Central business district of Otjiwarongo, Namibia

Otjiwarongo ( hz, beautiful place) is a city of 28,000 inhabitants in the

Otjozondjupa Region Otjozondjupa is one of the fourteen regions of Namibia. Its capital is Otjiwarongo. The region further contains the municipalities of Okahandja and Grootfontein and the towns Okakarara and Otavi. , Otjozondjupa had 97,945 registered voters. Ge ...

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 ...

. It is the district capital of the Otjiwarongo electoral constituency and also the capital of

Otjozondjupa Otjozondjupa is one of the fourteen regions of Namibia. Its capital is Otjiwarongo. The region further contains the municipalities of Okahandja and Grootfontein and the towns Okakarara and Otavi. , Otjozondjupa had 97,945 registered voters. Geog ...

. Otjiwarongo is situated in central-north Namibia on the

TransNamib TransNamib Holdings Limited, commonly referred to as TransNamib, is a state-owned railway company in Namibia. Organised as a holding company, it provides both rail and road freight services, as well as passenger rail services. Its headquarters ar ...

railway. It is the biggest business centre for Otjozondjupa Region. Otjiwarongo is located on the B1 road and its links between

Windhoek Windhoek (, , ) is the capital and largest city of Namibia. It is located in central Namibia in the Khomas Highland plateau area, at around above sea level, almost exactly at the country's geographical centre. The population of Windhoek in 20 ...

, the Golden Triangle of Otavi,

Tsumeb , nickname = , settlement_type = City , motto = ''Glück Auf'' (German language, German for ''Good luck'') , image_skyline = Welcome to tsumeb.jpg , imagesize = , image_caption ...

and

Grootfontein , nickname = , settlement_type = City , motto = Fons Vitæ , image_skyline = Grootfontein grass.jpg , imagesize = 300px , image_caption = , image_flag = , flag_si ...

, and

Etosha National Park Etosha National Park is a national park in northwestern Namibia and one of the largest national parks in Africa. It was proclaimed a game reserve in March 1907 in Ordinance 88 by the Governor of German South West Africa, Friedrich von Lindequist. ...

. It is one of Namibia's fast-growing towns, with a neat and peaceful quality environment and many excellent facilities, including supermarkets, banks, lodges, and hotels. Some of Namibia's best-known private game farms and nature reserves are located in and around the town. Otjiwarongo is one of Namibia's towns with a large population of German-speaking people. German influence is also evident in its Germanic buildings. The school "Donatus School Otjiwarongo" (D.S.O.) was once known as "Deutsche Schule Otjiwarongo".

History

The San and

Damaras The Damara, plural Damaran (Khoekhoegowab: ǂNūkhoen, ''Black people'', german: Bergdamara, referring to their extended stay in hilly and mountainous sites, also called at various times the Daman or the Damaqua) are an ethnic group who make ...

where the first settlers of the area, the Damaras from the ǀGeio-Daman clan lived in the area from as early as 1390. The Damaras also named the city #kanubes.

German Namibians German Namibians (german: Deutschnamibier) are a community of people descended from ethnic German colonists who settled in present-day Namibia. In 1883, the German trader Adolf Lüderitz bought what would become the southern coast of Namibia fr ...

first settled in Otjiwarongo in 1900. A bloody war was fought in the area between the

Hereros The Herero ( hz, Ovaherero) are a Bantu ethnic group inhabiting parts of Southern Africa. There were an estimated 250,000 Herero people in Namibia in 2013. They speak Otjiherero, a Bantu language. Though the Herero primarily reside in Namibia, ...

and the

Germans , native_name_lang = de , region1 = , pop1 = 72,650,269 , region2 = , pop2 = 534,000 , region3 = , pop3 = 157,000 3,322,405 , region4 = , pop4 = ...

in 1904 where many of the Herero people died. This happened sometime before Otjiwarongo was established as an administration point for the Germans and officially became a town. A narrow-gauge railway was built from

Swakopmund Swakopmund (german: Mouth of the Swakop) is a city on the coast of western Namibia, west of the Namibian capital Windhoek via the B2 main road. It is the capital of the Erongo administrative district. The town has 44,725 inhabitants and covers ...

on the coast, to the Otavi copper mine which helped Otjiwarongo become a prosperous agricultural centre. The three tribes where separated like in many of Namibia's towns, where each lived in a separate neighborhood: ''Ovambo Location'', ''Damara Location'' and ''Herero Location'' respectively. The three locations together made up the suburb of Orwetoveni.

