Oranjemund (Dutch for ''"Mouth of Orange"'') is a diamond mining town in the ǁKaras Region of the extreme southwest of

Namibia Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country on the west coast of Southern Africa. Its borders include the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south; in the no ...

, on the northern bank of the

Orange River The Orange River (from Afrikaans/Dutch language, Dutch: ''Oranjerivier'') is a river in Southern Africa. It is the longest river in South Africa. With a total length of , the Orange River Basin extends from Lesotho into South Africa and Namibi ...

mouth at the border with

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. It had a population of 7,736 people in 2023.

History

The entire area along the shore of the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...

was proclaimed restricted (the '' Sperrgebiet'') in 1908 due to the occurrence of

alluvial Alluvium (, ) is loose clay, silt, sand, or gravel that has been deposited by running water in a stream bed, on a floodplain, in an alluvial fan or beach, or in similar settings. Alluvium is also sometimes called alluvial deposit. Alluvium is ...

diamonds. Since then, the public was forbidden entry. In 1927 diamonds were found south of the Orange River in

. Hans Merensky and other prospectors assumed that the northern shore on

South West Africa South West Africa was a territory under Union of South Africa, South African administration from 1915 to 1990. Renamed ''Namibia'' by the United Nations in 1968, Independence of Namibia, it became independent under this name on 21 March 1990. ...

n territory would also have diamonds. A year later they conducted an expedition from Lüderitz to the mouth of the Orange River, where they found rich deposits on the north bank of the river and the adjacent northern coastline and established a tented camp from which Oranjemund had developed. Due to the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

, diamond mining was not undertaken until 1935, a year later workers' houses were erected. Oranjemund as a formal settlement was thus established in 1936. Production of mainly gem-quality

diamonds Diamond is a solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Diamond is tasteless, odourless, strong, brittle solid, colourless in pure form, a poor conductor of electricity, and insol ...

has remained approximately 2 million carats (400 kg) per year since inception of the mine, mainly through improvements in technology. Oranjemund was proclaimed a town in 2011. Until 2017 the town was run by Namdeb (formerly Consolidated Diamond Mines), now a subsidiary of

De Beers The De Beers Group is a South African–British corporation that specializes in the diamond industry, including mining, exploitation, retail, inscription, grading, trading and industrial diamond manufacturing. The company is active in open-pi ...

. Access to, and settlement in Oranjemund was restricted to employees and their relatives. Its infrastructure is superior to that of other towns in Namibia's South, due to it not being dependent on cost recovery from its inhabitants. In the second half of the 20th century, Oranjemund featured a large recreational complex with swimming pool, cinema, restaurants and bars. Water is still provided free of charge, and until 2016, so was electricity.

Economy and infrastructure

Oranjemund is dominated by its diamond mining industry.

Transportation

Oranjemund features a border post to Alexander Bay, South Africa via the Ernest Oppenheimer Bridge over the Orange River. Until the town was declared accessible to the public in 2017, only persons with pre-application of 1 month were allowed to cross the border. Before the town was proclaimed in 2011, this was the only road access to Oranjemund, as the ''Sperrgebiet'' covered all territory north and east of the town. Today Oranjemund is connected to Rosh Pinah via a tarred road along the Namibian shore of the Orange River. Oranjemund Airport had scheduled flights to

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

, Lüderitz,

Walvis Bay Walvis Bay (; ; ) is a city in Namibia and the name of the bay on which it lies. It is the List of cities in Namibia, second largest city in Namibia and the largest coastal city in the country. The city covers an area of of land. The bay is a ...

and

Windhoek Windhoek (; ; ) is the capital and largest city of Namibia. It is located in central Namibia in the Khomas Highland plateau area, at around above sea level, almost exactly at the country's geographical centre. The population of Windhoek, which ...

. , only a scheduled flight to Windhoek Eros is offered.

Geography

Climate

Oranjemund has a

desert climate The desert climate or arid climate (in the Köppen climate classification ''BWh'' and ''BWk'') is a dry climate sub-type in which there is a severe excess of evaporation over precipitation. The typically bald, rocky, or sandy surfaces in desert ...

(''BWk'', according to the

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

), with pleasant temperatures throughout the year. The average annual precipitation is .

Politics

Oranjemund was privately owned by De Beers until 2017, and thus governed by the diamond mining company's administration. In 2011 the political administration was handed over to

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

which proclaimed it a town. It is now governed by a town council that has seven seats. The first election run in Oranjemund was a by-election of the 2010 local authority election, 2,221 registered voters elected local authority councillors for the first time on 16 March 2012.

SWAPO The South West Africa People's Organisation (SWAPO ; , SWAVO; , SWAVO), officially known as the SWAPO Party of Namibia, is a political party and former independence movement in Namibia (formerly South West Africa). Founded in 1960, it has been ...

won the elections, and since 23 March 2012 Henry Edward Coetzee is the town's mayor. SWAPO also won the 2020 local authority election but lost majority control over the town council. SWAPO obtained 935 votes and gained three seats. Independent Patriots for Change (IPC), an opposition party formed in August 2020, gained 737 votes and also three seats. The remaining seat went to the Landless People's Movement (LPM, a new party registered in 2018) with 158 votes.

References

External links

Oranjemund Town Council
official website
Oranjemund Online
unofficial website with historic pictures
Oranjemund weather conditions
{{Authority control 1928 establishments in South West Africa Namibia–South Africa border crossings Populated places in the ǁKaras Region Mining communities in Africa Towns in Namibia Mining in Namibia