White Namibians (german: Weiße Namibier or Europäer Namibier) are people of European descent settled in
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 ...
. The majority of White Namibians are
Afrikaners
Afrikaners () are a South African ethnic group descended from predominantly Dutch settlers first arriving at the Cape of Good Hope in the 17th and 18th centuries.Entry: Cape Colony. ''Encyclopædia Britannica Volume 4 Part 2: Brain to Cas ...
(locally born or of
White South Africans
White South Africans generally refers to South Africans of European descent. In linguistic, cultural, and historical terms, they are generally divided into the Afrikaans-speaking descendants of the Dutch East India Company's original settle ...
descent), with many of the White minority being German Namibians (descended from
who colonised Namibia in the late-nineteenth century). Many are also Portuguese or
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ...
immigrants. Current estimates of the White Namibian population run between 75,000Namibian.org – retrieved 3 February 2016 and 150,000. – retrieved 3 February 2016 This imprecision in data is because the Namibian government no longer collects data based on race.
Distribution
The vast majority of White Namibians live in major cities and towns in central or southern Namibia.
Windhoek
Windhoek (, , ) is the capital and largest city of Namibia. It is located in central Namibia in the Khomas Highland plateau area, at around above sea level, almost exactly at the country's geographical centre. The population of Windhoek in 202 ...
has by far the largest White population, and Whites are a majority in the coastal city 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 ...
. Other coastal cities, such as
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 Lüderitz, also have large White communities. In general, most of Namibia south of Windhoek has a high proportion of Whites, while central Namibia has a high concentration of Blacks. Apart from Windhoek, coastal areas and Southern Namibia, there are large White communities in
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 c ...
and towns in the Otavi Triangle, such as Tsumeb and Grootfontein. The 1981 census of the Republic of South Africa reported a White population of 76,430 in Namibia (71% Afrikaners and 17% German-speaking).
History
During Namibia's German rule, the colony attracted German immigrants. Most Afrikaners settled during the Dorsland Trek, as well as during the existence of apartheid. Most Angolan-born Portuguese settled after Angola became independent in 1975.
Economics
About 4,000 commercial land owners, mostly Whites, own around 50% of the arable land across the country despite a land reform process. According to the FAO, around 42% of arable land was owned by Whites at the time of independence in 1990. While the area was known as
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 ...
Leon Jooste
Leon Jooste (born 18 February 1969 in Grootfontein, Otjozondjupa Region) is a Namibian politician and businessperson who served as Minister of Public Enterprises until 1 December 2022.
Education and early life
Jooste attended school at Paul Roo ...
, Minister of Public Enterprises
* Anton Lubowski, political activist
*
Dirk Mudge
Dirk Frederik Mudge (16 January 192826 August 2020) was a Namibian politician. He served in several high-ranking positions in the South African administration of South West Africa, was the chairman of the 1975–1977 Turnhalle Constitutional Con ...
, Chairman of the Turnhalle Constitutional Conference
* Henk Mudge, Member of Parliament
*
Kosie Pretorius
Jacobus Willem Francois Pretorius, commonly known as Kosie Pretorius (5 September 1935Hanno Rumpf, government minister and ambassador
* Hans Erik Staby, Member of Parliament
* Jan de Wet, Member of Parliament
*
Piet van der Walt
Piet Jacobus van der Walt (born 14 January 1966 in Okahandja) is a Namibian businessperson and politician who has been the Deputy Minister of National Planning since 2018.
Early life and education
Van der Walt grew up in Okahandja and went to pr ...
, Deputy Minister of National Planning
*
Calle Schlettwein
Carl-Hermann Gustav "Calle" Schlettwein (born 13 June 1954) is a Namibian politician who has served in the country's cabinet since 2012. In March 2020, he was appointed the Minister of Agriculture, Water and Land Reform after serving as the Min ...
, Minister of Agriculture, Water and Land Reform
* Nico Smit, Member of Parliament
Renaldo Bothma
Renaldo Bothma (born 18 September 1989) is a South African-born Namibian rugby union footballer. He plays mostly as a flanker. Formerly, he represented the in Super Rugby and the in the Currie Cup, the , , and .
Career
In 2013, he was in ...
Dan Craven
Dan Craven (born 1 February 1983) is a Namibian racing cyclist, who last rode for Namibian amateur team NCCS Cycling Team. He is the grandson of Danie Craven, the South African rugby union icon.
Craven started cycling seriously when he studied ...
Trevor Dodds
Trevor George Dodds (born 26 September 1959) is a Namibian professional golfer.
Dodds was born in Windhoek, South West Africa. He turned pro in 1985. He won the Canadian Tour Order of Merit in 1995 and 1996. Dodds has compiled 13 wins on four d ...
Adolph Jentsch
Adolph Stephan Friedrich Jentsch (29 December 1888 Dresden – 18 April 1977 Windhoek) was a German-born Namibian artist. He studied at the Dresden ''Staatsakademie für Bildende Künste'' ( Dresden Art Academy, today's ''College of Fine Arts' ...
, painter
* Richard Pakleppa, film director and screenwriter
* EES (Eric Sell), singer, songwriter and entrepreneur
* Max Siedentopf, artist and film director
Behati Prinsloo
Behati Prinsloo ( , ; born 16 May 1988) is a Namibian model. In 2008, she became a Pink contract model, and moved on to become a Victoria's Secret Angel in 2009. She walked in ten Victoria's Secret Fashion Shows (2007–2015; 2018), and opened c ...
*
Chanique Rabe
Chanique Rabe (born 17 March 1997) is a Namibian model, fashion designer, and beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned Miss Supranational 2021. Rabe was previously crowned Miss Teen Continents 2015 and Miss Supranational Namibia 2020, making ...
Monitor Action Group
The Monitor Action Group is a political party in Namibia. The party came into existence as the transformation of the National Party of South West Africa in 1991, Kosie Pretorius became its first chairperson and served until his retirement fro ...
*
Republican Party
Republican Party is a name used by many political parties around the world, though the term most commonly refers to the United States' Republican Party.
Republican Party may also refer to:
Africa
* Republican Party (Liberia)
*Republican Party ...
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 ...
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 ...