• Education

29 years and counting

1. Damara

Prior to 1870 these hunter-gatherers occupied most of central Namibia and used to practice pastoralism with sheep and cattle, but were also agriculturalist, planting pumpkins, corn and tobacco. The Damara were also copper-smiths known for their ability to melt copper and they used to make ornaments, jewellery, knives and spear heads out of iron.

2. Nama

The Nama and Damara people share a language. The Nama are known for their musical and literary talents. They originally lived around the Orange River in southern Namibia and northern South Africa.

3. San

The earliest inhabitants of the region, and one of the world’s last remaining hunter-gatherer societies, the San people live in Namibia and Botswana. Much is known about their traditional life because from on anthropological level they are one of the most studied people in the world.

4. Himba

The Himba live in the remote northwest corner of Namibia and many still live a traditional, semi-nomadic lifestyle, raising sheep, goats, and cattle in relative isolation. Many Himba women living in rural villages still go topless and smear their skin with a mixture of butter, ash, and ochre to keep them looking youthful. It works. Even the older Himba women have enviably smooth skin.

5. Kavango

The number Kavango in Namibia swelled in the 1990s when many emigrated from then-warring Angola. This ethnic group is made up of five different subgroups that live mainly in northern Namibia. Interestingly, Kavango society is organised according to matrilineal succession when it comes to marriage, inheritance, traditional religious rites, and family matters. On the other hand, the tribe itself is governed by male chiefs.

6. Ovaherero

Originally, the Ovaherero people migrated from central Africa. Today, many are herders living in rural areas where cattle are considered prized possessions. During the 17th and 18th centuries, the Ovaherero migrated to what is today Namibia from the east and established themselves as herdsmen.



7. Basters

The traditionally light-skinned Basters are mainly descendants of male Dutch farmers living in the Cape Colony and Nama women. They are a fiercely independent group and consider their name a matter of pride, because it emphasises their mixed heritage.

8. Owambo

As Namibia’s largest population group, the Owambo make up most of the country’s people. The Owambo are divided into 12 distinct tribal groups, but only eight of the 12 live in Namibia. They are also found in southern Angolan province of Cunene where the name Ambo is more common

9. Tswana

With numbers under 10 000, Namibia’s Tswana people are the country’s smallest ethnic group. They are related to the Tswana of South Africa and Botswana and live mainly in the eastern part of the country.

10. Caprivian

Caprivians live in the country’s extreme northeast in what was once known as the Caprivi Strip. This group has five main tribal groups and many still make a living from fishing, cattle and subsistence farming.

11. White Namibians

White Namibians consist of individuals of German, British, Portuguese and Afrikaner descent. The majority live in the urban centres, but also won vast tracts of farmable land, and are key to food security in the country. - afktravel.com and other sources