Elim is a village in the north-east of the Republic 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 ...

. It is the district capital of the Elim Constituency in the administrative

Omusati Region Omusati (the Oshindonga word for Mopane, the dominant tree in the area) is one of the fourteen regions of Namibia, its capital is Outapi. The towns of Okahao, Oshikuku and Ruacana as well as the self-governed village Tsandi are situated in ...

. It is situated in a formerly forested area that has largely been converted into agricultural grassland. Elim is the centre of the

Uukwambi Uukwambi is a traditional kingdom of the Ovambo people in what is today northern Namibia. Its capital is Elim. The last king of Uukwambi was Iipumbu yaTshirongo, who was toppled by the South African authorities in 1932. Nowadays the highest tra ...

traditional authority. The ''Monument for the Uukwambi Kings'', erected at the site of the grave and the remains of the homestead of king Nuuyoma, the sixteenth king of the Uukwambi, is situated here.

History

Elim was founded as a Finnish

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group who is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thoma ...

station on 18 July 1870. Gradually, administration of the Lutheran parishes in

Ovamboland Ovamboland, also referred to as Owamboland, was a Bantustan and later a non-geographic ethnic-based second-tier authority, the Representative Authority of the Ovambos, in South West Africa (present-day Namibia). The apartheid government stat ...

was transferred from the Finnish missionaries to native

ministers Minister may refer to: * Minister (Christianity), a Christian cleric ** Minister (Catholic Church) * Minister (government), a member of government who heads a ministry (government department) ** Minister without portfolio, a member of government w ...

. Elim was one of eight such parishes and as such an important site of the

Evangelical Lutheran Church in Namibia The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Namibia (ELCIN) is a Lutheran denomination based in Namibia. It has a total membership of over 853,522 in 2023, mainly in Northern Namibia. Formerly known as the Evangelical Lutheran Ovambo-Kavango Church (ELOC) ...

. It has a well-developed infrastructure, including a clinic, church, constituency head office, community hall, mobile antenna, its own water supply, several

shebeen A shebeen (, "home-made whiskey") was originally an illicit bar or club where accessible alcoholic beverages were sold without a license. The term has spread far from its origins in Ireland, to Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Zimb ...

s, a 'China shop', a small grocery store and some schools, such as the Naango Junior Primary School, Elim Senior Primary and Ashipala Senior Secondary School. Coinciding with the collection of pensions once a month a market is held.

Transport

There is one main road which cuts through Elim joining

Oshikuku Oshikuku is a town in Omusati Region in the north of Namibia. The town is situated on the Oshakati - Ruacana road (C46) about 30 km west of Oshakati. It is the district capital of Oshikuku Constituency. It had a population of 5,499 people in 20 ...

(on the Uutapi Main Road from

Oshakati Oshakati is a town in northern Namibia. It is the regional capital of the Oshana Region and one of Namibia's largest cities both by population and as an economic center. It had a population of 58,656 people in 2023. Oshakati was founded i ...

) to Ondalaye-ya-Elim (Okahao Main Road from

References

Populated places in the Omusati Region Finnish Evangelical Lutheran Mission mission stations in Uukwambi {{namibia-geo-stub