The Cuvelai-Etosha Basin is a transboundary wetland area shared by

Angola , national_anthem = "Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordinat ...

and

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 ...

extending over 450 kilometres from north to south. Covering almost 160,000 km², the widest point of the basin is along the Angola-Namibia border from the

Kunene River The Cunene (Portuguese spelling) or Kunene (common Namibian spelling) is a river in Southern Africa. It flows from the Angola highlands south to the border with Namibia. It then flows west along the border until it reaches the Atlantic Ocean. It ...

east to the

Okavango River The Okavango River (formerly spelled Okovango or Okovanggo), Also known as the Cubango River, is a river in southwest Africa. It is the fourth-longest river system in southern Africa, running southeastward for . It begins at an elevation of in ...

. The basin consists of hundreds of drainage channels, known as ''iishana'' (singular ''oshana''), that flow from north to south from the southern Angolan highlands to Namibia's

Etosha pan The Etosha Pan is a large endorheic salt pan, forming part of the Cuvelai-Etosha Basin in the north of Namibia. It is a hollow in the ground in which water may collect or in which a deposit of salt remains after water has evaporated. The 120-kil ...

. Many of these channels are dry for most of the year but are prone to major flooding during the rainy season due to the terrain being extremely flat. Most of the basin lies between 1,100 and 1,200 metres above sea level with little change in altitude. Located in the north-central part of Namibia, this

drainage basin A drainage basin is an area of land where all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, ...

stretches across four regions, namely

Ohangwena Ohangwena is one of the fourteen regions of Namibia, its capital is Eenhana. Major settlements in the region are the towns Eenhana and Helao Nafidi aa well as the self-governed village of Okongo. , Ohangwena had 150,724 registered voters. Ohan ...

Omusati Omusati ( ng, Mopane, after the dominant tree in the area) is one of the fourteen regions of Namibia, its capital is Outapi. The towns of Okahao, Oshikuku and Ruacana as well as the self-governed village Tsandi are situated in this region. , O ...

Oshana Oshana is one of the fourteen regions of Namibia, its capital is Oshakati. The towns of Oshakati, Ongwediva and Ondangwa, all situated with this region, form an urban cluster with the second largest population concentration in Namibia after the c ...

and

Oshikoto Oshikoto is one of the fourteen regions of Namibia, named after Lake Otjikoto. Its capital is Omuthiya. The city of Tsumeb, Otjikoto's capital until 2008, and the towns of Omuthiya and Oniipa are also situated in this region. , Oshikoto had 112,1 ...

. The basin is further divided into four sub-basins, namely Olushandja, Lishana, Nipele and Tsumeb.

People

There is an estimated 1.2 million people that live in the basin with about 70% in Namibia and 30% in Angola. In Namibia, the basin covers around 5% of the country, yet about 40% of Namibia's population lives here with around 850,000 people. The basin is traditionally dominated by the Owambo people and so is often referred to as the Owambo Basin by geologists.

References

{{reflist, 1 Sedimentary basins of Africa Geology of Angola Geology of Namibia