Oshikoto is one of the fourteen regions of Namibia, named after Lake Otjikoto. Its capital is

Omuthiya Omuthiyagwiipundi (short: Omuthiya) is the capital of Oshikoto Region in northern Namibia, situated approximately from Etosha National Park. It has about 5,000 residents. Prior to Omuthiya, Tsumeb was the regional capital. The town has been pro ...

. The city of

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

, Otjikoto's capital until 2008, and the towns of

and

Oniipa Oniipa is a town in the Oshikoto Region of northern Namibia and the district capital of the Oniipa electoral constituency. It lies just outside Ondangwa. It is the hometown of former Lutheran bishop and liberation leader Leonard Auala. There i ...

are also situated in this region. , Oshikoto had 112,170 registered voters.

Geography

Oshikoto Region is named after Lake Otjikoto near its former capital

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

. Oshikoto is one of only three regions without either a shoreline or a foreign border. It borders the following regions: *

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. Oha ...

- north *

Kavango West Kavango West is one of the fourteen regions of Namibia. Its capital and only self-governed settlement is Nkurenkuru, its governor is Sirkka Ausiku. The Region was created in 2013 when the Kavango Region was split into Kavango East and Kavango ...

- east *

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 ...

- southeast * Kunene - southwest *

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 ...

- west

Demographics

The region's population has grown significantly over recent years, partly as a result of redistribution within the Oshiwambo-speaking area. Apart from Tsumeb and Oniipa, people have settled in a corridor along the trunk road, sometimes forming quite dense concentrations.

Economy and infrastructure

The northern part of the region is crop agriculture, whereas the main economic activities in the southern part are cattle rearing and mining. The two areas have important cultural and historical links in that the

Ndonga Ndonga, also called Oshindonga, is a Bantu dialect spoken in Namibia and parts of Angola. It is a standardized dialect of the Ovambo language, and is mutually intelligible with Kwanyama, the other Ovambo dialect with a standard written form. Wi ...

people have extracted copper at Tsumeb since the earliest times in order to make rings and tools. Pearl millet (Mahangu) is the principal crop in the north, while cattle are reared in the Mangetti and the Tsumeb district. Although the Tsumeb mine has only a limited life span, it can together with the associated support industries and services, provide a boost for the communal areas of the region. Communication is good in much of the area: a paved trunk road runs across the region, linking it to both the south and the north of the country. The national microwave network terminates at Tsumeb, but telecommunications are now carried across the region and as far as Oshakati by means of a newly laid

optical fiber cable A fiber-optic cable, also known as an optical-fiber cable, is an assembly similar to an electrical cable, but containing one or more optical fibers that are used to carry light. The optical fiber elements are typically individually coated with ...

. According to the 2012 Namibia Labour Force Survey, unemployment in the Oshikoto Region is 26.4%. Oshikoto has 200 schools with a total of 60,439 pupils.

Politics

Oshikoto comprises eleven

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 ...

: * Eengodi * Guinas * Nehale lyaMpingana * Okankolo *

Olukonda Olukonda is a settlement in the Oshikoto Region in the north of Namibia. It is the district capital of the Olukonda electoral constituency. During colonial time of German South West Africa the missionary station and settlement was known as the ...

* Omuntele *

Omuthiyagwiipundi Omuthiyagwiipundi (short: Omuthiya) is the capital of Oshikoto Region in northern Namibia, situated approximately from Etosha National Park. It has about 5,000 residents. Prior to Omuthiya, Tsumeb was the regional capital. The town has been proc ...

Onayena Onayena is the district capital of Onayena Constituency in the north of Oshikoto Region in northern Namibia, situated approximately north of Etosha National Park. Economy and infrastructure The main economic activities in the constituency are a ...

* Onyaanya *

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

Regional elections

Electorally, Oshana region is consistently dominated by the

South West Africa People's Organization 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 ...

(SWAPO). The 2015 local and regional elections saw SWAPO obtain 98.8% of the votes cast ( 2010: 95.6%) and win uncontested nine of the eleven constituencies. The remaining two constituencies SWAPO won by a landslide, with results well over 80%. Although SWAPO's support dropped to 73.2% of the total votes in the 2020 regional election it again won in all constituencies. Most of the non-SWAPO votes went to 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 November 2019 election, Itula won the best result of a losing candidat ...

(IPC), an opposition party formed in August 2020.

Governors

Penda Ya Ndakolo Jafet Penda Ya Ndakolo (born 23 March 1960 at Oshigambo) is a Namibian SWAPO politician and current governor of Oshikoto Region. He served as Ministry of Defence (Namibia), Minister of Defence from 2015 to 2020. After losing his position as mini ...

(2004–2015 and 2020–present) *

Henock Kankoshi Henock Tangeni Kankoshi (born 19 September 1965), is a Namibian politician. He served as governor of Oshikoto Region, succeeding Penda Ya Ndakolo in 2015. When his term ended in April 2020, Ya Ndakolo became Oshikoto governor again. Kankoshi was ...

(2015–2020)

References

External links

{{Authority control Regions of Namibia Otjiherero words and phrases States and territories established in 1992 1992 establishments in Namibia