Editing Geography of Namibia (section)

==Geographical areas==
The Namibian landscape consists generally of five geographical areas, each with characteristic [[Abiotic component|abiotic conditions]] and vegetation with some variation within and overlap between them: the Central Plateau, the [[Namib Desert]], the [[Great Escarpment, Southern Africa|Great Escarpment]], the [[Bushveld]], and the [[Kalahari Desert]].

===Central Plateau===
The Central Plateau runs from north to south, bordered by the [[Skeleton Coast]] to the northwest, the Namib Desert and its coastal plains to the southwest, the [[Orange River]] to the south, and the Kalahari Desert to the east. The Central Plateau is home to the highest point in Namibia at [[Königstein, Namibia|Königstein]] elevation {{convert|2606|m|ft|0}}.<ref name="elevation">[http://landsat.usgs.gov/gallery/detail/367/ Landsat.usgs.gov] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080907062948/http://landsat.usgs.gov/gallery/detail/367/ |date=7 September 2008 }}</ref> Within the wide, flat Central Plateau is the majority of Namibia's population and economic activity. [[Windhoek]], the nation's capital, is located here, as well as most of the arable land. Although arable land accounts for only 1% of Namibia, nearly 1/3rd of the population is employed in agriculture.<ref name="World Almanac 2004">World Almanac. 2004.</ref>

The abiotic conditions here are similar to those found along the Escarpment; however, the topographic complexity is reduced. Summer temperatures in the area can reach {{convert|40|°C}}, and frosts are common in the winter.

===Namib Desert===
{{main|Namib}}
The [[Namib Desert]] is a broad expanse of hyper-arid gravel, gravel with no moisture, plains, and dunes that stretches along the entire coastline, which varies in width between 100 and many hundreds of kilometres. Areas within the Namib include the Skeleton Coast and the [[Kaokoveld]] in the north and the extensive Namib Sand Sea along the central coast.<ref name="Spriggs, A. 2001.(AT1315)">Spriggs, A. 2001.(AT1315)</ref> The sands that make up the sand sea are a consequence of erosional processes that take place within the Orange River valley and areas farther to the south. As sand-laden waters drop their suspended loads into the Atlantic, onshore currents deposit them along the shore. The prevailing southwest winds then pick up and redeposit the sand in the form of massive dunes in the widespread sand sea, the largest sand dunes in the world. In areas where the supply of sand is reduced because of the inability of the sand to cross riverbeds, the winds also scour the land to form large gravel plains. In many areas within the Namib Desert, there is little vegetation with the exception of lichens found in the gravel plains, and in dry river beds where plants can access subterranean water.{{cn|date=April 2023}}

"[[Fairy circle (arid grass formation)|Fairy circles]]", which are circular patches of land barren of plants, varying between 2{{Convert|2|and|12|m|ft|0}} in diameter and often encircled by a ring of stimulated growth of grass, are found in the Namib,<ref>{{cite web | title=Enigma of Namibia's 'fairy circles' | website=BBC NEWS | date=31 March 2004 | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/3587431.stm | access-date=4 April 2023}}</ref> such as those near the Wolwedans desert camp.<ref>{{cite web | last=Pinkstone | first=Joe | title='Fairy circles' of Africa baffle scientists | website=The Telegraph | date=30 July 2020 | url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/namibia/1461430/Fairy-circles-of-Africa-baffle-scientists.html | access-date=4 April 2023}}</ref>

===Great Escarpment===
The [[Great Escarpment]] swiftly rises to over {{convert|2000|m|ft|0}}. Average temperatures and temperature ranges increase as you move farther inland from the cold Atlantic waters, while the lingering coastal fogs slowly diminish. Although the area is rocky with poorly developed soils, it is nonetheless significantly more productive than the Namib Desert. As summer winds are forced over the Escarpment, moisture is extracted as precipitation.<ref name="Spriggs, A. 2001.(AT1316)">Spriggs, A. 2001.(AT1316)</ref> The water, along with rapidly changing topography, is responsible for the creation of microhabitats which offer a wide range of organisms, many of them endemic. Vegetation along the escarpment varies in both form and density, with community structure ranging from dense woodlands to more shrubby areas with scattered trees. A number of [[Acacia]] species are found here, as well as grasses and other shrub vegetation.

