Otjiwarongo (

Herero Herero may refer to: * Herero people, a people belonging to the Bantu group, with about 240,000 members alive today * Herero language, a language of the Bantu family (Niger-Congo group) * Herero and Nama genocide * Herero chat, a species of bird ...

for "beautiful place") is a city of 49,000 inhabitants in the

Otjozondjupa Region 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. Geogr ...

Namibia Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country on the west coast of Southern Africa. Its borders include the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south; in the no ...

. It is the district capital of the Otjiwarongo electoral constituency and also the capital of

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. Geo ...

. Otjiwarongo is situated in central-north Namibia on the

TransNamib TransNamib Holdings Limited (TransNamib) is a List of state-owned enterprises in Namibia, state-owned railway company in Namibia. Organised as a holding company, it provides both rail and road freight services, as well as passenger rail services. ...

railway. It is the biggest business centre for Otjozondjupa Region. Otjiwarongo is located on the B1 road and its links between

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, which ...

, the Golden Triangle of

Otavi Otavi is a town with 10,000 inhabitants in the Otjozondjupa Region of Namibia. Situated 360 km north of Windhoek, it is the district capital of the Otavi electoral constituency. Geography The towns of Otavi, Tsumeb (to the north) and Gr ...

Tsumeb Tsumeb (; ) is a city of around 35,000 inhabitants and the largest town in the Oshikoto Region, Oshikoto region in northern Namibia. Tsumeb, since its founding in 1905, has been primarily a mining town. The town is the site of a deep mine (the ...

and

Grootfontein Grootfontein (, named after the nearby hot springs) is a city with 26,839 inhabitants in the Otjozondjupa Region of central Namibia. It is one of the three towns in the Otavi Triangle, situated on the B8 road (Namibia), B8 national road that lead ...

, and

Etosha National Park Etosha National Park is a national park in northwestern Namibia and one of the largest national parks in Africa. It was proclaimed a game reserve in March 1907 in Ordinance 88 by the Governor of German South West Africa, Friedrich von Lindequist. ...

. It is one of Namibia's fast-growing towns, with a neat and peaceful quality environment and many excellent facilities, including supermarkets, banks, lodges, and hotels. Some of Namibia's best-known private game farms and nature reserves are located in and around the town. Otjiwarongo is one of Namibia's towns with a large population of German-speaking people. German influence is also evident in its Germanic buildings. The school "Donatus School Otjiwarongo" (D.S.O.) was once known as "Deutsche Schule Otjiwarongo".

History

The San and

Damaras The Damara, plural Damaran (Khoekhoegowab: ǂNūkhoen, ''Black people'', , referring to their extended stay in hilly and mountainous sites, also called at various times the Daman or the Damaqua) are an ethnic group who make up 8.5% of Namibi ...

were the first settlers of the area, the Damaras from the Geio-Daman clan lived in the area from as early as 1390. The Damaras also named the city ǂKhanubes.

German Namibians German Namibians (; ) are a community of people descended from ethnic German colonists who settled in present-day Namibia. In 1883, the German trader Adolf Lüderitz bought what would become the southern coast of Namibia from Josef Frederiks ...

first settled in Otjiwarongo in 1900. A bloody war was fought in the area between the

Hereros The Herero () are a Bantu ethnic group inhabiting parts of Southern Africa. 178,987 Namibians identified as Ovaherero in the 2023 census. They speak Otjiherero, a Bantu language. Though the Herero primarily reside in Namibia, there are also sign ...

and the

Germans Germans (, ) are the natives or inhabitants of Germany, or sometimes more broadly any people who are of German descent or native speakers of the German language. The Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany, constitution of Germany, imple ...

in 1904 where many of the Herero people died. This happened sometime before Otjiwarongo was established as an administration point for the Germans and officially became a town. A narrow-gauge railway was built from

Swakopmund Swakopmund ("Mouth of the Swakop River, Swakop") is a city on the coast of western Namibia, west of the Namibian capital Windhoek via the B2 road (Namibia), B2 main road. It is the capital of the Erongo Region, Erongo administrative district. It ...

on the coast, to the

copper mine which helped Otjiwarongo become a prosperous agricultural centre. The three tribes where separated like in many of Namibia's towns, where each lived in a separate neighbourhood: ''Ovambo Location'', ''Damara Location'' and ''Herero Location'' respectively. The three locations together made up the suburb of Orwetoveni.

