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Town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...

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Excelsior Excelsior, a Latin comparative word often translated as "ever upward" or "even higher", may refer to: Arts and entertainment Literature and poetry * "Excelsior" (Longfellow), an 1841 poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow * ''Excelsior'' (Macedo ...

, image_skyline = Usakos Luftaufnahme (2018).jpg , imagesize = 300 , image_caption = Aerial photograph of Usakos (2018) , image_flag = , flag_size = , image_seal = Wappen Usakos.jpg , seal_size = 120px , image_shield = , shield_size = , image_blank_emblem = , blank_emblem_type = , blank_emblem_size = , image_map = , mapsize = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Namibia , pushpin_label_position =bottom , pushpin_mapsize =300 , pushpin_map_caption =Location in Namibia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = , subdivision_type1 =

Region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics ( physical geography), human impact characteristics ( human geography), and the interaction of humanity an ...

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Erongo Region 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 ...

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Karibib Constituency Karibib constituency is a constituency in the Erongo Region of Namibia. It had a population of 13,320 in 2011, up from 12,084 in 2001. The district capital is the town of Karibib. the constituency had 9,617 registered voters. Politics In the 20 ...

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South African Standard Time South African Standard Time (SAST) is the time zone used by all of South Africa as well as Eswatini and Lesotho. The zone is two hours ahead of UTC ( UTC+02:00) and is the same as Central Africa Time. Daylight saving time is not observed in ...

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Climate Climate is the long-term weather pattern in an area, typically averaged over 30 years. More rigorously, it is the mean and variability of meteorological variables over a time spanning from months to millions of years. Some of the meteorologi ...

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BWh Bust/waist/hip measurements (informally called 'body measurements' or ′vital statistics′) are a common method of specifying clothing sizes. They match the three inflection points of the female body shape. In human body measurement, these t ...

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Usakos ( naq, grab the heel, hz, Okanduu) is a town on the banks of river Khan, 140 kilometres north-east of

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 ...

in the

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 located on the B2 (Trans-Kalahari Highway), the main road between the

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 ci ...

and

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Dem ...

. The town has 3,000 inhabitants and owns of land. Surrounded by mountains, Usakos is quite picturesque. Certain spots around the town show the longest uninterrupted horizon in the world. It is the closest town to the Spitzkoppe, often referred to as the "

Matterhorn The (, ; it, Cervino, ; french: Cervin, ; rm, Matterhorn) is a mountain of the Alps, straddling the main watershed and border between Switzerland and Italy. It is a large, near-symmetric pyramidal peak in the extended Monte Rosa area of the ...

of Namibia".

History

The settlement was founded in the early 1900s as a workshop and watering station for locomotives. Herero chief

Samuel Maharero Samuel Maharero (1856 – 14 March 1923) was a Paramount Tribal chief, Chief of the Herero people in German South West Africa (today Namibia) during their revolts and in connection with the events surrounding the Herero and Namaqua Genocide, He ...

sold the land to Europeans who resold it in 1903 to the Otavi Minen- und Eisenbahngesellschaft ('' Otavi Mining and Railway Company'') (OMEG) which operated an industrial railway line from Swakopmund to

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

. OMEG established a

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a prep ...

and a repair shop which was used until the 1960s. When mining operations slowed down, Usakos' importance faded quickly. Today it is just a drive-through from the Namibian inland to the coast. Historic buildings and structures in Usakos are the Roman Catholic church (erected 1905), the now dilapidated railway station building, and the old hotel.

Socio-economic development

Usakos is riddled with poverty and alcohol abuse and the unemployment rate, as of 2012, was around 60%. Unlike other Namibian towns, it has not seen substantial development since independence in 1990.

Infrastructure

Usakos Railway Station connects the town to the Namibian railway network.

Politics

Usakos was downgraded from municipal to town status in 2010. It is since then governed by a town council that has seven seats. In the 2010 local authority election, a total of 1,029 votes were cast in the city. SWAPO won with approximately 47% of the vote. Of the three other parties seeking votes in the election, United Democratic Front (UDF) received approximately 31% of the vote, followed by RDP (17%) and

COD Cod is the common name for the demersal fish genus '' Gadus'', belonging to the family Gadidae. Cod is also used as part of the common name for a number of other fish species, and one species that belongs to genus ''Gadus'' is commonly not call ...

(4%). SWAPO also won the 2015 local authority elections, gaining four seats (513 votes). Two seats went to the UDF (295 votes), and the remaining one 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, 76 votes). In the 2020 local authority election SWAPO won again over each individual opposition party but lost the majority of seats in the town council. SWAPO obtained 398 votes and gained three seats. Two seats went to the UDF which gained 260 votes, and one seat each went to the

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, newly formed in August 2020) with 163 votes 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, the new name of the DTA since 2017) with 78 votes.

Notable residents

Usakos is the hometown of the following prominent politicians: * Michael Goreseb, member of the

National Assembly of Namibia The National Assembly is the lower chamber of Namibia's bicameral Parliament. Its laws must be approved by the National Council, the upper house. Since 2014, it has a total of 104 members. 96 members are directly elected through a system of clos ...

Theo-Ben Gurirab Theo-Ben Gurirab (23 January 1938 – 14 July 2018) was a Namibian politician who served in various senior government positions. He served as the second Prime Minister of Namibia from 28 August 2002 to 20 March 2005, following the demotion and ...

Speaker of the National Assembly * Tsudao Gurirab, Member of Parliament from 1999 to 2009 *

Alpheus ǃNaruseb Alpheus ǀGou-ǃna ǃNaruseb (born 20 March 1954) is a Namibian politician who has served in the cabinet of Namibia in various portfolios. A member of the South West Africa People's Organization (SWAPO), !Naruseb has served in the cabinet since 1 ...

, Minister of Land and Resettlement

References