Namibia 🇳🇦

Namibia is a country in Africa with a population of 2,567,012. Its capital is Windhoek. The official currency is NAD, and the main languages are English.

Quick facts

Capital: Windhoek
Continent: Africa
Population: 2,567,012
Area: 825,615 km²
Density: 3.1 people per km²
Currency: NAD
Languages: English
ISO code: NA

Where Namibia sits

Namibia 🇳🇦 is one of 54 countries in Africa, with its capital at Windhoek. It covers 825,615 square kilometres — 34th in the world — and is home to about 2,567,012 people, 143rd globally.

The countries it shares a continent with include Nigeria, Ethiopia, Egypt, Democratic Republic of the Congo and Tanzania. If you are learning geography region by region — which works far better than alphabetically, because memory for places is spatial — those are the ones to learn alongside it.

How Namibia compares

Raw figures are hard to hold on their own, so it helps to anchor them. In population, Namibia sits closest to Botswana and Qatar. In land area, its nearest counterparts are Mozambique and Turkey.

At 3.1 people per square kilometre it is far below the world average of 59.4. It ranks higher by area than by population, so it is more spacious than its population alone suggests.

English is an official language in 58 countries here, among them Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, Bahamas and Barbados, and 53 others. The NAD is used by Namibia and no one else.

To see Namibia next to every other country, sort the country rankings by population, area or density; its currency and languages are listed alongside every other country's in world currencies and world languages.

How to remember Namibia

Windhoek sits in the geographical centre of the country, on a high plateau about 1,700 m above sea level. Think 'wind in the middle': the capital is right in the heart of Namibia. For the flag, look for the gold sun in the blue corner above a red slash.

The flag of Namibia: blue, red, green, white and gold

🇳🇦 The flag is a wide red diagonal stripe edged in white, running from the bottom left to the top right, with a blue triangle above it holding a gold sun with 12 rays, and a green triangle below. Red stands for the heroism of the people, white for peace and unity, blue for the sky and the Atlantic Ocean, green for plants and farming, and the gold sun for power and life.

Region and neighbours

Namibia is a large country in southwestern Africa, on the Atlantic coast, between Angola to the north and South Africa to the south. It shares land borders with 4 countries: Angola, Botswana, South Africa and Zambia.

Angola 🇦🇴 — capital Luanda
Botswana 🇧🇼 — capital Gaborone
South Africa 🇿🇦 — capital Pretoria
Zambia 🇿🇲 — capital Lusaka

Three facts about Namibia

The Namib, which gives Namibia its name, may be the oldest desert in the world. The word Namib means 'vast place'.
Namibia has the second-lowest population density of any country, after Mongolia.
The Fish River Canyon in the south of Namibia is the largest canyon in Africa.

Sources: Wikipedia: Namibia, Wikipedia: Flag of Namibia, Wikipedia: Windhoek, Wikipedia: Namib, Wikipedia: Fish River Canyon, CIA World Factbook.

Quiz yourself on Namibia

African capitals quiz — match Namibia to Windhoek
African flags quiz — spot the Namibia flag among its neighbours

Quizzes that include Namibia

Three angles are worth covering for any country — where it is, what its flag looks like, and what its capital is. For Namibia those are:

Africa map quiz — place it on a blank map
Africa flags quiz — identify its flag among its neighbours
Africa capitals quiz — match it to Windhoek
Namibia capital quiz — five quick questions starting with Namibia
Daily Map Challenge — five countries to find on a blank world map, the same five for everyone each day

Doing all three for one continent before moving on is far more efficient than learning flags globally, then capitals globally, then the map.

Nearby countries

Algeria 🇩🇿 — capital Algiers
Angola 🇦🇴 — capital Luanda
Benin 🇧🇯 — capital Porto-Novo
Botswana 🇧🇼 — capital Gaborone
Burkina Faso 🇧🇫 — capital Ouagadougou
Burundi 🇧🇮 — capital Gitega
Cabo Verde 🇨🇻 — capital Praia
Cameroon 🇨🇲 — capital Yaoundé
Central African Republic 🇨🇫 — capital Bangui
Chad 🇹🇩 — capital N'Djamena
Comoros 🇰🇲 — capital Moroni
Congo 🇨🇬 — capital Brazzaville

Frequently asked questions

What are the colours of the Namibia flag?

The flag of Namibia is a wide red diagonal stripe edged in white, running from the bottom left to the top right, with a blue triangle above it holding a gold sun with 12 rays, and a green triangle below. Red stands for the heroism of the people, white for peace and unity, blue for the sky and the Atlantic Ocean, green for plants and farming, and the gold sun for power and life.

Which countries border Namibia?

Namibia shares land borders with Angola, Botswana, South Africa and Zambia.