Economy

Mining

B2Gold mine, an open-pit gold mine established in 2014 and owned by

B2Gold B2Gold Corporation is a Canadian mining company that owns and operates gold mines in Mali, Namibia and the Philippines. The company is headquartered in Vancouver, and was founded in 2007, and was then listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange, then l ...

, is located approximately northwest of town. to the north there is the Okorusu

fluorspar Fluorite (also called fluorspar) is the mineral form of calcium fluoride, CaF2. It belongs to the halide minerals. It crystallizes in isometric cubic habit, although octahedral and more complex isometric forms are not uncommon. The Mohs scal ...

mine, a well-known source of

fluorite Fluorite (also called fluorspar) is the mineral form of calcium fluoride, CaF2. It belongs to the halide minerals. It crystallizes in isometric cubic habit, although octahedral and more complex isometric forms are not uncommon. The Mohs scal ...

specimens for

mineral collector Mineral collecting is the hobby of systematically collecting, identifying and displaying mineral specimens. Mineral collecting can also be a part of the profession of mineralogy and allied geologic specialties. Individual collectors often spe ...

s. The mine is a potential resource for

rare-earth element The rare-earth elements (REE), also called the rare-earth metals or rare earths, and sometimes the lanthanides or lanthanoids (although scandium and yttrium, which do not belong to this series, are usually included as rare earths), are a set o ...

s. Together, mining contributes about 20% of the town's economy.

Health facilities

Otjiwarongo District State Hospital is the biggest hospital in the town, it is mostly used by the middle and low income residents. The private hospital, Mediclinic Otjiwarongo, serves the local and surrounding communities, as well as international tourists.

Tourism

The main interest for tourists is Otjiwarongo's proximity to the

Waterberg Plateau Park Waterberg Plateau Park is a national park in central Namibia on the Waterberg Plateau, south-east of Otjiwarongo. The plateau and the national park are named after the prominent table mountain that rises from the plateau, the Waterberg (Afrik ...

. Otjiwarongo is home to the

Cheetah Conservation Fund The Cheetah Conservation Fund is a research and education institution in Namibia concerned with the study and sustenance of the country's cheetah population, the largest and healthiest in the world. Its Research and Education Centre is located ...

, an internationally recognized organization dedicated to ensuring the long-term survival of the cheetah through research, conservation and education. Also about 80 km from Otjiwarongo is

Okonjima Okonjima (Herero: ''place of the baboons'') is a nature reserve located from Otjiwarongo in the Omboroko Mountains of Namibia Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country on the west coast of Southern Africa. Its borders inc ...

, the home of the Africat Foundation, a cheetah and leopard rehabilitation centre. On the edge of town is the Crocodile Ranch, one of the few captive breeding programmes for the

Nile Crocodile The Nile crocodile (''Crocodylus niloticus'') is a large crocodilian native to freshwater habitats in Africa, where it is present in 26 countries. It is widely distributed in sub-Saharan Africa, occurring mostly in the eastern, southern, and ce ...

that has been registered with

CITES CITES (shorter acronym for the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, also known as the Washington Convention) is a multilateral treaty to protect endangered plants and animals from the threats of inte ...

. Built 15 km outside of town, the

Omatjenne Dam Omatjenne Dam is a dam in Otjozondjupa Region of Namibia. Located 15 km northwest of Otjiwarongo Otjiwarongo (Herero language, Herero for "beautiful place") is a city of 49,000 inhabitants in the Otjozondjupa Region of Namibia. It is the ...

provides artificial recharge of local groundwater.

Transport

Otjiwarongo has a well-developed road network. It is situated at the junction of the national road B1 that passes north–south through all of Namibia, the C38 to

Outjo Outjo (Otjiherero: ''small hills'') is a town of 15,000 inhabitants in the Kunene Region of Namibia. It is the district capital of Outjo Constituency. It is best known as the main gateway to Etosha National Park. Overview The town was founded ...

and further into

Kunene Region Kunene is one of the fourteen regions of Namibia. Its capital is Opuwo, its governor is Vipuakuje Muharukua. The region's name comes from the Kunene River which forms the northern border with Angola. Geography Besides the capital Opuwo, the reg ...

in Namibia's north-west, and the C33 to

Karibib Karibib () is a town in the Erongo Region of western Namibia. It has 8,434 inhabitants. Karibib is the district capital of the Karibib Constituency, Karibib electoral constituency. It is situated on the Khan River, halfway between Windhoek and S ...

, connecting the coastal towns of

and

Walvis Bay Walvis Bay (; ; ) is a city in Namibia and the name of the bay on which it lies. It is the List of cities in Namibia, second largest city in Namibia and the largest coastal city in the country. The city covers an area of of land. The bay is a ...

