Aussenkehr (german: Outer bend, referring to the flow of the Orange at this location) is a farm on the banks of the

Orange River The Orange River (from Afrikaans/Dutch: ''Oranjerivier'') is a river in Southern Africa. It is the longest river in South Africa. With a total length of , the Orange River Basin extends from Lesotho into South Africa and Namibia to the north ...

in the south of

Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...

hard on the border with

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

. Aussenkehr falls within the

Karasburg Constituency Karasburg was a constituency in the ǁKaras Region of Namibia. The main towns were Karasburg and Grünau; other populated places included Warmbad and Aussenkehr, and the border settlements of Ariamsvlei and Noordoewer. The Orange River formed pa ...

of the

ǁKaras Region The ǁKaras Region (pronounced , with a lateral click) is the southernmost and least densely populated of the 14 regions of Namibia; its capital is Keetmanshoop. The name assigned to the region reflects the prominence of the Karas mountain rang ...

and is situated downstream (northwest) of

Noordoewer Noordoewer is a settlement in the ǁKaras Region of southern Namibia. Its name means 'North Bank' in Afrikaans, in reference to the north bank of the Orange River, on which it is located. The village lies opposite the South African town of Viools ...

. Aussenkehr was established as a farm in 1910 when an

Imperial German ', literally translated "Germans of the ", is an archaic term for those ethnic Germans who resided within the German state that was founded in 1871. In contemporary usage, it referred to German citizens, the word signifying people from the Germ ...

investment corporation acquired the land and started several irrigation projects. Over time, Aussenkehr has evolved into a large settlement accommodating workers employed nearby. Estimations of how many people live here vary between 7,000 and almost 30,000. Norotshama

The settlement features a government clinic and a primary school. It is planned to develop Aussenkehr into a town. 6,000 erven have been surveyed and water and sewerage systems have been built but the construction of houses on the delineated plots has not yet started. Many residents have no access to safe drinking water and sanitation and use the river both as water supply and a toilet. Living conditions in the settlement have been described as "appalling". Serbian immigrant Dušan Vasiljević bought the farm Aussenkehr in 1988 to develop grape production, after a previous, similar project had failed. There is less than average annual rainfall but the farm includes of riverfront and has a government-approved quota to draw water for irrigation from the Orange River. The Norotshama River Resort is located on the farm as a tourism venture. The extreme climatic conditions—summer temperatures can reach in the river valley—provide the area with an advantage over other grape producers, as Aussenkehr's table grapes can be harvested three to five weeks earlier than elsewhere. The farm produced of grapes in 1991 on of irrigated land. In 2003, production increased to . there are under irrigation for the purpose of grape production.

References

External links

* {{commons category-inline Populated places in the ǁKaras Region Farms in Namibia