Population: 746, 328 (1970 census)
Capital: Windhoek

The international territory of South West Africa (Namibia) is bordered on the north by the Portuguese Overseas Province of Angola and the Republic of Zambia, on the east by the Republic of Botswana, on the southeast and south by the Republic of South Africa, and on the west by the Atlantic Ocean. It has an area of 318,261 square miles, approximately the size of Texas and Louisiana combined. The 434-square-mile enclave of Walvis Bay, located on the Atlantic coast directly west of Windhoek, is administered as part of South West Africa but in terms of sovereignty is an integral part of the Cape of Good Hope Province of the Republic of South Africa.

The greater part of South West Africa consists of a high plateau which is the continuation of the main South African plateau. Its average altitude is 3,600 feet above sea level. The coastal strip comprises the Namib Desert, extending from the Orange River in the south to the Kunene River in the north. This area (approximately 60 miles wide) is for the most part uninhabited. The eastern sector, which forms part of the Kalahari Desert, consists mainly of sandy stretches but provides some grazing ground.

South West Africa's climate is hot and dry and on the whole healthful. Malaria does occur in the northern districts. Annual rainfall averages 22 inches in the north, 6 inches in the south, and about 2 inches in the coastal region. Periods of severe drought alternate with seasons of excessive rainfall. Rain can be expected during the summer (October-April) but rarely during the winter season. The most pleasant months of the year are April, May, and June.

As in other parts of southern Africa, climatic temperatures are closely related to the wind systems, the ocean current, latitude, and altitude. Except for the highest mountain areas, the territory's lowest mean temperatures occur in the Namib region and are largely affected by the cold Benguela Current from the south Atlantic. Walvis Bay has a mean daily temperature of 74° F. during the region's warmest month (February); during its coldest month (August) the mean daily temperature is 57 F. In the mountainous region around Windhoek, the average monthly temperatures for the warmest month (December) range from 86° F. to 63° F. In the coldest month (July) average daytime and nighttime variations range from 69° F. to 43° F.

The flag of the Republic of South Africa, which is illegally occupying Namibia, is flown in the territory. It consists of three horizontal bands-orange, white, and blue from top to bottom-with a composite of provincial flags and the Union Jack centered on the middle band. The South African Government is considering the adoption of a new national flag.

THE PEOPLE

According to the 1970 census the population of South West Africa totaled 746,328, with an annual growth rate of about 1.9 percent. There are approximately 2 people per square mile. Nonwhites comprise about 88 percent of the total, while Europeans (whites) number about 90,658, or the remaining 12 percent. Windhoek, the seat of the administration and the business and cultural center, has approximately 64,945 inhabitants, with whites slightly outnumbering nonwhites. Other major towns include Walvis Bay, the main seaport and center of the fishing industry; Keetmanshoop, center of the karakul (sheepskin) industry; Tsumeb, headquarters of coppermining operations; and Otjiwarongo, center of the cattle farming area.

Linguistically and ethnologically the indigenous African people are of diverse origins. The principal groups (from 1970 population figures) are the O.ambo (342.455). Damara (64,973), Okavango (49,577); Herero (49,203), Nama (32,853), Colored-mixed race- (28,275), East Caprivian (25,009), Bushman (21,909), Kaokovelder (6,467), and Tswana and others (18,475).

The Ovambo, Okavango, and East Caprivian peoples, who occupy the relatively well-watered and wooded northeastern part of the territory, are settled farmers and herders. Historically, they have shown little interest in the central and southern portions of South West Africa where conditions are unsuited to their traditional way of life. These tribes had relatively little contact with the Nama, Damara, and Herero, who roamed the central part of the territory vying for control of sparse pastureland, until the early 1900's. German colonial rule saw the destruction of the war-making ability of the tribes but did not efface their identities or traditional organization.

In recent decades there has been considerable peaceful interaction among the groups as a result

of urbanization, industrialization, and the demand for African labor.

