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 ...

is divided into 14 regions subdivided, which are further subdivided into 121 constituencies. The administrative divisions of Namibia are tabled by ''Delimitation Commissions'' and accepted or declined by the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the rep ...

History

Before the

independence of Namibia The South African Border War, also known as the Namibian War of Independence, and sometimes denoted in South Africa as the Angolan Bush War, was a largely asymmetric conflict that occurred in Namibia (then South West Africa), Zambia, and Angol ...

, the territory was known as South-West Africa (before 1885 and between 1915 and 1989) and as

German South-West Africa German South West Africa (german: Deutsch-Südwestafrika) was a colony of the German Empire from 1884 until 1915, though Germany did not officially recognise its loss of this territory until the 1919 Treaty of Versailles. With a total area of ...

during the time of colonialisation by the German Empire (1885-1915). During the

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

n administration it was considered the ''

de facto ''De facto'' ( ; , "in fact") describes practices that exist in reality, whether or not they are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms. It is commonly used to refer to what happens in practice, in contrast with ''de jure'' ("by la ...

'' fifth province of South Africa, although a formal request for annexation to the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...

was turned down. The territory that became the independent state of Namibia on 21 March 1990 inherited the administrative division of this "province" which consisted of 26 districts. These districts remained until the First Delimitation Commission of Namibia tabled its recommendations in the National Assembly, and the latter approved and implemented them in 1992. Since then, Namibia is divided into

regions 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 and t ...

which in turn are divided into

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 ...

Delimitation Commissions

Delimitation Commissions are three-member bodies appointed by the president that make suggestions as to how Namibia should be administratively divided, considering only geographical changes like population grow and migration but not discriminating by ethnic factors. They are mentioned in articles 102-104 of the constitution, and they are to sit approximately once every ten years, although they sat more frequently before 2002. The chairman of the Delimitation Commission must be a judge at either a High Court or the Supreme Court. This judge and the other two commission members are appointed by the president, subject to the approval of Parliament. The four Delimitation Commissions of Namibia so far are:

Current administrative division

The current administrative division of Namibia is the result of the work of the Fourth Delimitation Commission, tabled in 2013. Namibia is divided into 14 regions and 121 constituencies.

References

{{Regions of Namibia Politics of Namibia Subdivisions of Namibia