This article is about the demographic

Demographics

Demographics are the most recent statistical characteristics of a population. These types of data are used widely in sociology , public policy, and marketing. Commonly examined demographics include gender, race, age, disabilities, mobility, home ownership, employment status, and even location...

 features of the population

Population

A population is all the organisms that both belong to the same group or species and live in the same geographical area. The area that is used to define a sexual population is such that inter-breeding is possible between any pair within the area and more probable than cross-breeding with individuals...

 of Namibia

Namibia

Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia , is a country in southern Africa whose western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and east. It gained independence from South Africa on 21 March...

, including population density

Population density

Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...

, ethnicity

Ethnic group

An ethnic group is a group of people whose members identify with each other, through a common heritage, often consisting of a common language, a common culture and/or an ideology that stresses common ancestry or endogamy...

, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population.

Namibia

Namibia

Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia , is a country in southern Africa whose western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and east. It gained independence from South Africa on 21 March...

ns are of diverse ethnic origins. The principal groups are the Ovambo, Kavango

Kavango

The Kavango people, also known as the vaKavango, reside on the Namibian side of the Namibian–Angolan border along the Kavango River. They are mainly riverine living people, but about 20% reside in the dry inland. Their livelihood is based on fishery, livestock-keeping and cropping...

, Herero/Himba

Himba

The Himba are an ethnic group of about 20,000 to 50,000 people living in northern Namibia, in the Kunene region . Recently they have built two villages in Kamanjab which have become tourist destinations...

, Damara, mixed race (Coloured

Coloured People in Namibia

A Coloured identity in Namibia is difficult to define, since it implies that that they can have one unified identity across a mix of races and societal classes. Roughly speaking, they are people with both European and African ancestry. Coloureds have immigrated to Namibia, been born in Namibia or...

 and Rehoboth Baster

Baster

The Basters are the descendants of Cape Colony Dutch and indigenous African women. They largely live in Namibia and are similar to Coloured or Griqua people in South Africa....

), White Namibians (Afrikaner

Afrikaner

Afrikaners are an ethnic group in Southern Africa descended from almost equal numbers of Dutch, French and German settlers whose native tongue is Afrikaans: a Germanic language which derives primarily from 17th century Dutch, and a variety of other languages.-Related ethno-linguistic groups:The...

, German, and Portuguese

Portuguese people

The Portuguese are a nation and ethnic group native to the country of Portugal, in the west of the Iberian peninsula of south-west Europe. Their language is Portuguese, and Roman Catholicism is the predominant religion....

), Nama

Nama language

The Khoekhoe language, or Khoekhoegowab, also known by the ethnic term Nàmá and previously the now-discouraged term Hottentot, is the most widespread of the Khoisan languages. It belongs to the Khoe language family, and is spoken in Namibia, Botswana, and South Africa by three ethnic groups, the...

, Caprivian (Lozi), Bushmen (San

Bushmen

The indigenous people of Southern Africa, whose territory spans most areas of South Africa, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Mozambique, Swaziland, Botswana, Namibia, and Angola, are variously referred to as Bushmen, San, Sho, Barwa, Kung, or Khwe...

), and Tswana. The Coloureds and Basters share similar genealogical origins and cultural attributes (such as home language) but nonetheless maintain distinctly separate communal identities, as do most white Namibians and black Namibians, respectively.

The Ovambo make up about half of Namibia's people. The Ovambo, Kavango, and East Caprivian peoples, who occupy the relatively well-watered and wooded northern part of the country, are settled farmers and herders. Historically, they have shown little interest in the central and southern parts of Namibia, where conditions do not suit their traditional way of life.

Until the early 20th century, these tribes had little contact with the Nama, Damara, and Herero, who roamed the central part of the country vying for control of sparse pastureland. German colonial rule destroyed the warmaking ability of the tribes but did not erase their identities or traditional organization. People from the more populous north have settled throughout the country in recent decades as a result of urbanization, industrialization, and the demand for labor.