. Roads in town are likewise well-maintained, making Otjiwarongo one of the few Namibian towns that has tarred roads even in the townships. Otjiwarongo is connected to the national railway grid, run by

. Otjiwarongo railway station is situated downtown, connecting

and the junction at Kranzberg, and branching off to

. In front of the railway station stands the historic ''Locomotive No 41'', originally brought from Germany to haul ore between

and the port at

. The town has an airstrip, Otjiwarongo Airport. There are plans to develop an international airport.

Politics

Otjiwarongo is governed by a municipal council that has seven seats. The 2015 local authority election was won by

SWAPO The South West Africa People's Organisation (SWAPO ; , SWAVO; , SWAVO), officially known as the SWAPO Party of Namibia, is a political party and former independence movement in Namibia (formerly South West Africa). Founded in 1960, it has been ...

which gained five seats and 3,901 votes. One seat each went to the

Democratic Turnhalle Alliance The Popular Democratic Movement (PDM), formerly 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 Front ...

(DTA, 454 votes) and the United Democratic Front (UDF, 442 votes). SWAPO also won the 2020 local authority election. It obtained 3,128 votes and gained four seats. One seat each went to

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 2019 election, Itula won the best result of a losing candidate in a ...

(IPC, an opposition party formed in August 2020, 1,208 votes),

Popular Democratic Movement The Popular Democratic Movement (PDM), formerly 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 Front ...

(PDM, the new name of the DTA, 537 votes) and

Landless People's Movement The Landless People's Movement is 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 history ...

(LPM, an opposition party formed in 2016, 488 votes).

Education

There are about 15 schools in Otjiwarongo, three private schools and twelve public schools. All schools final exams for grade 10 and 12 are regulated by the Ministry of Education, Arts & Culture. The schools of Otjiwarongo attract more and more non-resident students. The town also has a community library that caters for reading needs of the towns residents. There are a number of institution for higher education in the town, as well as the MTI and COSDEC vocational training centres and a

convent A convent is an enclosed community of monks, nuns, friars or religious sisters. Alternatively, ''convent'' means the building used by the community. The term is particularly used in the Catholic Church, Lutheran churches, and the Anglican ...

. The

University of Namibia The University of Namibia (UNAM) is a multi-campus public research university in Namibia, and the largest university in the country. It was established by an act of Parliament on 31 August 1992. Background UNAM comprises the following fac ...

and the

Namibia University of Science and Technology Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country on the west coast of Southern Africa. Its borders include the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south; in the no ...

had plans to build satellite campuses in the town. The two institutions already have their regional centres in the town where distance students interact with the two institutions respectively.

Public Schools

* Karundu Primary School * Karundu Junior Secondary School * Orwetoveni Primary School * Rogate Primary School * Spes Bona Primary School * Vooruit Primary School * Donatus School Otjiwarongo (until 1995 ''Deutsche Schule Otjiwarongo'') *

Otjiwarongo Secondary School Otjiwarongo Secondary School is a high school in Otjiwarongo. It frequently produces good results compared to other schools in Namibia. In 2009 the Biology, English, and Mathematics results were among the best in the country. In 2012 Otjiwarongo S ...

* Monica Geingos Secondary School * Paresis Secondary School * Tsaraxa-Aibes Combined School

Private Schools

* Privatschule Otjiwarongo * Otjiwarongo Christian Primary * Edugate Academy Previously the German school Regierungsschule Otjiwarongo was in the city. Aerial view of Otjiwarongo

Language

About 90% of the town's residents speak and understand

Afrikaans Afrikaans is a West Germanic languages, West Germanic language spoken in South Africa, Namibia and to a lesser extent Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe and also Argentina where there is a group in Sarmiento, Chubut, Sarmiento that speaks the Pat ...

. About 75% speaks English and 35% German. Other languages include indigenous languages like

Otjiherero Herero (Otjiherero) is a Bantu language spoken by the Herero and Mbanderu peoples in Namibia and Botswana, as well as by small communities of people in southwestern Angola. There were speakers in these countries between 2015 and 2018. Distr ...

, Khoe-Khoe and

Oshiwambo The Ovambo () language is a dialect cluster spoken by the Ovambo people in southern Angola and northern Namibia, of which the written standards are Kwanyama and Ndonga. The native name for the language is ''Oshiwambo'' (also written ''Oshi ...

