Outjo (

Otjiherero Herero (, ''Otjiherero'') is a Bantu language spoken by the Herero and Mbanderu peoples in Namibia and Botswana, as well as by small communities of people in southwestern Angola , national_anthem = "Angola Avante"() , image_m ...

: ''small hills'') is a city of 6,000 inhabitants in the

Kunene Region Kunene is one of the fourteen regions of Namibia. Its capital is Opuwo, its governor is Marius Sheya. The region's name comes from the Kunene River which forms the northern border with Angola. Besides the capital Opuwo, the region contains th ...

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 e ...

. It is the district capital of

Outjo Constituency Outjo is an electoral constituency in the Kunene Region of Namibia. Its district capital is the town of Outjo, its population was 8,947 in 2004. , it has 9,197 registered voters. Politics The 2015 regional election was won by Johannes Antsino ...

. It is best known as a main gateway to

Etosha National Park Etosha National Park is a national park in northwestern Namibia and one of the largest national parks in Africa. It was proclaimed a game reserve in March 1907 in Ordinance 88 by the Governor of German South West Africa, Friedrich von Lindequi ...

Overview

The town was founded by Germans under the command of Colonel Theodor von Leutwein in 1897 as a small

military base A military base is a facility directly owned and operated by or for the military or one of its branches that shelters military equipment and personnel, and facilitates training and operations. A military base always provides accommodations for o ...

in order to explore the northern area of

German South West Africa German South West Africa (german: Deutsch-Südwestafrika) was a colony of the German Empire from 1884 until 1915, though Germany did not officially recognise its loss of this territory until the 1919 Treaty of Versailles. With a total area of ...

. The local historical museum ( Franke Haus Museum) details the campaign of Major Viktor Franke in

Ovamboland Ovamboland, also referred to as Owamboland, was a Bantustan in South West Africa (present-day Namibia), intended by the apartheid government to be a self-governing homeland for the Ovambo people. The term originally referred to the part ...

. The "Naulila monument" commemorates the small expedition on the Portuguese fort of

Naulila Naulila is a town and Communes of Angola, commune in the municipality of Ombadja, province of Cunene Province, Cunene, Angola. Located on the Cunene River which separates Angola and Namibia, Naulila was the scene of fighting between Angola (Port ...

Angola , national_anthem = "Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordina ...

by Major Viktor Franke in October 1914 following the massacre of a German delegation which had been sent to negotiate a treaty of non-aggression. it is one of the fast developing town in the Kunene Region. South of Outjo is the

Ugab River The Ugab River is an ephemeral river in north-western Namibia. Its lower section forms the border between Kunene Region and Erongo Region but its catchment area extends well into the Otjozondjupa Region. Ugab's source is near Otavi. From there ...

, one of the major

rivers of Namibia This is a list of streams and rivers in Namibia, arranged geographically by drainage basin. Flowing into the Atlantic Ocean * Hoanib River ** Aap River ** Ganamub River ** Mudorib River ** Ombonde River *** Honib River *** Otjovasandu ...

. The town lies near Gamkarab Cave, known for its

stalactite A stalactite (, ; from the Greek 'stalaktos' ('dripping') via ''stalassein'' ('to drip') is a mineral formation that hangs from the ceiling of caves, hot springs, or man-made structures such as bridges and mines. Any material that is soluble an ...

s and

stalagmite A stalagmite (, ; from the Greek , from , "dropping, trickling") is a type of rock formation that rises from the floor of a cave due to the accumulation of material deposited on the floor from ceiling drippings. Stalagmites are typically ...

s and its

pietersite Tiger's eye (also called tiger eye) is a chatoyant gemstone that is usually a metamorphic rock with a golden to red-brown colour and a silky lustre. As members of the quartz group, tiger's eye and the related blue-coloured mineral hawk's eye ...

. The caves are on private ground and not open to the public.