Economy

Mining

B2Gold mine, an open-pit gold mine established in 2014 and owned by B2Gold, is located approximately northwest of town. to the north there is the Okorusu fluorspar mine, a well-known source of

fluorite Fluorite (also called fluorspar) is the mineral form of calcium fluoride, CaF2. It belongs to the halide minerals. It crystallizes in isometric cubic habit, although octahedral and more complex isometric forms are not uncommon. The Mohs sca ...

specimens for

mineral collector Mineral collecting is the hobby of systematically collecting, identifying and displaying mineral specimens. Mineral collecting can also be a part of the profession of mineralogy and allied geologic specialties. Individual collectors often sp ...

s. The mine is a potential resource for

rare-earth element The rare-earth elements (REE), also called the rare-earth metals or (in context) rare-earth oxides or sometimes the lanthanides ( yttrium and scandium are usually included as rare earths), are a set of 17 nearly-indistinguishable lustrous silv ...

s. Together, mining contributes about 20% of the town's economy.

Health facilities

Otjiwarongo District State Hospital is the biggest hospital in the town and very soon a Referral State Hospital will be built, it is mostly used by the middle and low income residents. A number of private clinics and hospitals are also present in the town, including a branch of MediCity Private Clinic.

Tourism

The main interest for tourists is Otjiwarongo's proximity to the

Waterberg Plateau Park Waterberg Plateau Park is a national park in central Namibia on the Waterberg Plateau, south-east of Otjiwarongo. The plateau and the national park are named after the prominent table mountain that rises from the plateau, the Waterberg, Namib ...

. Otjiwarongo is home to the

Cheetah Conservation Fund The Cheetah Conservation Fund is a research and lobby institution in Namibia concerned with the study and sustenance of the country's cheetah population, the largest and healthiest in the world. Its Research and Education Centre is located east ...

, an internationally recognized organization dedicated to ensuring the long-term survival of the cheetah through research, conservation and education. Also about 50 miles from Otjiwarongo is

Okonjima Okonjima (Herero language, Herero: ''place of the baboons'') is a nature reserve located from Otjiwarongo in the Omboroko Mountains of Namibia. Okonjima Nature Reserve is home to the Africat Foundation, a non-profit organisation for the long-t ...

, the home of the

Africat Foundation The AfriCat Foundation is a Namibian organisation promoting the conservation of large carnivores. Background In 1991, the AfriCat Foundation was registered as a non-profit organization to raise finds for the care of large carnivores. Referenc ...

, a cheetah and leopard rehabilitation centre. On the edge of town is the Crocodile Ranch, one of the few captive breeding programs for the

Nile Crocodile The Nile crocodile (''Crocodylus niloticus'') is a large crocodilian native to freshwater habitats in Africa, where it is present in 26 countries. It is widely distributed throughout sub-Saharan Africa, occurring mostly in the central, eastern ...

that has been registered with

CITES CITES (shorter name for the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, also known as the Washington Convention) is a multilateral treaty to protect endangered plants and animals from the threats of interna ...

. Built 15 km outside of town, the Omatjenne Dam provides artificial recharge of local groundwater.

Transport

Otjiwarongo has a well-developed road network. It is situated at the junction of the national road B1 that passes north–south through all of Namibia, the C38 to

Outjo Outjo (Otjiherero: ''small hills'') is a city of 6,000 inhabitants in the Kunene Region of Namibia. It is the district capital of Outjo Constituency. It is best known as a main gateway to Etosha National Park. Overview The town was founded by ...

and further into

Kunene Region Kunene is one of the fourteen regions of Namibia. Its capital is Opuwo, its governor is Marius Sheya. The region's name comes from the Kunene River which forms the northern border with Angola. Besides the capital Opuwo, the region contains the ...

in Namibia's north-west, and the C33 to

Karibib , nickname = , settlement_type = Town , motto = , image_skyline =Karibib aerial view.jpg , imagesize =300 , image_caption =Karibib aerial view 2017 , image_flag = , ...

, connecting the coastal towns of

and

Walvis Bay Walvis Bay ( en, lit. Whale Bay; af, Walvisbaai; ger, Walfischbucht or Walfischbai) is a city in Namibia and the name of the bay on which it lies. It is the second largest city in Namibia and the largest coastal city in the country. The c ...

. Roads in town are likewise well-maintained, making Otjiwarongo one of the few Namibian towns that has tarred roads even in the townships. Otjiwarongo is connected to the national railway grid, run by

Otjiwarongo railway station Otjiwarongo railway station is a railway station serving the town of Otjiwarongo in Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders w ...

is situated downtown, connecting Otavi and the junction at

Kranzberg Kranzberg is a Municipalities of Germany, municipality in the district of Freising (district), Freising in Bavaria in Germany. At Bernstorf, a part within the municipality of Kranzberg, a Bronze Age fortification was found in 1904 by local hi ...

