Namibia lies in southwestern Africa. Although two-thirds of the size of neighboring South Africa and twice the size of California, most of the country is extremely arid, which helps explain the small population, estimated in 2004 to be between 750,000 and 1.5 million. The Namib Desert lies along the coast, and the Kalahari Desert in the east. Much of the southern two-thirds of the country is not suitable for arable agriculture. The only well-watered area is the relatively narrow northern strip, where over half the country's population live, the Ovambo-speaking people.

The boundaries of the country were demarcated in the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century. The German government established a protectorate in 1884, some six years after the British had annexed the only significant port on the coast, Walvis Bay. The Germans sought an outlet to the Zambezi River in the northeast, which explains the very unusual Caprivi Strip. The...