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Atlas of Namibia

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PRELIM PAGES
INTRODUCTION
LANDFORMS & GEOLOGY
CLIMATE
WATER
SOIL
VEGETATION
WILDLIFE
LAND
PEOPLE
LIVELIHOODS
NAMIBIA IN DETAIL
END PAGES

HOME
PRELIM PAGES
Overview

Atlas of Namibia team

Acknowledgements

Foreword

Preface

Abbreviations

Imprint page
1. INTRODUCTION
Namibias borders

Orientation

Place names

Landscapes

Some essentials

What should, but could not, be mapped

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2. LANDFORMS & GEOLOGY
Introduction

Southern Africa topography and bathymetry

Namibia’s marine world

Topography

Prominent features

Geology

Minerals

Key points

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3. CLIMATE
Introduction

Why is Namibia so dry?

Wind

Fog

The infamous Namib Desert

Rainfall patterns

Sunshine hours and radiation

Temperature

Humidity

Evaporation and aridity

Climate change

Key points

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4. WATER
Introduction

Surface waters

Perennial rivers

Ephemeral rivers

The Cuvelai

Pans, lakes, marshes and springs

Groundwater, a vital hidden resource

Water access, demand and supply

Access to water

Water demand

Water supply

Dams

Pipelines and canals

Supplying Windhoek with water

Key points

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5. SOIL
Introduction

Soil types

Physical and chemical properties of soil

Macrofungi – unsung heroes of the soil

Namibian soils and agriculture

Pulses of soil nutrients

Key points

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6. VEGETATION
Introduction

Types of vegetation

Plant richness, endemism and floristic groups

Plant productivity

Woody plant cover and bush encroachment

Bushfires

Invasive alien plants

Namibia's green gold

Key points

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7. WILDLIFE
Introduction

Marine life

Terrestrial wildlife

Patterns of endemism

Spatial distribution of selected wildlife species

Large carnivores

Large herbivores

Wetland wildlife

Threats and challenges to Namibian wildlife

The bigger picture

Key points

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8. LAND
Introduction

The use of land

Farming

Tourism

Conservation

Mining

Urban land

Land rights and management

Key points

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9. PEOPLE
Introduction

Shards of history illustrated

The oldest Namibians

Rock art

National heritage sites

Shipwrecks

Colonisation and liberation

People on the move

Migrations from centuries past

On the move again

Current distribution of people

Languages spoken in Namibia

The demography of Namibians

Population numbers and growth

Age structure

Fertility

Life expectancy

Household conditions

Household sizes

Housing types and materials

Health

HIV/AIDS

Children's health

Education

Key points

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10. LIVELIHOODS
Introduction

Two economies

Household economies

Employment

Namibia's informal economy

Human happiness and wellbeing

Natural capital and services

Energy

Transport

Key points

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11. NAMIBIA IN DETAIL
Maps
Gazetteer

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END PAGES
Glossary

Notes and references

Prelim pages

Photo: P van Schalkwyk

PRELIM PAGES

Imprint page
Atlas of Namibia team
Acknowledgements
Foreword
Preface
Abbreviations
Download files

« Previous page

Front cover

Back cover

Published by Namibia Nature Foundation

« Previous page

Browse

Home

Chapter 1: Introduction

Chapter 2: Landforms & Geology

Chapter 3: Climate

Chapter 4: Water

Chapter 5: Soil

Chapter 6: Vegetation

Chapter 7: Wildlife

Chapter 8: Land

Chapter 9: People

Chapter 10: Livelihoods

Chapter 11: Namibia in Detail

Downloads

Download maps, figures, data (jpg, shp, zip etc):

All maps, figures and datasets in the book can be downloaded from the 'Download files' page of every chapter using this site's menu.

Download chapters (pdf):

All chapters of the Atlas of Namibia book can be downloaded in pdf format from the eLibrary of the Environmental Information Service (EIS) here.

Get in touch

You can contact the compiling authors by email at info@atlasofnamibia.online.

Please let us know if you find errors, know of more recent datasets, or have comments or feedback.

Cite the book

Suggested citation to whole book:

Atlas of Namibia Team, 2022, Atlas of Namibia: its land, water and life, Namibia Nature Foundation, Windhoek

Suggested citation to page/s:

Atlas of Namibia Team, 2022, Atlas of Namibia: its land, water and life, Namibia Nature Foundation, Windhoek, pp. 60–65 (for example)

Terms of use

This book is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence and indicate if changes were made.

Copyright

© Published edition, text and maps, Namibia Nature Foundation.

© Images and photographs, held by the individual institutions and photographers listed below each image.

For more information, go to the Imprint page of the Atlas of Namibia

Find more data

You can find - and contribute - many more environmental datasets, information and resources from other sources through the various components of the Environmental Information Service (EIS):

The EIS home page

Website by Jaro Consultancy

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