Damara
Along with the Nama and Bushmen, the Damara are among the country's earliest inhabitants, speaking the same Khoi, the famous click language. A hunting people, today the Damara are essentially cattle breeders. Traditional enemies of the Nama and Herero, they had supported the German colonial forces, notably in Waterberg during the Herero revolt at the beginning of the last century. Rewarded for their loyalty, the colonial authorities gave them a large territory in northern Namibia, Damaraland, along the Skeleton Coast. Today, a quarter of them still live in this territory, while the rest of the Damara work on farms and in mines. They represent just over 7% of the population. Damara women wear the same Victorian dresses as Herero and Nama women.
Herero
Traditionally cattle breeders like the Damara, the Herero make up 7% of the population, making them one of Namibia's largest ethnic groups after the Ovambo and Kavango. Herero women have not gone unnoticed in their voluminous Victorian garb and bowler hats since the late 19th century. In 1904, the Herero and Nama launched a major revolt against the occupation of their territory by German colonial troops. The bloody repression culminated in the Battle of Waterberg, where more than three-quarters of the Herero population were massacred (around 80,000 dead). The few survivors took refuge in the Kalahari desert or in neighboring Botswana. In 2001, a Washington-based Herero association sued the German state for genocide. The lawsuit was unsuccessful, but it did have the merit of revealing to the world the massacre of the Herero by the German colonial army. In 2004, the German government apologized to the Herero people, acknowledging its country's moral and historical responsibilities. It was not until 2021 that the German government officially recognized the Herero and Nama genocide, and paid 1.1 billion euros in compensation.
Himba
Sharing the same ethnic origin as the Herero, the Himba have left the harsh Kalahari desert for Kaokoland in North Kunene to occupy the only available land, which is slightly less inhospitable but arid and mountainous. Representing less than 1% of the population, the Himba, a nomadic people, are mainly herders and their livestock often represent their only source of wealth. Icons of the country, Himba women are the most photographed because of their tradition of covering their skin and hair with red earth to protect themselves from the sun and insects.
Basters
These descendants of the Nama people and the first Cape Town settlers who arrived in the 17th century speak Afrikaans. The first Baster or mixed-race children were rejected by the white and black communities in the Cape Colony. Proud to be part of the Coloured group, they regrouped further north, away from the settlers, developing their own social and cultural identity. To avoid confrontation with the Cape settlers, the Basters crossed the Orange River around 1860 and founded Rehoboth in 1871, setting up their own system of governance around a head of state(Kaptein) and a legislative assembly(volksraad). Their support for German colonial troops during wars against other tribes brought them many privileges. The South Africans used them to dominate, offering them autonomous status in Rehoboth and forcing the division of the Basters with the other black races. Today, even though they represent barely 2% of the population, the Basters retain a strong identity.
San
Although representing only 3% of the total population, the San are world-renowned for having long been perceived as the first people on the African continent, if not of humanity. Archaeological research in the Kalahari has revealed a human presence dating back over 40,000 years. They are the originators of the click language (koisan), recognized as one of the most phonetically complex. Today, the San live in the east of the country, in the western Kalahari. They are also found in Botswana, in small numbers in Angola, and in northern South Africa.
Caprivians
Originally Bantu, the Caprivians inhabit the fertile, marshy lands between the Zambezi and Chobe rivers in the far east of the Zambezi (formerly Caprivi Strip), in the northeast of the country. They have some of the country's richest land for agriculture, but little or no use is made of it due to the war that took place on this land between Angola and South African troops. It remains one of the country's least developed regions. With 4% of the population, the Caprivians, like their Ovambo and Kavango neighbors, live from market gardening, livestock farming and fishing.
Nama
Also known as Hottentots, the Nama are mainly sheep and goat breeders. They lived on the Central Plateau with the Herero until the arrival of German settlers, who drove them south following the death of their Chief "Hendrik Witbooi" in 1905 during their rebellion. Today, they live around Maltahöhe.
Ovambo
By far the largest group, accounting for over half the population. Their language, Oshivambo (also known as Ambo or Vambo), is of Bantu origin. Essentially traders, the Ovambo traditionally live in the far north of the country, near Angola, known as Ovamboland, the country's most fertile region, which receives the main rains that flow into Namibia. Before independence, the high population density near socialist Angola disturbed the South African administration, which invested heavily, hoping to create a hotbed of resistance against the revolutionary ideas of neighboring Angola. This policy proved counter-productive, as Ovamboland became SWAPO's main stronghold during the war of independence. With the influx of refugees fleeing Angola's civil war and strong anti-South African sentiment, the region came under heavy migratory pressure and was left to fend for itself by Pretoria. After independence, the region attracted major investment to make up for its lagging development.
Kavango
They share the same name as the Okavango River, which separates Namibia from Angola. They share the fertile part of the country with the Ovambo. Many of them lived in Angola before moving to Namibia during the civil war in the 1970s and 1980s. Doubling their numbers in the country, the Kavango are now the country's second largest tribe. Culturally close to the Ovambo, they are generally involved in fishing and agriculture.
Coloured
The term Coloured is used in South Africa and Namibia to describe people from mixed white-black unions. These people have built up a strong identity and distinguish themselves from the white and black communities. Speaking mainly Afrikaans or sometimes English, they live in the urban areas of Windhoek, Keetmanshoop and Lüderitz. In Walvis Bay, they are mainly active in the fishing industry, and in the south of the country, they are farmers.
White Namibians
The Germans were the first white inhabitants to settle in Namibia. After opening trading posts in the port of Lüderitz in 1884, the Germans gradually established a German colony, attracting more and more adventurers. At the same time, in 1906, the Cape Boers, fleeing from the English as they set out to conquer the new lands to the north, came under their control. After the First World War and the defeat of the German Empire, Namibia came under the control of South Africa. Many Boers joined this "new" country.
Other Europeans also settled there, including Anglo-Saxon missionaries, merchants, adventurers and game hunters. Today, the vast majority of these white Namibians live in urban areas in the center and south of the country, and run virtually the entire Namibian economy, including the tourism sector. Owning the majority of Namibia's land since colonization, they are today badly perceived by the black population, who would like the Namibian government to redistribute land more equitably.
Languages
Although English is the official language, it is still spoken by only a small percentage of the population, as Afrikaans was the common language before 1990 (and remains so today). German continues to be the mother tongue of many Namibians of Germanic origin. Namibia's African populations are either of Bantu origin (Oshivambo, Herero, Caprivians) or of Khoisan origin (Nama, Damara, San). Khoisan languages are characterized by their famous clicks. Among Bantu populations, several tribes exist within the same people, often speaking very different dialects. There are, for example, more than eight different Ovambo dialects. The Herero speak a language characterized by the many "o "s at the beginning of words, which are found in place names such as Omaruru and Okahandja. Afrikaans is fairly widespread, as it was compulsory in schools from 1947 to 1989, just before independence, and is still used as a language of communication between whites and blacks in remote areas, or between whites and their employees, particularly on farms. In the tourism sector, almost everyone speaks English, each with his or her own accent.
