ates:
22 00 S, 17 00 E

Map references:
Africa

Area:
total: 825,418 sq km
land: 825,418 sq km
water: 0 sq km

Area - comparative:
slightly more than half the size of Alaska

Land boundaries:
total: 3,936 km
border countries: Angola 1,376 km, Botswana 1,360 km, South Africa
967 km, Zambia 233 km

Coastline:
1,572 km

Maritime claims:
territorial sea: 12 nm
contiguous zone: 24 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm

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

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

Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m
highest point: Konigstein 2,606 m

Natural resources:
diamonds, copper, uranium, gold, lead, tin, lithium, cadmium, zinc,
salt, hydropower, fish
note: suspected deposits of oil, coal, and iron ore

Land use:
arable land: 0.99%
permanent crops: 0.01%
other: 99% (2005)

Irrigated land:
80 sq km (2003)

Natural hazards:
prolonged periods of drought

Environment - current issues:
very limited natural fresh water resources; desertification;
wildlife poaching; land degradation has led to few conservation areas

Environment - international agreements:
party to: Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Biodiversity, Climate
Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered
Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection,
Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

Geography - note:
first country in the world to incorporate the protection of the
environment into its constitution; some 14% of the land is
protected, including virtually the entire Namib Desert coastal strip

People Namibia

Population:
2,044,147
note: estimates for this country explicitly take into account the
effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower
life expectancy, higher infant mortality and death rates, lower
population and growth rates, and changes in the distribution of
population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (July
2006 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 38.2% (male 393,878/female 387,147)
15-64 years: 58.1% (male 596,557/female 591,350)
65 years and over: 3.7% (male 34,245/female 40,970) (2006 est.)

Median age:
total: 20 years
male: 19.8 years
female: 20.1 years (2006 est.)

Population growth rate:
0.59% (2006 est.)