The modern mining, farming, and industrial sectors of the economy, controlled by the white minority, have affected traditional African society without transforming it. Urban and migratory workers have adopted Western ways, but in rural areas, traditional society remains intact.

Missionary work during the 19th century drew many Namibians to Christianity

Christianity

Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...

, especially Lutheranism

Lutheranism

Lutheranism is a major branch of Western Christianity that identifies with the theology of Martin Luther, a German reformer. Luther's efforts to reform the theology and practice of the church launched the Protestant Reformation...

. While most Namibian Christians are Lutheran, there also are Roman Catholic, Methodist, Anglican, African Methodist Episcopal

African Methodist Episcopal Church

The African Methodist Episcopal Church, usually called the A.M.E. Church, is a predominantly African American Methodist denomination based in the United States. It was founded by the Rev. Richard Allen in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1816 from several black Methodist congregations in the...

, and Dutch Reformed Christian

Dutch Reformed Church

The Dutch Reformed Church was a Reformed Christian denomination in the Netherlands. It existed from the 1570s to 2004, the year it merged with the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Kingdom of the Netherlands to form the Protestant Church in the...

s represented.

Modern education and medical care have been extended in varying degrees to most rural areas in recent years. The literacy rate of Africans is generally low except in sections where missionary and government education efforts have been concentrated, such as Ovamboland

Ovamboland

Ovamboland was the name given by English-speaking visitors to the land occupied by the Ovambo people in what is now northern Namibia and southern Angola...

. The Africans speak various indigenous languages.

The minority white population is primarily of South Africa

South Africa

The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

n, British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

, and German descent, with a few Portuguese. About 60% of the whites speak Afrikaans (a language derived from the 17th century Dutch), 32% speak German, and 7% speak English.

CIA World Factbook demographic statistics

The following demographic statistics are from the CIA World Factbook, unless otherwise indicated.

Population

• 2,147,585 (July 2011 est.)
• 2,088,669 (July 2008 est.)
• 1,927,447 (July, 2003 est.)
• 1,771,327 (July 2002 est.)

note:
estimates for this country explicitly take into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality and death rates, lower population and growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected

Age structure

0–14 years:
42.5% (male 414,559; female 404,346) (2003 est.), 43% (male 384,900; female 375,282) (2000 est.)

15–64 years:
54% (male 517,469; female 522,549) (2003 est.), 53% (male 468,942; female 475,504) (2000 est.)

65 years and over:
3.5% (male 30,038; female 38,486) (2003 est.), 4% (male 28,905; female 37,794) (2000 est.)

Population growth rate

• 0.95% (2009 est.)
• 0.94% (2008 est.)
• 1.49% (2003 est.)
• 1.57% (2000 est.)

Sex ratio

at birth:
1.03 male(s)/female (2003, 2000 est.)

under 15 years:
1.03 male(s)/female (2003, 2000 est.)

15–64 years:
0.99 male(s)/female (2003, 2000 est.)

65 years and over:
0.78 male(s)/female (2003 est.), 0.76 male(s)/female (2000 est.)

total population:
1 male(s)/female (2003 est.), 0.99 male(s)/female (2000 est.)

Infant mortality rate

total: 45.59 deaths/1,000 live births (2011 est.), 68.44 deaths/1,000 live births (2003 est.)

female: 42.21 deaths/1,000 live births (2011 est.)

male: 48.86 deaths/1,000 live births (2011 est.)

Life expectancy at birth

• total population: 52.19 years
• male: 52.48 years
• female: 51.89 years (2011 est.)

Total fertility rate

2.49 children born/woman (2011 est.)

2.81 children born/woman (2008 est.)

4.71 children born/woman (2003 est.)

Ethnic groups

The ethnic composition of the population of Namibia has last been measured in 1989, prior to Namibian independence

Namibian War of Independence

See also South African Border War.The Namibian War of Independence, also known as the South African Border War, which lasted from 1966 to 1988, was a guerrilla war, which the nationalist South-West Africa People's Organization and others, fought against the apartheid government in South...