, and branching off to

. In front of the railway station stands the historic ''Locomotive No 41'', originally brought from Germany to haul ore between

Tsumeb , nickname = , settlement_type = City , motto = ''Glück Auf'' (German language, German for ''Good luck'') , image_skyline = Welcome to tsumeb.jpg , imagesize = , image_caption ...

and the port at

. The town has an air strip,

Otjiwarongo Airport Otjiwarongo Airport is an airport serving Otjiwarongo, in the Otjozondjupa Region of Namibia. The Otjiwarongo non-directional beacon (Ident: OW) is near the in-town location of the former Otjiwarongo Center Airport (closed), southwest of the cu ...

. There are plans to develop an international airport.

Politics

Otjiwarongo is governed by a municipal council that has seven seats. The 2015 local authority election was won by

SWAPO The South West Africa People's Organisation (, SWAPO; af, Suidwes-Afrikaanse Volks Organisasie, SWAVO; german: Südwestafrikanische Volksorganisation, SWAVO), officially known as the SWAPO Party of Namibia, is a political party and former ind ...

which gained five seats and 3,901 votes. One seat each went to the

Democratic Turnhalle Alliance The Popular Democratic Movement (PDM), formerly the Democratic Turnhalle Alliance (DTA), is an amalgamation of political parties in Namibia, registered as one singular party for representation purposes. In coalition with the United Democratic ...

(DTA, 454 votes) and the United Democratic Front (UDF, 442 votes). SWAPO also won the 2020 local authority election. It obtained 3,128 votes and gained four seats. One seat each went to

Independent Patriots for Change The Independent Patriots for Change (IPC) is a political party in Namibia. It was founded by Panduleni Itula in August 2020. As an independent presidential candidate in the November 2019 election, Itula won the best result of a losing candidat ...

(IPC, an opposition party formed in August 2020, 1,208 votes),

Popular Democratic Movement The Popular Democratic Movement (PDM), formerly the Democratic Turnhalle Alliance (DTA), is an amalgamation of political parties in Namibia, registered as one singular party for representation purposes. In coalition with the United Democratic ...

(PDM, the new name of the DTA, 537 votes) and

Landless People's Movement The Landless People's Movement was an independent social movement in South Africa. It consisted of rural people and people living in shack settlements in cities. The Landless People's Movement boycotted parliamentary elections and had a histor ...

(LPM, an opposition party formed in 2016, 488 votes).

Education

There are about 15 schools in Otjiwarongo, three private schools and twelve public schools. All schools final exams for grade 10 and 12 are regulated by the Ministry of Education, Arts & Culture. The schools of Otjiwarongo attract more and more non-resident students. The town also has a community library that caters for reading needs of the towns residents. There are a number of institution for higher education in the town, as well as the MTI and COSDEC vocational training centres and a

convent A convent is a community of monks, nuns, religious brothers or, sisters or priests. Alternatively, ''convent'' means the building used by the community. The word is particularly used in the Catholic Church, Lutheran churches, and the Anglican ...

. The

University of Namibia The University of Namibia (UNAM) is a multi-campus public research university in Namibia, as well as the largest university in the country. It was established by an act of Parliament on 31 August 1992. Background UNAM comprises the follow ...

and the

Namibia University of Science and Technology The Namibia University of Science and Technology (NUST), formerly known as Polytechnic of Namibia, is a public university located in the city of Windhoek, Namibia. Andrew Niikondo is its acting vice-chancellor. NUST was headed by the founding ...

had plans to build satellite campuses in the town. The two institutions already have their regional centers in the town where distance students interact with the two institutions respectively.

Public Schools

* Karundu Primary School * Karundu Junior Secondary School * Orwetoveni Primary School * Rogate Primary School * Spes Bona Primary School * Vooruit Primary School * Donatus School Otjiwarongo (until 1995 ''Deutsche Schule Otjiwarongo'') *

Otjiwarongo Secondary School Otjiwarongo Secondary School is a high school in Otjiwarongo. It frequently produces good results compared to other schools in Namibia. In 2009 the Biology, English, and Mathematics results were among the best in the country. In 2012 Otjiwarongo S ...

* Monica Geingos Secondary School * Paresis Secondary School * Tsaraxa-Aibes Combined School

Private Schools

* Privatschule Otjiwarongo * Otjiwarongo Christian Primary * Edugate Academy Previously the German school Regierungsschule Otjiwarongo was in the city.

Language

About 90% of the town's residents speak and understand

Afrikaans Afrikaans (, ) is a West Germanic language that evolved in the Dutch Cape Colony from the Dutch vernacular of Holland proper (i.e., the Hollandic dialect) used by Dutch, French, and German settlers and their enslaved people. Afrikaans gra ...

. About 75% speaks English and 35% German. Other languages includes indigenous languages like

Otjiherero Herero (, ''Otjiherero'') is a Bantu language spoken by the Herero and Mbanderu peoples in Namibia and Botswana, as well as by small communities of people in southwestern Angola. There were 211,700 speakers in 2014. Distribution Its linguisti ...

