouvel Jolie-Pitt.