, when the population total stood at 1.4 million. At that time the relative sizes of the ethnic groups were:

Ethnic group	Percentage
Ovambo Ovambo The Ovambo or Ambo people consist of a number of kindred ethnic groups which inhabit Ovamboland in northern Namibia as well as the Southernmost Angolan province Cunene. In Namibia, these are the Ndonga, Kwanyama, Kwambi, Ngandjera, Mbalantu, Mbadja, Kolonkadhi and Kwaluudhi...	49.8
Kavango Kavango The Kavango people, also known as the vaKavango, reside on the Namibian side of the Namibian–Angolan border along the Kavango River. They are mainly riverine living people, but about 20% reside in the dry inland. Their livelihood is based on fishery, livestock-keeping and cropping...	9.3
Damara Damara Damara may refer to:* Damara , breed of sheep* Damara , Namibian people* Damaraland, a region in Namibia* Damara , landlords of ancient Kashmir* Damara, Central African Republic, town...	7.5
Herero Herero The Herero are a Bantu-speaking ethnic group inhabiting parts of Southern Africa. The majority reside in Namibia, with the remainder found in Botswana and Angola. About 240,000 members are alive today.-General:...	7.5
Whites Whites in Namibia White Namibians are people of European or Southern African birth or descent living in Namibia. Most white Namibians are Afrikaners, while some are descended from German, Portuguese, or English immigrants.- Distribution :...	6.4
Nama Nama Nama may mean:* Nama band, a Greek music group* Nama , a genus of plants in the family Hydrophyllaceae* Holy Name in Indian religions* Nama , a hero in ? folklore who built an ark to save his family from a flood...	4.8
Coloureds	4.1
Caprivi Caprivi -Places:* Caprivi Region, an administrative province of Namibia* Caprivi Strip, a part of Namibia* The Caprivi Conflict, a conflict between the Caprivi Liberation Army and the Namibian government* East Caprivi, a former bantustan in South West Africa... an	3.7
San	2.9
Rehoboth Basters	2.5
Tswana	0.6
Other	0.9
Total	100

Since then, a large number of Chinese is estimated to have taken up residence, estimated to have been 40,000 in 2006. This would correspond to 2% of the 2 million people at that time.

Religions

Christian 80% to 90% (Lutheran 50% at least), indigenous beliefs 10% to 20% (see Religion in Namibia

Religion in Namibia

More than 90 percent of Namibian citizens identify themselves as Christian. The largest Christian group is the Lutheran church, which is split into three churches: The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Namibia , which grew out of the work of the Finnish Evangelical Lutheran Mission which began in...

)

Languages

Oshiwambo language

Oshiwambo language

Ovambo, also known as Wambo or Ambo, or native Oshiwambo , is a dialect cluster in Angola and northern Namibia, of which the written standards are Kwanyama and Ndonga....

s are spoken by 48% of the population, the Khoekhoe language by 11%, Afrikaans

Afrikaans

Afrikaans is a West Germanic language, spoken natively in South Africa and Namibia. It is a daughter language of Dutch, originating in its 17th century dialects, collectively referred to as Cape Dutch .Afrikaans is a daughter language of Dutch; see , , , , , .Afrikaans was historically called Cape...

 by 11%, Kavango languages by 10% and Herero

Herero language

The Herero language is a language of the Bantu family . It is spoken by the Herero people in Namibia and Botswana...

 by 10%. English

English language

English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...

, the official language, is spoken by less than 1% of people as their native language. Among whites, 60% speak Afrikaans, 32% German

German language

German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....

, 7% English, and 1% Portuguese

Portuguese language

Portuguese is a Romance language that arose in the medieval Kingdom of Galicia, nowadays Galicia and Northern Portugal. The southern part of the Kingdom of Galicia became independent as the County of Portugal in 1095...

.

Literacy

definition:
age 15 and over can read and write

total population:
84% (2003 est.) 38% (1960 est.)

male:
84.4% (2003 est.), 45% (1960 est.)

female:
83.7% (2003 est.) 31% (1960 est.)