Sport

Mighty Gunners FC is the town's major football team. Life Fighters (Okahirona) also returned to the

Namibia Premier League The Namibia Premier League (NPL) was the highest level of domestic association football in Namibia until it was disbanded following the 2018-19 season. The league was established in 1990 and was trimmed to 12 teams from the traditional 16 in 2005 ...

in 2017 after more than a decade.

Mokati Stadium Mokati Stadium is a stadium in Otjiwarongo, Namibia. It is the home stadium of Mighty Gunners and Life Fighters, who play in the Namibia Premier League The Namibia Premier League (NPL) was the highest level of domestic association football in ...

, the smaller of two stadia in Otjiwarongo, is located in Orwetoveni and it is the main football stadium in town. There are also grounds for

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

netball Netball is a ball sport played on a rectangular court by two teams of seven players. The primary objective is to shoot a ball through the defender's goal ring while preventing the opposing team from shooting through their own. It is one of a ...

, and

tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

. The largest,

Paresis Park In medicine, paresis (), compound word from Greek , (πᾰρᾰ- “beside” + ἵημι “let go, release”), is a condition typified by a weakness of voluntary movement, or by partial loss of voluntary movement or by impaired movement. Whe ...

also known as "The Show Ground", is located in the upper suburb of the town. It is the towns biggest sport ground and one of the biggest in

. It has two soccer fields and two rugby fields. There are also grounds for

hockey ''Hockey'' is a family of List of stick sports, stick sports where two opposing teams use hockey sticks to propel a ball or disk into a goal. There are many types of hockey, and the individual sports vary in rules, numbers of players, apparel, ...

, and

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

. The park is also used to host sport tournaments and business events such as the Otjiwarongo Trade Show. In 2011, it hosted the main event of the 21st Independence Celebrations of Namibia. File:OtjiCBD2.jpg, File:OtjiChurch.jpg, File:Otji-aerial.jpg,

Geography

Living conditions

In many of Otjiwarongo's townships residents live in

shack A shack (or, in some areas, shanty) is a type of small shelter or dwelling, often primitive or rudimentary in design and construction. Unlike huts, shacks are constructed by hand using available materials; however, whereas huts are usually r ...

s. In 2020 the city had a total of 6,251 of these informal housing structures, accommodating more than 50,000 inhabitants, more than the most recent (2011) census reported as total population figure.

Climate

Otjiwarongo has a

semi-arid climate A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below potential evapotranspiration, but not as low as a desert climate. There are different kinds of se ...

(''BSh'', according to the

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

), with hot summers and mild winters. The average annual precipitation is .

Twin cities

Notable residents

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 ...

(born 1983), racing cyclist *

Hage Geingob Hage Gottfried Geingob (3 August 1941 – 4 February 2024) was a Namibian politician who served as the third president of Namibia from 2015 until his death in February 2024. Geingob was the country's first prime minister A prime minister ...

(1941-2024), first prime minister and third President of Namibia * Otto Ipinge, politician, former mayor of the town, former regional councillor for

Otjiwarongo Constituency Otjiwarongo Constituency is an electoral constituency in the Otjozondjupa Region of Namibia. It had 22,614 inhabitants in 2004 and 22,931 registered voters . The constituency consists of the town of Otjiwarongo and the surrounding rural area. Po ...

, and current governor of

Vekuii Rukoro Vekuii Reinhard Rukoro (11 November 1954 – 18 June 2021) was a Namibian lawyer, businessman, and Traditional leader, Paramount Chief of the Herero people. He also served in Namibia's Parliament from 1989 to 2000 and, in Cabinet of Namibia, Cabi ...

(1954–2021), lawyer, businessman and the paramount chief of the Herero people *

Agnes Samaria Agnes Maryna Samaria (born 11 August 1972 in Otjiwarongo) is a retired Namibian middle-distance runner who specialized in the 800 metres. Samaria won two of the three medals that the country won at the 2007 All-Africa Games. She has been a UNIC ...

(born 1972), middle-distance runner *

Calle Schlettwein Carl-Hermann Gustav "Calle" Schlettwein (born 13 June 1954) is a Namibian politician who has served in the country's cabinet from 2012 to 21 March 2025. In March 2020 to 21 March 2025 he was appointed the Minister of Agriculture, Water and Land ...

(born 1954), politician, Minister since 2012

References

External links

Municipality of Otjiwarongo
{{Authority control Populated places in the Otjozondjupa Region Cities in Namibia Regional capitals in Namibia German South West Africa Populated places established in 1906 1906 establishments in German South West Africa Rhenish mission stations in Hereroland