White Namibians (german: Weiße Namibier or Europäer Namibier) are people of

European European, or Europeans, or Europeneans, may refer to: In general * ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe ** Ethnic groups in Europe ** Demographics of Europe ** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe ...

descent settled in

Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...

. The majority of White Namibians are

Afrikaners Afrikaners () are a South African ethnic group descended from predominantly Dutch settlers first arriving at the Cape of Good Hope in the 17th and 18th centuries.Entry: Cape Colony. ''Encyclopædia Britannica Volume 4 Part 2: Brain to Cas ...

(locally born or of

White South Africans White South Africans generally refers to South Africans The population of South Africa is about 58.8 million people of diverse origins, cultures, languages, and religions. The South African National Census of 2022 was the most recent censu ...

descent), with many of the White minority being

German Namibians German Namibians (german: Deutschnamibier) are a community of people descended from ethnic German colonists who settled in present-day Namibia. In 1883, the German trader Adolf Lüderitz bought what would become the southern coast of Namibia fr ...

(descended from

Germans , native_name_lang = de , region1 = , pop1 = 72,650,269 , region2 = , pop2 = 534,000 , region3 = , pop3 = 157,000 3,322,405 , region4 = , pop4 = ...

who colonised Namibia in the late-nineteenth century). Many are also

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

immigrants. Current estimates of the White Namibian population run between 75,000Namibian.org
– retrieved 3 February 2016 and 150,000.
– retrieved 3 February 2016 This imprecision in data is because the Namibian government no longer collects data based on race.

Distribution

The vast majority of White Namibians live in major cities and towns in central or southern Namibia.

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 in 202 ...

has by far the largest White population, and Whites are a majority in the coastal city of

Swakopmund Swakopmund (german: Mouth of the Swakop) is a city on the coast of western Namibia, west of the Namibian capital Windhoek via the B2 main road. It is the capital of the Erongo administrative district. The town has 44,725 inhabitants and covers ...

. Other coastal cities, such as

Walvis Bay Walvis Bay ( en, lit. Whale Bay; af, Walvisbaai; ger, Walfischbucht or Walfischbai) is a city in Namibia and the name of the bay on which it lies. It is the second largest city in Namibia and the largest coastal city in the country. The ci ...

and

Lüderitz Lüderitz is a town in the ǁKaras Region of southern Namibia. It lies on one of the least hospitable coasts in Africa. It is a port developed around Robert Harbour and Shark Island. The town is known for its colonial architecture, includ ...

, also have large White communities. In general, most of Namibia south of Windhoek has a high proportion of Whites, while central Namibia has a high concentration of Blacks. Apart from Windhoek, coastal areas and Southern Namibia, there are large White communities in

Otjiwarongo Otjiwarongo ( hz, beautiful place) is a city of 28,000 inhabitants in the Otjozondjupa Region of Namibia. It is the district capital of the Otjiwarongo electoral constituency and also the capital of Otjozondjupa. Otjiwarongo is situated in c ...

and towns in the Otavi Triangle, such as

Tsumeb , nickname = , settlement_type = City , motto = ''Glück Auf'' (German for ''Good luck'') , image_skyline = Welcome to tsumeb.jpg , imagesize = , image_caption = , image_flag ...

and

Grootfontein , nickname = , settlement_type = City , motto = Fons Vitæ , image_skyline = Grootfontein grass.jpg , imagesize = 300px , image_caption = , image_flag = , flag_si ...

. The 1981 census of the Republic of South Africa reported a White population of 76,430 in Namibia (71% Afrikaners and 17% German-speaking).

History

During Namibia's German rule, the colony attracted German immigrants. Most Afrikaners settled during the Dorsland Trek, as well as during the existence of apartheid. Most Angolan-born Portuguese settled after Angola became independent in 1975.

Economics

About 4,000 commercial land owners, mostly Whites, own around 50% of the arable land across the country despite a land reform process. According to the FAO, around 42% of arable land was owned by Whites at the time of independence in 1990. While the area was known as

South West Africa South West Africa ( af, Suidwes-Afrika; german: Südwestafrika; nl, Zuidwest-Afrika) was a territory under South African administration from 1915 to 1990, after which it became modern-day Namibia. It bordered Angola (Portuguese colony before 1 ...

, White Namibians enjoyed a highly privileged position due to apartheid laws enforcing strict segregation.

Politicians

* Leon Jooste, Minister of Public Enterprises *

Anton Lubowski Anton Theodor Eberhard August Lubowski (3 February 1952 – 12 September 1989) was a Namibian anti-apartheid activist and advocate. He was a member of the South West Africa People's Organization (SWAPO). In 1989 he was assassinated by opera ...

, political activist *

Dirk Mudge Dirk Frederik Mudge (16 January 192826 August 2020) was a Namibian politician. He served in several high-ranking positions in the South African administration of South West Africa, was the chairman of the 1975–1977 Turnhalle Constitutional Con ...

, Chairman of the Turnhalle Constitutional Conference * Henk Mudge, Member of Parliament * Kosie Pretorius, Member of Parliament * Hanno Rumpf, government minister and ambassador * Hans Erik Staby, Member of Parliament *

Jan de Wet Johannes Marthinus (Jan, Jannie) de Wet (10 November 1927 – 13 February 2011) was a Namibian politician and farmer. Politics De Wet entered politics as a member of the South African Parliament from 1964 to 1970. He then became the Commissioner ...

