Compared to pretty much the rest of Africa. What makes that country so special?
Because we just want to braai and most days it's too hot to cause trouble.
And the time it takes to travel to your nearest neighbour, you'd forget why you wanted to have a fight in the first place when you get there.
Exactly and then they tempt you with a draught and a tjop and then total amnesia sets in
Namibia has the lowest population density in Africa
no that can't be it. Population density paints a wrong map as it takes the entire country which is mainly dessert and uses that number to divide as can seen in this image actually the areas that are inhabited by people the population density is very large
https://www.reddit.com/r/geography/comments/158d5be/why_are_there_so_many_people_in_that_part_of/
similar thing happens with Libya who has a super low population density when you look at the entire country but when you look at heat map of population density of the country you will realize the country is actually super closely packed together( really two cities)
https://sedac.ciesin.columbia.edu/data/set/grump-v1-population-density/maps?contains=libya&facets=theme:sustainability&facets=region:africa
Brilliant point.
It really only boils down to the extremely low population density, imo. Aside from that, Namibia has many of the other factors that lead to instability amongst many African countries: 1. completely arbitrary borders that split ethnic groups and even families, and 2. many different ethnic groups (roughly 11). In fact, Namibia is in the top ten most artificial states in the world. Considering that artificial states are closely correlated with political and economic instability, it should have had more troubles, but the fact that there is just so few people means that no new movements can really gain momentum. The low population density just acts as a natural decompressor. Aside from that, it's also not the richest country, and no colonialists in the past really fell over their feet to control the country. As we all know, elsewhere in Africa they used tactics such as fostering hatred and distrust between ethnic groups, or setting up political parties against one another and supporting them with weapons, money etc so that they could divert the riches to Europe while the indigenous people were busy fighting each other. Of course Namibia did have a very lucrative diamond industry and still exports many natural resources, but it is nowhere near as rich as other African countries. Riches corrupt. And, speaking of which, Namibia has also not seen a despotic strongman president, since there is not a big enough population or enough money for any of it to really get to a leader's head enough for him to want to maintain power (Robert Mugabe style, etc). There has always been a peaceful and democratic transition of power.
P.S I am by no means denying that there is corruption in the Namibian government. Of course there is.
That’s interesting, I always equated Namibia and Eritrea since they were 90s-era nations that fought decades-long wars against larger African powers, always a bit unique to me given most of Africa fought off Europe to gain independence.
There are parallels, but at the same time I think relations between Eritrea & Ethiopia were (are...?) much more adversarial than that between Namibia and SA. To this day, our currencies are linked, and there truly is still a sibling countries kind of sentiment. Once again I think the small population gave rise to an independence movement that hit that sweet spot of having enough momentum to get the job done, but not too much to foment long-lasting grudges or bad relations.
And at the end of the day, Namibia did have the German colonialists, and then eventually the British by proxy so they certainly also were subject to European subjugation.
In Eastern Namibia there was pro independence movement near the border with Zambia they wanted to split
Relatively speaking, compared to where? In my lifetime, Namibia has experienced the bush wars and the fall of apartheid in their neighbour, South Africa.
Spain has a country classification for officials assigned abroad, and Namibia is classified as the 'best' in Africa (taking into account tranquility, standard of living compared to Spain, etc).
So don't ask me why, but at least for Spain, Namibia has a better political, economical and social situation than absolutely the rest of the countries of Africa.
So is Botswana next door.
There are over 50 African countries. According to the Global Peace Index, Namibia is indeed one of the most peaceful African countries but amongst few others. 10 most peaceful African countries in 2023
Weren't or aren't there tensions with Afrikaners and Namibian-Germans? Just curious.
No, I wouldn't say so. In my lifetime at least the two groups have always co-existed in harmony.
Sorry, I wasn't specific with my comment. I meant aren't there tensions between the natives, Afrikaners and Namibian-Germans?
Edit: Reading comprehension fail. Comment withdrawn.
You completely missed the point of the above comment. Why would indigenous populations reclaiming land cause tension between Afrikaners (of european descent) and Namibian-Germans (also of european descent)?
Bruvs don't know what Afrikaners means, but knows about black Namibians "taking their land back", smh.
This sub is full of armchair black europeans. So detached.
I wonder how many in this sub aren't even Africans but those who love to cosplay to spread trouble and lies
Everytime I see that "/" in their flair I just know I'm about to hear some bullshit.
Sitting in cushy western countries, cosplaying at being African, while earning Euros and Dollars, being detached from the true burdens that being from an African country carries. Laughable.
Not all. Some of us are 1st or 2nd gen diasporans. Either way, it makes the conversations with people like you interesting because of the different perspectives and experience some authenticity. I dont know how to put it into words well.
Just fyi black people outside of the Caribbean and South or North America are not officially recognised as a seperate ethnic group to their homelands. Jamaicans in the UK are Jamaican, Africans in France are African and Africans in Australia are Africans. That kind of “black European” tone ignores the prejudices and lack of social acceptance we face in the diaspora, which usually leads to us identifying as our place of origin. There aren’t “African-Australians”, “African-French” or “African English” people we are simply Africans because in the diaspora we are recognised for our skin. I hope you are not a white person echoing this “black European” tone🤦🏿♂️. There are no black Europeans.
Man, I never said African-whatever? What are you on about? Christ. You are still black.
And 2 seconds into my post history you would see I'm not white, not that it fucking matters. Diaspora Delusion telling us Africans how we should feel and act.
There are no black Europeans. I know I’m black I don’t need you to confirm that for me. I’m just telling you the connotations that saying “black European” carries. It’s slightly derogatory considering what the reality is for us in the diaspora. There are no “black Europeans”. It is like Indians in Kenya being referred to as “Indian Kenyan”, no one does it for several reasons you know.
Don't you want to change that? I always say that I have no problem with white people claiming to be African, just as long as black people have the same claim to be European. There are no cons in having this mindset because, on one hand, it forces white Africans to take a deeper look into race and nationality, and on the other hand, it makes the diaspora more integrated in their respective countries.
The African diaspora in Europe/Oceania/North America is extremely young compared to the history of Afro Latinos, Afro Carribeans, Indo Carribeans and Afrikaners. It would be slightly obtuse and forceful to try and lump ourselves into a category with people who have shared these lands with indigenous for hundreds of years. Sure, if my children’s children are raised here in Australia, naturally they will diversify genetically and become their own ethnicity. For example, I had someone in this group invalidating my opinion which I will admit was misinformed while calling me “a Congolese Australian” in an insulting manner. Aside from the obvious(biracial people) there is no such thing as a fully black Congolese Australian and there likely won’t be any in my lifetime. It may come off as innocent but it is very ignorant of the socioeconomic state of diaspora identity.
Fun fact: Not all Africans are Black ( race) and not all Namibians are Black ( race) or black ( complexion).
That’s not a fun fact the ethnic diversity of Africa is general knowledge. I was replying to a comment about black people.
You'll be surprised how many people don't know this.
They about it because the natives are the ones making noise about it
Land reform has been happening? Idk what everyone in this thread is on about?
Talking about tensions brewing, violence. Don't take everything you read on the news to heart. Small minorities.
He meant between natives and the whites
They got their independence from us and Germany and no one really wants to fuck with that? 🤷♂️
“Us AnD gErMaNy”
They are correct. Namibia was a German colony and was annexed by South Africa in 1915 during WW1. Namibia gained independence in 1990. Relatively peacefully compared to how other countries got their independence. Now they just want to be left in peace to continue farming sand, or whatever it is they do in the desert.
😅 history lesson with shade
And I meant it with love. Amazing country
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