The modern mining, farming, and industrial sectors of the economy, controlled by the white minority, have affected traditional African society although without transforming it. Africans resident in urban areas and the many migratory workers to a large extent have adopted Western ways, but traditional society remains intact among Africans in the tribal areas (sections of the country reserved for each tribe). Modern education and medical care have been extended to some tribal areas only in the last few years, but many areas still remain essentially without either. The literacy rate of the Africans is generally believed to be about 10 percent but may be considerably higher in certain areas, such as Ovamboland where missionary and government education efforts have been concentrated. The African population speaks a dialect indigenous to each tribal group.

Parts of the nonwhite population follow the traditional animist religions, although many Africans have been converted to Christianity. Missionary activity, which began in the 1800's, encompasses several denominations, including Lutheran, Roman Catholic, Methodist, Anglican, and Dutch Reformed. The majority of South West African Christians are Lutherans.

The minority white population is primarily South African, British, and German. Afrikaans (a variation of Dutch) and English are the official languages, but German is widely used in private and official life. About 70 percent of the whites speak Afrikaans, 23 percent German, and 10 percent English. Virtually the entire white population is literate.

HISTORY

It is generally assumed that the Bushmen were the earliest inhabitants of the region now known as South West Africa. They were followed by the Nama and a Negroid race known as the Damara, or Berg Dama. The Bantu-speaking Ovambo and Herero came later, from the north. The first Europeans to land on the shores of the territory were 15th century Portuguese seafarers.

The inhospitable Namib Desert constituted a formidable barrier to any explorations into the interior until late in the 18th century. During the 19th century a succession of travelers, traders, hunters, and missionaries (mostly British and Cape Dutch in origin) explored the area. In 1878 the United Kingdom annexed Walvis Bay on behalf of Cape Colony, and the area was incorporated into the Cape of Good Hope in 1884. In 1883 a German trader claimed the rest of the coastal region from the Orange River to the 26th degree of latitude after negotiations with a local chief. Diplomatic negotiations between the United Kingdom and Germany ended in Germany's annexation of the coastal region, except for Walvis Bay. The following year the United Kingdom recognized the hinterland up to the 20th degree of longitude as a German sphere of influence.

German administration effectively ended during World War I when the territory was occupied by South African forces. Later the Germans ceded rights to all its former colonies to the principal Allied and Associated Powers under Article 119 of the Treaty of Versailles. Article 22 of the Covenant of the League of Nations gave international status to these former colonies.

On December 17, 1920, South Africa undertook the administration of South West Africa under the terms of Article 22 of the Covenant of the League of Nations and a mandate agreement confirmed by the League Council. It accepted the principle set forth in the covenant that the wellbeing and development of the people formed a sacred trust of civilization. The mandate agreement gave South Africa full power of administration and legislation over South West Africa as an integral portion of South Africa and required that South Africa promote to the utmost the material and moral well-being and the social progress of the people. The agreement contained other safeguards, including provision for reporting to the League and for international judicial resolution of disputes.

U. N. Mandate

When the League of Nations was dissolved in 1946, its supervisory authority for the territory was inherited by the newly-formed United Nations. This view was at least implicitly recognized by South Africa when, in 1946, it requested the U.N. General Assembly's permission to annex South West Africa. The Assembly rejected South Africa's request on the grounds that the indigenous population was not sufficiently advanced to decide the future political status of the territory. South Africa refused U.N. requests to place South West Africa under a trusteeship agreement, arguing that the United Nations was not an automatic successor to the responsibilities of the League of Nations.

In 1950 the United Nations asked the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for an advisory opinion on the status of South West Africa. The ICJ held that, notwithstanding the dissolution of the League of Nations, the international status of South West Africa and South Africa's obligations under the mandate agreement continued in effect, with the General Assembly to exercise international supervision. The ICJ also held that while South Africa was not obliged to enter into a trusteeship agreement, it could not unilaterally modify the international status of the territory.

During the 1950's various U.N. initiatives failed to resolve the differences between the United Nations and South Africa, although the General Assembly passed numerous resolutions to the effect that South Africa was obligated to put South West Africa under U.N. trusteeship.

