SOUTH-WEST AFRICA. A mandated territory in South Africa, formerly German South-West Africa. Its area is
sq.m., excluding the strip extending to the Zambezi, and known as the Caprivi Zipfel, which has been attached to the Bechuana land Protectorate. The country extends from 17° S. to 28° 57' S., and from the Atlantic ocean to 21° E. It is bounded on the north by Angola, on the east by the Bechuanaland Protectorate and the Cape Province of the Union of South Africa, on the south by the Cape Province, and on the west by the Atlantic ocean. The northern boundary follows the Kunene and Okavango rivers for a considerable distance.
The greater part of South-West Africa, forms part of the high plateau of South Africa, the general ele vation being between 3,000 and 4,00o feet. The edge of the plateau is well defined in the north and south of the country, but is indefinite in the centre. The highest part of South-West Africa is about Windhoek, where the Khomas Hochland reaches up to 6,700 ft., the Onyati mountains attain a height of 7,198 ft., and the Auas mountains rise in their highest point, Molteblick, to 7,886 feet. Between the high plateau and the Atlantic is the Namib desert, which slopes regularly toward the sea, attaining its greatest width toward the south, and having an average width of about 6o miles. On the plateau, especially in the east and north, occur many shallow depressions, or pans, up to a m. across. In the wet season they may contain fresh, brackish, or salt water; in the winter the salt pans dry up and become encrusted with salt. The Etosha pan cannot, perhaps, be classified with these smaller occurrences. In the winter it, too, may be dry, but in the rainy season it is covered by a sheet of shallow water. Its extent is 1,355 sq. miles.
The climate is hot and dry. Along the coast the rainfall is about in. per annum; inland, it increases from 6 in. in the south to I 2 in. in the centre and 22 in. in the north. The low rainfall along the coast is partly explained by the cold Benguela current, which flows northward, and is responsible for much fog and compara tively low temperatures along the coastal lands. Except for the
Kunene and Okavango rivers in the north, and the Orange in the south, there are no perennial streams. Fresh water can be obtained from shallow wells in the sandy beds of the intermittent streams.
The Namib is almost devoid of vegetation near the coast, except for such plants as can exist, on account of the fogs, e.g., Sarcocaula, Aloe dicliotoma, and the Welwitschia mira bilis. About 25 m. inland cacti and euphorbias appear, and in the river channels thorn trees (Acacia spp.) occur. On the plateau, in the south, semi-desert conditions prevail, low shrubs and scant grass being the chief plants, with trees along the river beds. The commonest plants here are Salsola aphylla (the Ganna bush), Rhigozuni tricliotomum (the three thorn bush), Acacia giraffae (Kameeldoorn), and species of aloes and euphorbias. Northward, as far as Rehoboth, karroo conditions are characteristic. Then a park-like grass country is reached, studded with thorn trees. From about Windhoek the country is covered with bush, mostly of thorn trees. Toward the north the bush becomes thicker, and includes belts of Mopane forest; about the Okavango the vegetation be comes richer and more tropical.
In 1921 the population included 177,462 Bantu, 30,845 other natives and coloured, and 19,432 Europeans. The latter had increased by 1926 to 24,115. Among the non-European inhabitants are Bushmen, Hottentots, Damara, Herero, Ovambo, living mainly in reserves. (See separate articles.) Pop. (est. 1933) Europeans 31,600, Natives 241,733. The towns with a European population of more than a thousand, in 1926, are Windhoek (3,809), which also has about 4,000 natives, and is the adminis trative capital; Luderitz (1,234), a small seaport; Keetmanshoop (1,159), the centre of a small mining industry, 180 m. E. of Luderitz Bay; and Swakopmund (1,125). The last will prob ably cease to grow, since shipping has been diverted to its young, hut more conveniently situated rival, Walvis Bay (q.v.).