Gobabis

Town in eastern Namibia City in Omaheke Region, Namibia Gobabis (Otjiherero: Epako, Khoekhoe: ǂKhoandabes) is a town in eastern Namibia. It is the regional capital of the Omaheke Region, and the administrative seat of the Gobabis electoral constituency. Gobabis is in the heart of the cattle farming area. It had a population of 33,418 people in 2023. History Etymology and pre-colonial history The area around Gobabis and along the Nossob River had a strong population of elephants. The settlement itself was a base camp for ivory hunters and a trading post for elephant tusks. In 1856 a mission station was established by one Friederich Eggert of the Rhenish Missionary Society. In the latter half of the 19th century and the early 20th century several conflicts flared up between the Ovambanderu and the Khauas Khoikhoi, as well as between the settlers and the indigenous people. Gobabis is in an area where the Herero and the Nama people fought wars against one another, as well as with settlers from the Cape colony that occupied the land. According to oral tradition, the earliest name for the settlement in this area was the Khoekhoegowab word ǂKhoandabes, the place where the elephant came