Politics

Outjo is governed by a municipal council that has seven seats. Since the independence of the country, Outjo is the only small town in Kunene controlled by the ruling party "SWAPO". The 2015 local authority election was won by

SWAPO The South West Africa People's Organisation (, SWAPO; af, Suidwes-Afrikaanse Volks Organisasie, SWAVO; german: Südwestafrikanische Volksorganisation, SWAVO), officially known as the SWAPO Party of Namibia, is a political party and former ind ...

which gained four seats (1,307 votes). Two seats went to the United Democratic Front (UDF, 706 votes), and the remaining seat was won by the

Democratic Turnhalle Alliance The Popular Democratic Movement (PDM), formerly the Democratic Turnhalle Alliance (DTA), is an amalgamation of political parties in Namibia, registered as one singular party for representation purposes. In coalition with the United Democratic ...

(DTA) with 381 votes. SWAPO also won the 2020 local authority election but lost majority control over the municipal council. It obtained 872 votes and three seats. One seat each went to the

Landless People's Movement The Landless People's Movement was 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, 501 votes), the UDF (392 votes), the

Popular Democratic Movement The Popular Democratic Movement (PDM), formerly the Democratic Turnhalle Alliance (DTA), is an amalgamation of political parties in Namibia, registered as one singular party for representation purposes. In coalition with the United Democratic ...

(PDM, the new name of the DTA, 307 votes), and the

Monitor Action Group The Monitor Action Group is a political party in Namibia. The party came into existence as the transformation of the National Party of South West Africa in 1991, Kosie Pretorius became its first chairperson and served until his retirement from ...

(MAG, 161 votes).

Transport

Situated on the C38 southwest of Anderson Gate, Outjo is the gateway to the

. Damaraland is also reached by travelling through Outjo on the C39 to

Khorixas Khorixas is a town of 6,000 inhabitants in southern Kunene Region, Namibia. It was the capital of the Damaraland bantustan before Namibia's independence. It is the administrative capital of Khorixas Constituency. Most of the inhabitants are fr ...

, and the C40 towards

Kamanjab , nickname = , settlement_type = , motto = , image_skyline = , imagesize = 300px , image_caption = , image_flag = , flag_size = , image_seal ...

leads to the

Kaokoveld The Kaokoveld Desert is a coastal desert of northern Namibia and southern Angola. Setting The Kaokoveld Desert occupies a coastal strip covering , from 13° to 21°S and is bounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Namibian savanna woodla ...

. Outjo has an airstrip about out of town that accommodates small fixed-winged planes. Outjo is the terminus of a branch railway of the Namibian railway system, but there is no railway service .

Schools

Immediately in Outjo are three primary schools and two secondary schools as well as a combined private school with a total of 2634 students and 96 teachers (as of December 2009). * Jack Francis Primary School * Maarssen Primary School * Outjo Primary School * Moria Private School * Etoshapoort Junior Secondary School * Outjo Secondary School The following schools are located in the vicinity of the city: * Otjikondo School Village & Primary School (about 85 kilometers northwest of the city) * St. Michael Roman-Catholic Primary School (about 70 kilometers northwest of the city)

Tourist attractions

Outjo offers some sights, but it is above all an important tourist transit and supply point. In 2006, more than 22,000 tourists were counted per month. * Franke-Haus-Museum * Naulila monument * The Water Tower Outjo, which was originally equipped with a wooden wind turbine, was used for water extraction. Near the city is fingerlike rock formation created through erosion called

Vingerklip The Vingerklip (Afrikaans for "Rock Finger"), a rock needle built up from sedimentary rock layers dating from the Tertiary period, is situated about 80 km southwest of the town of Outjo and approx. 50 km east of the city of Khorixas in n ...

(its mostly used

Afrikaans Afrikaans (, ) is a West Germanic language that evolved in the Dutch Cape Colony from the Dutch vernacular of Holland proper (i.e., the Hollandic dialect) used by Dutch, French, and German settlers and their enslaved people. Afrikaans g ...

name).

References

{{Authority control Cities in Namibia Populated places established in 1897 1897 establishments in German South West Africa Populated places in the Kunene Region