Khorixas is a town with about 9,000 inhabitants in the southern part of the

Kunene Region Kunene is one of the fourteen regions of Namibia. Its capital is Opuwo, its governor is Vipuakuje Muharukua. The region's name comes from the Kunene River which forms the northern border with Angola. Geography Besides the capital Opuwo, the reg ...

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 was the capital of the

Damaraland Damaraland was a name given to the north-central part of South West Africa, which later became Namibia, inhabited by the Damaras. It was bordered roughly by Ovamboland in the north, the Namib Desert in the west, the Kalahari Desert in the e ...

bantustan A Bantustan (also known as a Bantu peoples, Bantu homeland, a Black people, black homeland, a Khoisan, black state or simply known as a homeland; ) was a territory that the National Party (South Africa), National Party administration of the ...

before Namibia's independence. It is the administrative capital of Khorixas Constituency. Most of the inhabitants are from the Damara ethnic group. The town is located near the

Petrified Forest Petrified wood (from Ancient Greek meaning 'rock' or 'stone'; literally 'wood turned into stone'), is the name given to a special type of ''fossilized wood'', the fossilized remains of terrestrial plant, terrestrial vegetation. ''Petrifaction ...

, a deposit of petrified wood and well-known tourist attraction of Namibia. The Twyfelfontein valley, known for its

rock art In archaeology, rock arts are human-made markings placed on natural surfaces, typically vertical stone surfaces. A high proportion of surviving historic and prehistoric rock art is found in caves or partly enclosed rock shelters; this type al ...

, is also accessible from Khorixas.

Economy and infrastructure

Khorixas from a lack of economic development and employment opportunities, which leads to frustration and outward migration among many of the town's youth. The unemployment rate in town is estimated to be around 70%. Donkerhoek (), the town's informal settlement, has neither water nor electricity. The regional hospital and some other regional offices are located in Khorixas, though the capital of the Kunene Region is Opuwo. Khorixas has a landing strip nine kilometers east of town parallel to the C39 main road. The Runway Numbers are 09/27 and elevation is 3320 feet. There are six schools and one branch of the

University of Namibia The University of Namibia (UNAM) is a multi-campus public research university in Namibia, and the largest university in the country. It was established by an act of Parliament on 31 August 1992. Background UNAM comprises the following fac ...

(UNAM) in Khorixas, Versteendewoud is the biggest primary school and Cornelius Goreseb High School is the biggest secondary school. Other schools are Eddie Bowe Primary School, Welwitchia Primary School, Welwitchia Junior Secondary School and Th. F. ǃGaeb Primary School.

Politics

Khorixas is governed by a town council that has seven seats. Due to its location in former

, the ethnically Damara-based United Democratic Front (UDF) has strong support in the population. Unlike in most other

constituencies of Namibia Each of the 14 regions of Namibia is further subdivided into Electoral district, electoral constituencies. The size of the constituencies varies with the size and population of each region. There are currently 121 constituencies in Namibia. Th ...

, the ruling

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 ...

party had until 2015 never won in Khorixas.

Local authority elections

The 2015 local authority election was won by SWAPO, gaining four seats (1,741 votes) and the majority in the village council. The remaining three seats went to the UDF with 1,345 votes. The 2020 local authority election was won by the UDF which gained 985 votes and four seats. SWAPO was runner up with 624 votes and two seats. The remaining seat went to the

Landless People's Movement The Landless People's Movement is an independent social movement in South Africa. It consisted of rural people and people living in shack settlements in cities. The Landless People's Movement boycotted parliamentary elections and had a history ...

(LPM, a new party registered in 2018, 261 votes).

Mayors

* 1992-2002 Chief Gottfried Arusen Uiseb, UDF. First Mayor of Khorixas until his death in 2002. * 2005 Martha Claassen, UDF. Claassen was the first female mayor of Khorixas, but her reign lasted only three days. * 2012–2015 Trypohasa Moloto, UDF. * 2015–2020: Elizabeth Geises, SWAPO

Geography

Climate

Khorixas has a

semi-arid climate A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below potential evapotranspiration, but not as low as a desert climate. There are different kinds of se ...

(''BSh'', 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 warm to hot summers and mild winters. It borders on 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 ...

(''BWh''). The average annual precipitation is , with a low of during the 2010s drought in 2018/19.

Sport

The Robber Chanties, which in August 2010 played in the Northern Stream Division One and sought promotion the

Namibia Premier League The Namibia Premier League (NPL) was the highest level of domestic association football in Namibia until it was disbanded following the 2018-19 season. The league was established in 1990 and was trimmed to 12 teams from the traditional 16 in 2005 ...

, are based in Khorixas.Chanties cry foul over unwanted whistle blower
'' New Era, 5 August 2010

Sights

Organ Pipes An organ pipe is a sound-producing element of the pipe organ that resonates at a specific pitch when pressurized air (commonly referred to as ''wind'') is driven through it. Each pipe is tuned to a note of the musical scale. A set of organ pi ...

* Burnt Mountain

References

External links

{{Coord, 20, 22, S, 14, 58, E, region:NA_type:city, display=title Populated places in the Kunene Region Towns in Namibia