Otjiwarongo

History

The San and Damaras were the first settlers of the area, the Damaras from the Geio-Daman clan lived in the area from as early as 1390. The Damara also named the city ǂKhanubes. German Namibians first settled in Otjiwarongo in 1900. A bloody war was fought in the area between the Hereros and the Germans 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 on the coast, to the Otavi 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.

Geography

In many of Otjiwarongo's townships residents live in shacks. 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. Otjiwarongo has a semi-arid climate (BSh, according to the Köppen climate classification), with hot summers and mild winters. The average annual precipitation is .

Most-observed species

• Cattle Egret

  Bubulcus ibis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  82
• Gray Go-away-bird

  Corythaixoides concolor (A.Smith, 1833) · Aves
  80
• White-browed Sparrow-Weaver

  Plocepasser mahali A.Smith, 1836 · Aves
  79
• Little Swift

  Apus affinis (J.E.Gray, 1830) · Aves
  75
• Cape Starling

  Lamprotornis nitens (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  74
• African Palm-Swift

  Cypsiurus parvus (M.H.K.Lichtenstein, 1823) · Aves
  73
• Ring-necked Dove

  Streptopelia capicola (Sundevall, 1857) · Aves
  66
• Laughing Dove

  Spilopelia senegalensis (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  64

Most recent

• M 4.1 — 2005-11-27
  29 km NW of Otjiwarongo, Namibia