Otjozondjupa is one of the fourteen

regions of Namibia Namibia uses regions as its first-level subnational administrative divisions. Since 2013, it has 14 regions which in turn are subdivided into 121 constituencies. Upon Namibian independence, the pre-existing subdivisions from the South African ...

. Its capital is

Otjiwarongo Otjiwarongo ( hz, beautiful place) is a city of 28,000 inhabitants in the Otjozondjupa Region of Namibia. It is the district capital of the Otjiwarongo electoral constituency and also the capital of Otjozondjupa. Otjiwarongo is situated in cen ...

. The region further contains the municipalities of

Okahandja Okahandja is a city of 24,100 inhabitants in Otjozondjupa Region, central Namibia, and the district capital of the Okahandja electoral constituency. It is known as the ''Garden Town of Namibia''. It is located 70 km north of Windhoek on the ...

and

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

and the towns

Okakarara Okakarara is a town in Otjozondjupa Region, Namibia, located southeast of Waterberg National Park. It has an estimated population of 7,000 and is currently growing by 1,500 inhabitants annually. Okakarara consists of the residential areas of ''Pa ...

and

Otavi Otavi is a town of 4,000 inhabitants in the Otjozondjupa Region of central Namibia. Situated 360 km north of Windhoek, it is the district capital of the Otavi electoral constituency. Geography The towns of Otavi, Tsumeb (to the north) and Gro ...

. , Otjozondjupa had 97,945 registered voters.

Geography

A landmark within this region is 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 ( a ...

. Twenty four kilometres west of Grootfontein lies the huge

Hoba meteorite The Hoba ( ) meteorite, short for Hoba West, is a meteorite that lies on the farm of the same name, not far from Grootfontein, in the Otjozondjupa Region of Namibia. It has been uncovered, but because of its large mass, has never been moved from ...

. At over 60 tons, it is the largest known

meteorite A meteorite is a solid piece of debris from an object, such as a comet, asteroid, or meteoroid, that originates in outer space and survives its passage through the atmosphere to reach the surface of a planet or Natural satellite, moon. When the ...

on Earth, as well as being the largest naturally occurring mass of iron known to exist on the planet's surface. In the east, Otjozondjupa borders the

North-West The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, Radius, radially arrayed compass directions (or Azimuth#In navigation, azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east ...

District of

Botswana Botswana (, ), officially the Republic of Botswana ( tn, Lefatshe la Botswana, label=Setswana, ), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory being the Kalahar ...

. Domestically, it borders more regions than any other region of Namibia: *

Omaheke Omaheke ( hz, Sandveld) is one of the fourteen regions of Namibia, the least populous region. Its capital is Gobabis. It lies in eastern Namibia on the border with Botswana and is the western extension of the Kalahari desert. The self-governed vil ...

– southeast *

Khomas Khomas is one of the fourteen regions of Namibia. Its name refers to the Khomas Highland, a high plateau landscape that dominates this administrative unit. Khomas is centered on the capital city Windhoek and provides for this reason superior trans ...

– south *

Erongo Erongo is one of the 14 regions of Namibia. The capital is Swakopmund. It is named after Mount Erongo, a well-known landmark in Namibia and in this area. Erongo contains the municipalities of Walvis Bay, Swakopmund, Henties Bay and Omaruru, as w ...

– southwest * Kunene – northwest *

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, ...

– north * Kavango – northeast

Economy and infrastructure

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

, and

are linked by

rail Rail or rails may refer to: Rail transport *Rail transport and related matters *Rail (rail transport) or railway lines, the running surface of a railway Arts and media Film * ''Rails'' (film), a 1929 Italian film by Mario Camerini * ''Rail'' ( ...

and by the main B1 and B8 trunk roads running from south to north. Communication systems in these areas are also of a high standard. The farming activities of Okahandja and Otjiwarongo are homogeneous as these parts are well known for

cattle Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, cloven-hooved, herbivores. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus ''Bos''. Adult females are referred to as cows and adult mal ...

farming. The Otavi and Grootfontein districts, and to a lesser extent also Otjiwarongo, are the granary of Namibia. The region also has a great potential to establish industries connected with such farming activities and by-products of it. It further has the advantage of combining communal and commercial farming in the same region. According to the 2012 Namibia Labour Force Survey, unemployment in the region is 25.3%. Otjozondjupa has 72 schools with a total of 36,284 pupils.

Politics

The region comprises seven

constituencies An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger state (a country, administrative region, or other polity ...

: *

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* Omatako *

Tsumkwe Tsumkwe ( Juǀ'Hoan: Tjumǃkui) is a settlement in the Otjozondjupa Region of Namibia and the district capital of the Tsumkwe electoral constituency. Nature and wildlife The area associated with Tsumkwe exhibits notable vegetation and wildlife. ...

Regional elections

The 2015 regional elections saw

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 ...

obtain 58.4% of the votes cast (

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

: 48.9%) and win five of the seven constituencies. The

National Unity Democratic Organisation The National Unity Democratic Organisation (NUDO) is a political party in Namibia. It has been represented in the National Assembly of Namibia and in the National Council of Namibia since it split from the Democratic Turnhalle Alliance (now PDM ...

(NUDO) won two,

and Omatako. The same two constituencies went to NUDO again in the 2020 regional election. SWAPO's support dropped to 44.3%, but it won the other five constituencies again. NUDO overall obtained 14.1% of the popular vote in this election. The upstart

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 2019 Namibian general election, November 2019 election, Itula won the b ...

(IPC), an opposition party formed in August 2020, obtained 12.9% overall, and the

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) got 11.9%, but both did not get close to winning any single constituency.

Governors

Rapama Kamehozu Rapama Kamehozu (circa 1949 – 23 March 2013) was a Namibian politician, teacher, and a member of the SWAPO political party. Kamehozu served as the governor of Otjozondjupa Region from 2011 to 2012 and as governor of Omaheke Region from December ...

(2011–2012) *

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 ...

(2015–2020) * James Uerikua (2020–present)

References

External links

Official website
Otjozondjupa Regional Council {{Authority control Regions of Namibia