WINDHOEK, Nov 14 (AFP) - Namibians prepare to vote Monday and Tuesday in elections that are expected to hand a third victory to the country's ruling South West Africa People's Organisation (SWAPO) and see President Sam Nujoma hand over power to his successor, Hifikepunye Pohamba.
Here are key facts about Namibia:
CAPITAL: Windhoek. Other major towns include the port of Walvis Bay, neighbouring Swakopmund and the port of Luderitz in the south.
GEOGRAPHY: The arid desert country of Namibia is bordered by Angola and a small stretch of Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east, South Africa to the south and the Atlantic Ocean to the west. The country is the roughly the size of France and Italy combined.
POPULATION: 1.82 million, of whom around 50 percent are Ovambo, 30 percent other ethnic tribes including Kavango, Herero, Damara and Nama, six percent white, mainly of German, British and South African descent, and three percent Bushmen (or San). The population is concentrated mainly in the north.
LANGUAGE: English is the official language although only spoken by seven percent of the population. Afrikaans is widely spoken among all sectors of the population. Other languages include Oshivambo, Herero and German.
HISTORY: A German colony from 1884 to 1915 formerly known as South West Africa, Namibia was administered as a de facto province by neighbouring South Africa after World War I until independence in 1990. Between 1966 and 1989 the now ruling SWAPO party waged an armed campaign which ended when South Africa agreed to give up its administration in 1989 under a UN plan.
POLITICAL INSTITUTIONS: SWAPO has dominated politics in this sparsely populated country since independence in 1990. President Sam Nujoma, who was elected to a third term in office in 1999, will step down at the end of his term in March 2005. His hand-picked successor, Lands Minister Hifikepunye Pohamba, is widely expected to win the presidency in the elections on Monday and Tuesday. Namibia is a republic with a bicameral parliament consisting of a National Assembly with 72 members elected by universal suffrage for a five-year term and up to six non-voting members appointed by the president. It also has a National Council with 26 members serving a six-year term.
HIV/AIDS: Like other southern African countries, Namibia is fighting rising AIDS figures with an estimated 190,000 Namibians or 21.3 percent of adults aged 15 to 49 living with HIV/AIDS, according to UNAIDS. About 16,000 people died of AIDS in 2003, and Namibia counts some 57,000 AIDS orphans. The average life expectancy is 40 years.
ECONOMY: Southern Africa's third largest producer of diamonds after Botswana and South Africa, Namibia's diamond exports earned some 450 million dollars (350 million euros) in revenue last year, followed by manufactured commodities and food exports, including the country's fishing industry. A slowdown in diamond mining could partly be offset by uranium exploitation, while exploration of the Kudu offshore gas field continues. Other sources of income include tourism and livestock. Unemployment currently stands at around 30 percent. Namibia's closest trading links are with South Africa.
GDP: GDP growth in 2003 was 3.7 percent. Per capita GDP was around 1,697 dollars (1,300 euros) in 2002.
Namibia is a member of the Commonwealth, the African Union and regional groupings.
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