Damaraland

Republic of Damaraland
Republiek van Damaraland Republik Damaraland
Bantustan
1980–1989
Flag
Location of Damaraland (green) within South West Africa (grey).
Capital		Khorixas
Languages		Khoekhoe Herero English Afrikaans German
Political structure		Bantustan
History
•	Self-government	1980
•	Re-integrated into Namibia	May 1989
Currency		Namibian dollar
Preceded by Succeeded by South-West Africa Namibia

Damaraland was a name given to the north-central part of what later became Namibia, inhabited by the Damaras. It was bounded roughly by Ovamboland in the north, the Namib Desert in the west, the Kalahari Desert in the east, and Windhoek in the south.

In the 1970s the name Damaraland was revived for a bantustan in South West Africa (present-day Namibia), intended by the apartheid government to be a self-governing homeland for the Damara people. A centrally administered local government was created in 1980. The bantustan Damaraland was situated on the western edge of the territory that had been known as Damaraland in the 19th century.

Damaraland, like other homelands in South West Africa, was abolished in May 1989 at the start of the transition to independence.

The name Damaraland predates South African control of Namibia, and was described as "the central portion of German South-West Africa" in the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition.

Rugged Landscape of Damaraland

See also

• Apartheid
• Bantustans in South West Africa
• Leaders of Damaraland

External links

• Vingerclip Rock Formation, Damaraland, Namibia