Putting Foot: Fun Fact Friday: Namibia

Country two of our adventures is Namibia where we get to stay in ETOSHA a national park which, when first established in 1907, was the largest game park in the world. Due to political changes however it's now slightly less than a quarter it's original size but still awesome.

Before we get there though a basic background in Namibia in general. Thanks again CIA World Factbook.

President = President Hifikepunye Pohamba
Government Type = Republic, with 13 regions.

Total Area = 824,292 sq km, making it 34th in the world; it's sightly more than half the size of Alaska. It borders Angola 1,376 km, Botswana 1,360 km, South Africa 967 km and Zambia 233 km and has 1,572 km of coastline.Only 0.99% of the land is arable and 14% is protected (almost the entire Namib desert coastal strip). Interestingly, Namibia was the first country in the world to incorporate the protection of the environment into its constitution.

Population = 2,165,828 (July 2012 est.), 143 in the world.
Population growth rate = 0.817%, 133 in the world.
Only 38% of the population lives in urban areas, although there also only seems to be one major city, Windhoek. After that is Swakopmund with some of the best-preserved colonial buildings in Africa. The two thirds of the population that live in the rural areas rely on subsistance farming to survive while 61% of people work in services. Interestingly mining accounts for 8% of GDP, but provides more than 50% of foreign exchange earnings. Namibia has diamonds but is also the fourth largest producer of uranium.
Life expectancy = 52 which is 210 in the world

In 2007 they had 4700 Angolan refugees.

And now for fun facts!

1. By the early 2000s, Namibia had Africa’s fourth highest proportion of women in its National Parliament, behind Mozambique, South Africa and Rwanda. 25% of the seats in the National Assembly were occupied by women (compared with 14% in the United States).
2. The tallest Miss Universe (from 1952 to 2009) is Namibia’s Michelle McLean, who is 1m 83. McLean is Africa’s second MU since 1952.
3. Continuing the theme - in 1995 Namibia hosted Miss Universe - the first time in Miss Universe history that the competition was hosted in Africa.
4. Dragon's Breath Lake, in the Otavi Mountains in north east Namibia, is the world's largest underground lake. Its surface area is about two hectares.
5. Namibia is home to the Hoba Meteorite, the world's largest complete meteorite. It weighs over 50 tons. It fell to earth about eighty thousand years ago, and is on display near Grootfontein. The meteorite was discovered in 1920, and is estimated to be about three hundred million years old. I hope we get to drive past it!