, Khoe-Khoe and

Oshiwambo The Ovambo () language is a dialect cluster spoken by the Ovambo people in southern Angola and northern Namibia, of which the written standards are Kwanyama and Ndonga. The native name for the language is ''Oshiwambo'' (also written ''Oshi ...

Sport

Mighty Gunners FC is the town's major football team. Life Fighters (Okahirona) also returned to the

Namibia Premier League The Namibia Premier League (NPL), also known as Debmarine Namibia Premiership is the highest level of domestic association football in Namibia. The league was established in 1990 and was trimmed to 12 teams from the traditional 16 in 2005. It was ...

in 2017 after more than a decade.

Mokati Stadium Mokati Stadium is a stadium in Otjiwarongo, Namibia. It is the home stadium of Mighty Gunners and Life Fighters, who play in the Namibia Premier League The Namibia Premier League (NPL), also known as Debmarine Namibia Premiership is the highest ...

, the smaller of two stadia in Otjiwarongo, is located in Orwetoveni and it is the main football stadium in town. There are also grounds for

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

netball Netball is a ball sport played on a court by two teams of seven players. It is among a rare number of sports which have been created exclusively for female competitors. The sport is played on indoor and outdoor netball courts and is specifical ...

, and

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

. The largest, Paresis Park also known as "The Show Ground", is located in the upper suburb of the town. It is the towns biggest sport ground and one of the biggest in

. It has two soccer fields and two rugby fields. There are also grounds for

hockey Hockey is a term used to denote a family of various types of both summer and winter team sports which originated on either an outdoor field, sheet of ice, or dry floor such as in a gymnasium. While these sports vary in specific rules, numbers o ...

, and

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

. The park is also used to host sport tournaments and business events such as the Otjiwarongo Trade Show. In 2011, it hosted the main event of the 21st Independence Celebrations of Namibia. File:OtjiCBD2.jpg, File:OtjiChurch.jpg, File:Otjiwarongo-Express-2015.JPG, File:Otji-aerial.jpg, File:CCF Field and Research Centre.jpg,

Geography

Living conditions

In many of Otjiwarongo's townships residents live in shacks. In 2020 the city had a total of 6,251 of these informal housing structures, accommodating more than 50,000 inhabitants, more than the most recent (2011) census reported as total population figure.

Climate

Otjiwarongo has a

semi-arid climate A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below potential evapotranspiration, but not as low as a desert climate. There are different kinds of semi-ar ...

(''BSh'', according to the

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...

), with hot summers and mild winters. The average annual precipitation is .

Twin cities

Notable residents

Dan Craven Dan Craven (born 1 February 1983) is a Namibian racing cyclist, who last rode for Namibian amateur team NCCS Cycling Team. He is the grandson of Danie Craven, the South African rugby union icon. Craven started cycling seriously when he studied ...

(born 1983), racing cyclist *

Hage Geingob Hage Gottfried Geingob (born 3 August 1941) is a Namibian politician, serving as the third president of Namibia since 21 March 2015. Geingob was the first Prime Minister of Namibia from 1990 to 2002, and served as prime minister again from 2012 ...

(born 1941), first prime minister and third President of Namibia *

Otto Ipinge Otto Ipinge is a Namibian politician. A member of SWAPO, Ipinge is the former mayor of Otjiwarongo. As mayor, Ipinge focused on attracting investment to the city, effective management and efficiency as well as increasing tourism, agriculture and mi ...

, politician, former mayor of the town, former regional councillor for

Otjiwarongo Constituency Otjiwarongo Constituency is an electoral constituency in the Otjozondjupa Region of Namibia. It had 22,614 inhabitants in 2004 and 22,931 registered voters . The constituency consists of the town of Otjiwarongo and the surrounding rural area. P ...

, and current governor of

Vekuii Rukoro Vekuii Reinhard Rukoro (11 November 1954 – 18 June 2021) was a Namibian lawyer, businessman, and Paramount Chief of the Herero people. He also served in Namibia's Parliament from 1989 to 2000 and, in Cabinet, as Attorney General of Namibia f ...

(1954–2021), lawyer, businessman and the paramount chief of the Herero people * Agnes Samaria (born 1972), middle-distance runner *

Calle Schlettwein Carl-Hermann Gustav "Calle" Schlettwein (born 13 June 1954) is a Namibian politician who has served in the country's cabinet since 2012. In March 2020, he was appointed the Minister of Agriculture, Water and Land Reform after serving as the Mini ...

(born 1954), politician, Minister since 2012

References

External links

Municipality of Otjiwarongo
{{Authority control Populated places in the Otjozondjupa Region Otjiherero words and phrases Cities in Namibia Regional capitals in Namibia German South West Africa Populated places established in 1906 1906 establishments in German South West Africa Rhenish mission stations in Hereroland