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Oranjemund (German for ''"Mouth of Orange"'') is a diamond mining town of 4,000 inhabitants situated in the ǁKaras Region of the extreme southwest 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 ...
, on the northern bank 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 ...
mouth at the border to
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 coun ...
.


History

The entire area along the shore of the
Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...
was proclaimed restricted (the '' Sperrgebiet'') in 1908 due to the occurrence of
alluvial Alluvium (from Latin ''alluvius'', from ''alluere'' 'to wash against') is loose clay, silt, sand, or gravel that has been deposited by running water in a stream bed, on a floodplain, in an alluvial fan or beach, or in similar settings. ...
diamonds. Since then the public was forbidden to enter it. In 1927 diamonds were found south of the Orange River in
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 coun ...
. Hans Merensky and other prospectors assumed that the northern shore on
South West Africa South West Africa ( af, Suidwes-Afrika; german: Südwestafrika; nl, Zuidwest-Afrika) was a territory under South African administration from 1915 to 1990, after which it became modern-day Namibia. It bordered Angola (Portuguese colony before 1 ...
n territory would also have diamonds. A year later they conducted an expedition from
Lüderitz Lüderitz is a town in the ǁKaras Region of southern Namibia. It lies on one of the least hospitable coasts in Africa. It is a port developed around Robert Harbour and Shark Island. The town is known for its colonial architecture, includ ...
to the mouth of the Orange. They found rich deposits on the north bank of the Orange River and the adjacent northern coastline and established a tent camp from which Oranjemund developed. Due to the
Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
, diamond mining was not taken up until 1935, and a year later workers' houses were erected. Oranjemund as a formal settlement was thus established in 1936. Production of mainly gem-quality
diamonds Diamond is a solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Another solid form of carbon known as graphite is the chemically stable form of carbon at room temperature and pressure, ...
has remained in the region of 2 million carats (400 kg) per year since inception of the mine, mainly through improvements in technology. Until 2017 the town was run by Namdeb (formerly
Consolidated Diamond Mines Consolidated may refer to: * Consolidated (band) **''¡Consolidated!'', a 1989 extended play *Consolidated Aircraft (later Convair), an aircraft manufacturer * Consolidated city-county *Consolidated Communications Consolidated Communications ...
), now a subsidiary of
De Beers De Beers Group is an international corporation that specializes in diamond mining, diamond exploitation, diamond retail, diamond trading and industrial diamond manufacturing sectors. The company is active in open-pit, large-scale alluvial and ...
. Access to, and settlement in Oranjemund was restricted to employees and their relatives. Its infrastructure is superior to that of other towns in Namibia's South, due to it not being dependent on cost recovery from its inhabitants. In the second half of the 20th century, Oranjemund featured a large recreational complex with swimming pool, cinema, restaurants and bars. Water is still provided free of charge, and until 2016 so was electricity. Oranjemund was proclaimed a town in 2011.


Transportation

There is a
border post A border checkpoint is a location on an international border where travelers or goods are inspected and allowed (or denied) passage through. Authorization often is required to enter a country through its borders. Access-controlled borders ofte ...
to South Africa at the south end of the
Ernest Oppenheimer Bridge The Ernest Oppenheimer Bridge, named for Ernest Oppenheimer, originally opened in 1951 and rebuilt in 1953, links the town of Oranjemund, Namibia, with the South African town of Alexander Bay, on the southern bank of the Orange River Th ...
. Until the town was opened in 2017, only persons with pre-application of 1 month were allowed to cross the border. Oranjemund is connected to
Rosh Pinah Rosh Pinah is a mining town located in southern Namibia, close to the border with South Africa. It is situated south of Keetmanshoop in Namibia's ǁKaras Region. West of the town lies Diamond Area 1, the main diamond mining area of Namibia. Ro ...
via a tarred road along the Namibian shore of the Orange River. This road was inaugurated at the time of the town proclamation in 2011.


Geography


Climate

Oranjemund has a
desert climate The desert climate or arid climate (in the Köppen climate classification ''BWh'' and ''BWk''), is a dry climate sub-type in which there is a severe excess of evaporation over precipitation. The typically bald, rocky, or sandy surfaces in deser ...
(''BWk'', 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, nota ...
), with pleasant temperatures throughout the year. The average annual precipitation is .


Politics

Oranjemund was privately owned by De Beers until 2017, and thus governed by the diamond mining company's administration. In 2011 the political administration was handed over to
government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government i ...
which proclaimed it a town. It is now governed by a town council that has seven seats. The first election run in Oranjemund was a by-election of the 2010 local authority election, 2,221 registered voters elected local authority councillors for the first time on 16 March 2012.
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 ...
won the elections, and since 23 March 2012 Henry Edward Coetzee is the town's mayor. SWAPO also won the 2020 local authority election but lost majority control over the town council. SWAPO obtained 935 votes and gained three seats.
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 candid ...
(IPC), an opposition party formed in August 2020, gained 737 votes and also three seats. The remaining seat went to the
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, a new party registered in 2018) with 158 votes.


References


External links


Oranjemund Town Council
official website
Oranjemund Online
unofficial website with historic pictures
Oranjemund weather conditions
{{Authority control 1928 establishments in South West Africa Namibia–South Africa border crossings Populated places in the ǁKaras Region Mining communities in Africa Towns in Namibia Mining in Namibia