Namibia trivia: 47 questions and answers

Windhoek. Windhoek is the capital and by far the largest city, on a highland plateau in the centre of the country. Walvis Bay, Swakopmund and Lüderitz are towns on the coast.

English. English is the only official language, although few Namibians speak it at home. Oshiwambo is the most common home language, and Afrikaans and German were official before 1990.

False. False. Namibia drives on the left, like South Africa, Botswana and the United Kingdom.

The South African rand. The South African rand is legal tender in Namibia and is worth exactly one Namibian dollar. The Namibian dollar replaced the rand at the same value in 1993.

21 March. Namibia became independent on 21 March 1990. 26 August is Heroes' Day, remembering the first battle of the armed struggle in 1966.

Germany. Germany made the territory its colony in 1884 under the name German South West Africa, and ruled it until 1915.

The Herero and the Nama. It is named after the Herero and the Nama: by 1908 around 80 percent of the Herero and half of the Nama had died.

Sam Nujoma. Sam Nujoma became the first President. Nelson Mandela, released from prison the month before, was among the guests at the ceremony.

South Africa. South Africa, whose troops had taken the colony in 1915, received the mandate in 1920 and ruled until 1990, later imposing apartheid laws.

False. False. Walvis Bay stayed under South African control after independence and was handed over to Namibia on 1 March 1994.

True. True. On 28 May 2021 he said Germany would call the events a genocide and ask the descendants of the victims for forgiveness, and offered 1.1 billion euros for development, a deal many Herero and Nama leaders reject.

A stiff porridge of pearl millet or maize. Oshifima is a stiff porridge of pearl millet or maize, eaten by hand with meat, wild spinach or sauce. Biltong is dried beef, oshikundu the millet drink and potjiekos the pot stew.

Small pieces of beef grilled over a fire. Kapana is small pieces of beef grilled over a fire on a hot plate and sold straight from the grill, with spice and a fresh salsa.

True. True. They are the caterpillars of the mopane emperor moth, picked from mopane trees, boiled in salt water and dried.

Around termite mounds. Omajowa grow around termite mounds, mostly from January to March, and their caps can reach 40 cm across.

False. False. Oshifima is eaten with the right hand: a piece is pinched off, shaped with the fingers and used to scoop up the relish.

It runs so fast that catching one takes a long chase. It runs so fast that catching one takes a long chase round the homestead, so the hardy birds are called 'marathon runners'. The stew itself takes about 45 minutes.

Schnitzel. Schnitzel is a German and Austrian dish that settlers brought to Namibia. Kapana, oshifima and oshikundu are Namibian foods.

Walvis Bay. Walvis Bay, with the only natural deep-water harbour on the coast, was handed over on 1 March 1994.

True. True. The Germans founded Swakopmund in 1892 because the natural harbour at Walvis Bay belonged to the British.

Beautiful place. Otjiwarongo means 'beautiful place'. Grootfontein means 'great fountain', Twyfelfontein means 'uncertain spring', and 'place of seashells' is the Herero name for Swakopmund.

Twyfelfontein. Twyfelfontein, with its rock engravings, became Namibia's first World Heritage Site in 2007; the Namib Sand Sea followed in 2013. Fish River Canyon is only on the tentative list.

Dead camel thorn trees on a white clay pan. Deadvlei is famous for dead camel thorn trees on a white clay pan, surrounded by red dunes. The trees died some 600 to 700 years ago.

False. False. At more than 60 tonnes it has never been moved: it still lies where it fell, on a farm near Grootfontein.

Diamonds. Diamonds were found near Lüderitz in 1908, and German miners built Kolmanskop in the desert. When richer fields were found further south, the town was abandoned.

Salt pan. The park surrounds the Etosha Pan, a salt pan of 4,760 km² whose name means 'great white place'.

False. False. The Fish River Canyon is in the far south, south of Keetmanshoop and not far from the border with South Africa.

A huge colony of Cape fur seals. Cape Cross is a seal reserve with a huge colony of Cape fur seals, and replicas of the stone cross that Diogo Cão set up in 1486.

About 325 m. Big Daddy is about 325 m high, and many other dunes around Sossusvlei are over 200 m.

Cheetah. Namibia has the largest wild cheetah population in the world, most of it living on farmland.

True. True. About 3 million people share more than 825,000 km², fewer than 4 people per square kilometre, one of the lowest densities in the world.

Growing only two leaves in its whole life. The welwitschia is famous for growing only two leaves in its whole life, which keep growing for centuries; some plants are well over a thousand years old.

Otjize, a paste of butterfat and red ochre. Himba women use otjize, a paste of butterfat and red ochre, which gives them their reddish colour and protects the skin in the dry climate.

True. True. The golden sun with twelve rays sits in the blue triangle of the flag adopted at independence in 1990.

The Tropic of Capricorn. The Tropic of Capricorn crosses Namibia roughly in the middle. The Tropic of Cancer and the Equator lie far to the north.

Thank you very much. 'Tangi unene' means 'thank you very much'.

Water. 'Omeva' means water. Meat is 'ombelela', millet is 'omahangu' and a friend is 'kaume'.

True. True. As in South Africa, traffic lights are called robots, so a sign saying 'robots ahead' warns of traffic lights.

Mother. 'Meme' means mother. For an older woman, 'meekulu' (grandmother) is an even more respectful form of address.

Wa lele po?. 'Wa lele po?' is good morning, literally asking whether you slept well. 'Wa uhala po?' is good afternoon.

Ehee. The reply is 'Ehee', meaning yes. 'Ahowe' means no, and 'Totsiens' and 'Asseblief' are Afrikaans for goodbye and please.

False. False. 'Enda po nawa' (go well) is said to someone who is leaving. To someone who stays, you say 'Kala po nawa' (stay well).

Oikulya inyenye!. 'Oikulya inyenye!' means 'The food is very good!'. The others mean 'I don't understand', 'Where is the water?' and 'Stay well'.

80 km/h. The advice is to go no faster than 80 km/h on gravel, to carry two spare tyres and to avoid driving outside towns at night.

False. False. Travel advice warns against driving outside towns at night, because wildlife and livestock wander onto the roads.

Greet them and ask how they are. Greet them and ask how they are: Namibians greet before any question or business, and older people are greeted first.

Zambezi. Zambezi, together with Kavango East and Kavango West, has a high risk all year. Erongo, Khomas and ǁKaras have a very low risk.