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JOHANNESBURG, Feb 27 - The Republic of Namibia is one of the youngest democracies in the world that protects the country's environment in its constitution.
NAMIBIA is renowned for its contrasting landscapes that span from the vast, barren settings offered by the Namib Desert to the abundant wildlife of the celebrated Etosha National Park. It also includes aweinspiring locations such as the splendid Fish River Canyon, as well as Swakopmund a small Bavarianstyle German town that has remained almost unchanged since the beginning of the century.
Wedged between the Kalahari and the chilly South Atlantic, Namibia has something to please almost anyone from the contrast of deserts and seascapes to wild African bush.
Blessed with rich natural resources, a solid modern infrastructure and diverse traditional cultures, it is a beautiful country of vast potential. It is divided into three distinct topographical regions. The Namib Desert, said to be the oldest in the world, is a long, narrow coastal desert 50km wide and 140km long. It extends along the entire coastline and is interspersed with dune belts, dry riverbeds and deeply eroded canyons.
Running form north to south, the central plateau has an average altitude of 1500m, offering grand scenery of rugged mountains, rocky outcrops, sand-filled valleys and seemingly infinite plains. The Kalahari Desert consists of long vegetated dunes of red sand spanning dense bush-covered plains northeast of the Etosha Pan and includes high rainfall areas such as Kavango and Caprivi, dense tropical forests, perennial rivers and woodland savannah.
The capital is Windhoek with about 200000 inhabitants. Other major centres are Rehoboth, Okahandja, Gobabis and Otjiwarongo, regarded as a centres of cattle industry, Tsumeb, a former mining town, Swakopmund and Walvis Bay at the coast, Grootfontein, Otavi and Outjo in the north, Mariental, Maltahohe and Karasburg in the south and Gochas, Stampriet and Aranos in the east.
Namibia has a well established and maintained network of surfaced and gravel roads covering more than 40 000km. The Trans-Caprivi and Trans-Kalahari highways give the country access to Botswana, SA, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
The rail network consists of more than 2400km of lines. There are two international airports in Namibia Hosea Kutako International airport just outside Windhoek and Walvis Bay Airport. However, all the major towns have either an airport or a registered landing strip.
The numerous national parks, game reserves and private game farms offer a plethora of excellent opportunities for game viewing and bird watching. They also contribute to the many outdoor activities that are available, such as ocean and fresh water angling, hunting, sand boarding in the Namib, white water rafting and canoeing on the Kunene and Orange (Gariep) rivers, diving in lakes in the north and rock lobster diving, quad biking and kayaking at the coast. Namibia has a low crime rate and a stable political environment and also boasts a modern and well developed infrastructure with facilities, modern telecommunications and postal services that are amongst the most sophisticated in Africa.
The picturesque surrounds, combined with the average annual quota of 300 days of sunshine a year, and the fact that Namibia is reported to have one of lowest rates of investment risk on the African continent, makes it an ideal place to invest in property.
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