1,892,699 fit for military
service

Defense expenditures: 8.4% of GDP (1987)
----------------------------------------------------
Country: Namibia
- Geography
Total area: 824,290 km2; land area: 823,290 km2

Comparative area: slightly more than half the size of Alaska

Land boundaries: 3,935 km total; Angola 1,376 km, Botswana
1,360 km, South Africa 966 km, Zambia 233 km

Coastline: 1,489 km

Maritime claims:

Exclusive fishing zone: 12 nm;

Territorial sea: 6 nm

Disputes: short section of boundary with Botswana is indefinite;
quadripoint with Botswana, Zambia, and Zimbabwe is in disagreement;
possible future claim to South Africa's Walvis Bay

Climate: desert; hot, dry; rainfall sparse and erratic

Terrain: mostly high plateau; Namib Desert along coast; Kalahari Desert
in east

Natural resources: diamonds, copper, uranium, gold, lead, tin,
zinc, salt, vanadium, natural gas, fish; suspected deposits of coal
and iron ore

Land use: 1% arable land; NEGL% permanent crops; 64% meadows and
pastures; 22% forest and woodland; 13% other; includes NEGL% irrigated

Environment: inhospitable with very limited natural water resources;
desertification

Note: Walvis Bay area is an exclave of South Africa in Namibia

- People
Population: 1,452,951 (July 1990), growth rate 5.6% (1990)

Birth rate: 46 births/1,000 population (1990)

Death rate: 10 deaths/1,000 population (1990)

Net migration rate: 20 migrants/1,000 population (1990)

Infant mortality rate: 71 deaths/1,000 live births (1990)

Life expectancy at birth: 57 years male, 63 years female (1990)

Total fertility rate: 6.6 children born/woman (1990)

Nationality: noun--Namibian(s); adjective--Namibian

Ethnic divisions: 86% black, 6.5% white, 7.5% mixed; about 50%
of the population belong to the Ovambo tribe and 9% from the Kavangos
tribe

Religion: predominantly Christian

Language: Afrikaans principal language of about 60% of white population,
German of 33%, and English of 7% (all official); several indigenous languages

Literacy: 100% whites, 16% nonwhites

Labor force: 500,000; 60% agriculture, 19% industry and commerce,
8% services, 7% government, 6% mining (1981 est.)

Organized labor: 15 trade unions--largest is the mineworkers'
union which has a sizable black membership

- Government
Long-form name: Republic of Namibia

Type: republic as of 21 March 1990

Capital: Windhoek

Administrative divisions: 26 districts; Bethani