Windhoek

Sister cities

• Douala
• Vantaa
• Richmond
• Johannesburg
• Berlin
• Bremen
• Nanjing
• Shanghai
• Wetzlar
• Harare
• Gaborone
• Brazzaville

History

Theories vary on how the city got its modern name of Windhoek. Most believe it is derived from the Afrikaans words and . Another theory suggests that Captain Jonker Afrikaner named Windhoek after the Winterhoek Mountains at Tulbagh in South Africa, where his ancestors had lived. The first known mention of the name Windhoek was in a letter from Jonker Afrikaner to Joseph Tindall, dated 12 August 1844. In 1840 Jonker Afrikaner established an Orlam settlement at Windhoek. He and his followers stayed near one of the main hot springs, located in the present-day Klein Windhoek suburb. He built a stone church that held 500 people; it was also used as a school. Two Rhenish missionaries, Carl Hugo Hahn and Franz Heinrich Kleinschmidt, started working there in late 1842. Two years later they were driven out by two Methodist Wesleyans, Richard Haddy and Joseph Tindall. Gardens were laid out and for a while Windhoek prospered. A series of wars between the Nama and Herero tribes eventually destroyed the settlement. After a long absence, Hahn visited Windhoek again in 1873 and was dismayed to see that nothing remained of the town's former prosperity. In June 1885, a Swiss botanist found only jackals and starving guinea fowl amongst neglected fruit trees. A request by merchants from Lüderitzbucht resulted in the declaration in 1884 of a German protectorate over what was called German South West Africa (Deutsch-Südwestafrika), now Namibia. The borders of the German colony were determined in 1890 and Germany sent a protective corps, the Schutztruppe under Major Curt von François, to maintain order. Von François stationed his garrison at Windhoek, which was strategically situated as a buffer between the warring Nama and Herero peoples. The twelve strong springs provided…

Geography

In southern, eastern and western directions, Windhoek is surrounded by rocky, mountainous areas, which make land development costly and challenging. Furthermore, the southern side is not suitable for industrial development because of the presence of underground aquifers. This leaves the vast Brakwater area north of town the only feasible place for Windhoek's expansion. Windhoek's land area was dramatically expanded in 2011, when the Ministry of Regional and Local Government, Housing and Rural Development approved shifting the city's boundaries outwards by at least in each direction. The town lands now cover , making Windhoek the largest city in Africa by land area, as well as the third-largest city in the world, after Tianjin and Istanbul. Its population density, though, is only 63 inhabitants per square kilometre. The 2011 town land expansion also meant that Hosea Kutako International Airport and settlements relatively far away now belong to the capital, among them: *Aris *Baumgartsbrunn *Brakwater *Groot Aub *Kapps Farm *Mix camp *Seeis These settlements, previously under the administration of the Khomas Regional Council, have not immediately been incorporated into the administration of the City of Windhoek. Groot Aub for instance was only included in 2017. Windhoek is subdivided into the following suburbs and townships: *Academia *Auasblick *Avis *Cimbebasia *Dorado Park *Elisenheim *Eros *Eros Park *Goreangab *Hakahana *Hochland Park *Katutura *Khomasdal *Kleine Kuppe *Klein Windhoek *Lafrenz Industrial Area *Ludwigsdorf *Luxury Hill (Luxushügel) *Northern Industrial Area *Okuryangava *Olympia *Otjomuise *Pioneers Park *Prosperita *Rocky Crest *Southern Industrial Area *Suiderhof *Tauben Glen *Wanaheda *Windhoek Central *Windhoek North *Windhoek West…

Most-observed species

• Laughing Dove

  Spilopelia senegalensis (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  3,039
• White-browed Sparrow-Weaver

  Plocepasser mahali A.Smith, 1836 · Aves
  2,707
• Rosy-faced Lovebird

  Agapornis roseicollis (Vieillot, 1818) · Aves
  2,437
• Southern Masked-Weaver

  Ploceus velatus Vieillot, 1819 · Aves
  2,398
• Rock Martin

  Ptyonoprogne fuligula (Lichtenstein, 1842) · Aves
  2,301
• Black-fronted Bulbul

  Pycnonotus nigricans (Vieillot, 1818) · Aves
  2,246
• African Palm-Swift

  Cypsiurus parvus (M.H.K.Lichtenstein, 1823) · Aves
  2,143
• White-backed Mousebird

  Colius colius (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  2,116