In 1960 Ethiopia and Liberia took to the ICJ the question of whether, by failing to report to the United Nations and by other conduct respecting the sacred trust, South Africa was in breach

of its obligations under the mandate and covenant. In 1962 the ICJ decided that it had jurisdiction by virtue of the mandate's provision for judicial resolution of disputes. In 1966, however, on completion of the argument on the merits, the ICJ held that it could not decide the matter because Ethiopia and Liberia lacked the requisite legal interest entitling them to such a determination. In the U.S. view the 1966 judgment did not diminish the validity of the ICJ's earlier advisory opinions affirming South West Africa's international status and the U.N.'s supervisory authority.

On October 27, 1966, the U.N. General Assembly decided in resolution 2145 (XXI), which the United States supported, that South Africa's mandate was terminated and that South West Africa henceforth would come under the direct responsibility of the United Nations. The basis for the Assembly's decision was its conclusion that South Africa had failed to fulfill its obligations under the mandate agreement and had, in effect, disavowed that mandate.

Recent Developments

The period 1967-72 has been one of increasingly sharp division between the positions of the United Nations and South Africa. The General Assembly established a Council for South West Africa (1967) to take over administration of the territory, denounced South Africa's application of repressive legislation to the territory in violation of the rights of the people, renamed the territory Namibia (1969) after the Namib desert, and called for South Africa's immediate withdrawal from South West Africa. While supporting U.N. actions on the territory in most other respects, the United States abstained on the resolution establishing the Council for Namibia, since it considered the council's terms of reference unworkable.

The matter of South Africa's mandate over Namibia was first taken to the U.N. Security Council in 1968 and that body, in successive resolutions (with the United States voting affirmatively), supported General Assembly Resolution 2145 and called for South Africa's withdrawal from South West Africa. In particular, the Security Council in resolution 276 (1970), which the United States supported, declared that South Africa's presence in Namibia is illegal since the passage of General Assembly Resolution 2145. Security Council Resolution 276 also called on states to deal with South Africa in ways consistent with the illegality of its presence and acts in the territory and established an ad hoc Subcommittee of the Council for Namibia to study and recommend ways of effectively implementing the Security Council's resolutions.

On July 20, 1970, the Security Council, on the recommendation of its subcommittee, adopted resolutions 283 and 284. The first called on states to act in ways consistent with the illegality of South Africa's presence and administration, including taking steps to discourage foreign

investment in Namibia. The second referred to the ICJ for advisory opinion the question of the legal consequences of South Africa's continued presence in Namibia, notwithstanding Security Council Resolution 276.

In the proceedings before the ICJ the United States submitted written and oral statements setting forth the legal considerations underlying its view that South Africa's rights in Namibia had terminated with certain legal consequences for South Africa. On June 21, 1971, the ICJ rendered its advisory opinion, stating its conclusions in the following terms:

133...(1) that, the continued presence of South Africa in Namibia being illegal, South Africa is under obligation to withdraw its administration from Namibia immediately and thus put an end to its occupation of the Territory;

"(2) that States Members of the United Nations are under obligation to recognize the illegality of South Africa's presence in Namibia and the invalidity of its acts on behalf of or concerning Namibia, and to refrain from any acts and in particular any dealings with the Government of South Africa implying recognition of the legality of, or lending support or assistance to, such presence and administration;

"(3) that it is incumbent upon States which are not Members of the United Nations to give assistance, within the scope of subparagraph (2) above, in the action which has been taken by the United Nations with regard to Namibia.”

By Security Council Resolution 301 (1971) the Security Council endorsed these conclusions, which had also been accepted by the United States.

Since the ICJ opinion was handed down, there have been demonstrations of dissatisfaction with South African administration by the people in South West Africa, including a widespread strike by workers recruited under a system of contract labor, which was generally despised.

On February 4, 1972, the Security Council passed two resolutions dealing with Namibia-309 and 310. Resolution 309 invited the Secretary General (in close cooperation with the representatives of Argentina, Somalia, and Yugoslavia) to initiate contacts with all parties concerned with a view to establishing the necessary conditions to enable the people of Namibia to exercise their right to self-determination and independence. The Secretary General's contacts are continuing at the present time. Resolution 310 called on all states to ensure that their nationals and corporations operating in Namibia conform their hiring policies to the basic provisions of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The United States voted for and supports both resolutions.

GOVERNMENT

Executive power for the territory as a whole rests with the Administrator, appointed by the South African Government. He is assisted by an executive committee of four members chosen by