, Member of Parliament *

Piet van der Walt Piet Jacobus van der Walt (born 14 January 1966 in Okahandja) is a Namibian businessperson and politician who has been the Deputy Minister of National Planning since 2018. Early life and education Van der Walt grew up in Okahandja and went to pr ...

, Deputy Minister of National Planning *

Calle Schlettwein Carl-Hermann Gustav "Calle" Schlettwein (born 13 June 1954) is a Namibian politician who has served in the country's cabinet since 2012. In March 2020, he was appointed the Minister of Agriculture, Water and Land Reform after serving as the Mini ...

, Minister of Agriculture, Water and Land Reform *

Nico Smit Nico Smit is a Namibian politician who has served in the National Assembly (Namibia), National Assembly since Namibia's independence in 1990. He represents the Popular Democratic Movement. Political career Smit began his politics career in the 1 ...

, Member of Parliament

Businessmen

Harold Pupkewitz Harold Pupkewitz (14 July 1915 – 27 April 2012) was a Lithuanian born, Namibian entrepreneur and member of the President's Economic Advisory Council. He was the Executive Chairman of Pupkewitz Holdings, a group of builders' merchants, car sal ...

Sportspeople

* Skipper Badenhorst * Quinton-Steele Botes * Renaldo Bothma *

Jacques Burger Jacques Burger (born 29 July 1983 in Windhoek, South West Africa) is a retired Namibian rugby union loose forward who finished his career at Saracens in the Aviva Premiership. Club career He played for Saracens, having joined them in the 2009/ ...

Dan Craven Dan Craven (born 1 February 1983) is a Namibian racing cyclist, who last rode for Namibian amateur team NCCS Cycling Team. He is the grandson of Danie Craven, the South African rugby union icon. Craven started cycling seriously when he studied ...

Monica Dahl Monica Anja Dahl-Böhm (born 10 July 1975) is a Namibian swimmer. Of German descent, Dahl competed at the 1992 Summer Olympics and 1996 Summer Olympics for Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern ...

Trevor Dodds Trevor George Dodds (born 26 September 1959) is a Namibian professional golfer. Dodds was born in Windhoek, South West Africa. He turned pro in 1985. He won the Canadian Tour Order of Merit in 1995 and 1996. Dodds has compiled 13 wins on four d ...

* Jörg Lindemeier *

Percy Montgomery Percival Colin Montgomery OIS (born 15 March 1974) is a South African former professional rugby union player. When he ended his international career in August 2008, he held the all-time records for both caps and points for South Africa's nati ...

Oliver Risser Oliver Hanjorge Risser (born 17 September 1980) is a former professional association football, footballer who played as a midfielder. He represented Namibia national football team, Namibia internationally as well as having spells playing in Nor ...

Friedhelm Sack Friedhelm Ferdinand Sack (born 30 May 1956 in Mariental) is a Namibian sport shooter. He competed at the 1996 Summer Olympics, 2000 Summer Olympics and 2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπι� ...

Manfred Starke Manfred Starke (born 21 February 1991) is a Namibian professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for club VfB Oldenburg. He also holds German citizenship. Club career Starke was born in Windhoek, Namibia to a Namibian-born Ger ...

Ian van Zyl Matheus Christiaan van Zyl, known as Ian van Zyl (born April 6, 1980 in Grootfontein, Otjozondjupa Region) , is a Namibian cricketer. He made his first-class debut for the Namibian team against Uganda in the 2005 ICC Intercontinental Cup. In th ...

Journalists

Gwen Lister Gwen Lister (born 5 December 1953 in East London, South Africa) is a Namibian journalist, publisher, anti-apartheid and press freedom activist. Early life Growing up under the apartheid system, Lister resolved to fight it as an adult, and c ...

Hannes Smith Johannes Martin "Hannes" Smith (17 March 1933 – 5 August 2008), affectionately known as Smithie, was a Namibian journalist, editor and publisher. He was first reporter at, then the editor of, the ''Windhoek Advertiser'' until 1978 when he and Gw ...

Farmers

Raimar von Hase Raimar von Hase (born 12 March 1948) is a Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Bots ...

Rudi Rudi, born Albert Rudolph (January 24, 1928 – February 21, 1973), also known as Swami Rudrananda, was born in Brooklyn, New York. Rudi was a spiritual teacher and an antiquities entrepreneur in New York City.Swami Rudrananda udi ''Spirit ...

and Marlice van Vuuren

Scientists

* Japie van Zyl

Artists

Tim Huebschle Tim Huebschle is a Namibian film director and screenwriter. After completing his high school in Windhoek, Tim Huebschle relocated to Cape Town and completed a Bachelor of Arts in English & German Literature at the University of Cape Town. During ...

, film director and screenwriter * Adolph Jentsch, painter * Richard Pakleppa, film director and screenwriter * EES (Eric Sell), singer, songwriter and entrepreneur * Max Siedentopf, artist and film director

Fashion models

Michelle McLean Michelle McLean (born 31 July 1972) is a Namibian actress, writer, model and beauty queen who was crowned Miss Universe 1992 at Thailand. McLean was 19 years old when she was crowned Miss Universe, and became the first Namibian woman to win the ...

* Behati Prinsloo *

Chanique Rabe Chanique Rabe (born 17 March 1997) is a Namibian model, fashion designer, and beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned Miss Supranational 2021. Rabe was previously crowned Miss Teen Continents 2015 and Miss Supranational Namibia 2020, making ...

Population chart

References

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Ethnic groups in Namibia History of Namibia