The Rehoboth area, historically the Free Republic of Rehoboth (

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

: ''Freie Republik Rehoboth'') is an

unrecognized state A sovereign state is a state that has the highest authority over a territory. It is commonly understood that a sovereign state is independent. When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may also refer to a constituent country, or ...

in central

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 ...

, inhabited by the indigenous

Baster The Basters (also known as Baasters, Rehobothers, or Rehoboth Basters) are a Southern African ethnic group descended from Cape Coloureds and Nama of Khoisan origin. Since the second half of the 19th century, the Rehoboth Baster community has ...

people. Between 1979 and 1989, the area was a

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. ...

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 ...

Background

The first provisions for establishing a Rehoboth government were made on 15 December 1868, in Warmbad,

German South West Africa German South West Africa () 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. German rule over this territory was punctuated by ...

. The state constitution of the Rehoboth area was based on the initial constitution of 31 January 1872. The original constitution was amended on 1 January 1874. On 15 September 1885, through the 'Treaty of Protection and Friendship Between the German Empire and the Basters of Rehoboth of 1885', the independence of the Rehoboth Basters was first recognised. The Rehoboth Basters are not recognised as a traditional ethnic community of Namibia, unlike other ethnic groups. From February 2007 to December 2019, the Rehoboth Basters were members of the

Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization The Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO) is an international organization established to facilitate the voices of unrepresented and marginalized nations and peoples worldwide. It was formed on 11 February 1991 at the Peace Pal ...

(UNPO).

Geography

Rehoboth area includes the Rehoboth Homeland bantustan which existed until 1989. It is 14,216 square kilometres in area, and has a population of around 35,000. The capital is Rehoboth.

Politics

On 20 March 1990, the representatives of the Rehoboth Baster, the Captain-led Baster Council (''Basterrat'') declared independence from

. A day later,

became independent from

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 ...

. The government is formed by the Captains Council (''Kapteinsraad''), which is headed currently by Captain Jacky Britz, who was elected as leader in April 2021, defeating Rynault van Wyk. This election result, however, is currently disputed in the Windhoek High Court by van Wyk. Nationally, the Rehoboth Baster are represented by the United People's Movement.

References

{{Reflist Regions of Namibia Regions of Africa Geography of Namibia Proposed administrative territorial entities