===Bushveld===
The Bushveld is found in northeastern Namibia along the [[Angola]]n border and in the [[Caprivi Strip]] which is the vestige of a narrow corridor demarcated for the [[German Empire]] to access the [[Zambezi River]]. The area receives a significantly greater amount of precipitation than the rest of the country, averaging around {{convert|400|mm|in|1|abbr=on}} per year. Temperatures are also cooler and more moderate, with approximate seasonal variations of between {{convert|10|and|30|°C|°F}}. The area is generally flat and the soils sandy, limiting their ability to retain water.<ref name="Cowling, S. 2001">Cowling, S. 2001.</ref> Located adjacent to the Bushveld in north-central Namibia is one of nature's most spectacular features: the [[Etosha Pan]]. For most of the year, it is a dry, saline wasteland, but during the wet season, it forms a shallow lake covering more than {{convert|6000|km2|sqmi|0}}. The area is ecologically important and vital to the large numbers of birds and animals from the surrounding [[savannah]] that gather in the region as summer drought forces them to the scattered waterholes that ring the pan. The Bushveld area has been demarcated by the [[World Wildlife Fund]] as part of the [[Angolan mopane woodlands]] [[ecoregion]], which extends north across the [[Cunene River]] into neighbouring [[Angola]].

===Kalahari Desert===
[[File:Gewitter in der Kalahari.jpg|thumb|[[Thunderstorm]] in the Kalahari near [[Stampriet]]]]
The [[Kalahari Desert]] is perhaps Namibia's best-known geographical feature. Shared with South Africa and [[Botswana]], it has a variety of localised environments ranging from hyper-arid sandy desert to areas that seem to defy the common definition of desert. One of these areas, known as the [[Succulent Karoo]], is home to over 5,000 species of plants, nearly half of them endemic; fully one-third of the world's succulents are found in the Karoo.

The reason behind this high productivity and endemism may be the relatively stable nature of precipitation.<ref name="Spriggs, A. 2001.(AT0709)">Spriggs, A. 2001.(AT0709)</ref> The Karoo apparently does not experience drought regularly, so even though the area is technically a desert, regular winter rains provide enough moisture to support the region's interesting plant community. Another feature of the Kalahari, indeed many parts of Namibia, are [[inselberg]]s, isolated mountains that create microclimates and habitats for organisms not adapted to life in the surrounding desert matrix.

===Coastal Desert===
Namibia's Coastal Desert is one of the oldest deserts in the world. Its sand dunes, created by the strong onshore winds, are the highest in the world.<ref>
{{cite web
|url=http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/imagegallery/image_feature_540.html
|title=NASA – Namibia's Coastal Desert
|publisher=nasa.gov
|access-date=9 October 2009
}}
</ref>

The Namib Desert and the [[Namib-Naukluft National Park]] are located here. The Namibian coastal deserts are the richest source of [[diamond]]s on earth, making Namibia the world's largest producer of diamonds. It is divided into the northern [[Skeleton Coast]] and the southern [[Diamond Coast]]. Because of the location of the shoreline—at the point where the Atlantic's cold water reaches Africa—there is often extremely dense fog.<ref>
{{cite web
|url=http://www.geographia.com/namibia/
|title=An Introduction to Namibia
|publisher=geographia.com
|access-date=9 October 2009
}}
</ref>

Sandy beach comprises 54% and mixed sand and rock add another 28%. Only 16% of the total length is rocky shoreline. The coastal plains are dune fields, gravel plains covered with [[lichen]] and some scattered [[Salt pan (geology)|salt pan]]s. Near the coast, there are areas where the dunes are vegetated with hammocks.<ref>
{{cite web |url = http://www.nacoma.org.na/Our_Coast/WalkOnOurCoastline.htm |title = NACOMA – Namibian Coast Conservation and Management Project |publisher   = nacoma.org.na |access-date  = 9 October 2009 |url-status = dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090721154939/http://www.nacoma.org.na/Our_Coast/WalkOnOurCoastline.htm |archive-date = 21 July 2009}}
</ref> Namibia has rich coastal and marine resources that remain largely unexplored.<ref>
{{cite web |url=http://afraf.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/pdf_extract/83/333/477 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131022235829/http://afraf.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/pdf_extract/83/333/477 |url-status=dead |archive-date=22 October 2013 |title=Namibia's Coastal and Marine Development Potential &ndash; Sparks 83 (333): 477 &ndash; African Affairs |publisher=afraf.oxfordjournals.org |access-date=9 October 2009 |last=Sparks |first=Donald L.}}</ref>

<gallery mode="packed" style="margin:auto;">
File:SAC Namibia-cactus.jpg|[[Fish River Canyon]].
File:SAC Namibia-desert-1.jpg|[[Namib Desert]].
File:SAC Namibia-escarpment2.jpg|Namib Escarpment.
File:Kalahari C17.JPG|The [[Kalahari Desert]].
File:Windhoek-Skyline.jpg|[[Windhoek]] skyline.
File:Namibia’s Protected Coast.jpg|Natural-colour satellite image of the Namibian coast.
</gallery>