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Demographics of Namibia
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==Ethnic groups== [[File:Himba Woman and Family.JPG|thumb|[[Himba people]] in northern Namibia]] [[File:Nama Woman Smoking Kalahari Desert Namibia Luca Galuzzi 2004.JPG|thumb|A [[Nama people|Nama]] tribal smoking a roll]] {{bar box |title=Racial groups in Namibia<ref name="Census 2023">{{cite web|url=https://census.nsanamibia.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/2023-Population-and-Housing-Census-Main-Report-28-Oct-2024.pdf}}</ref> |titlebar=#ddd |left1=Racial groups |float=right |bars= {{bar percent|[[African diaspora|African]]|Black|96.1}} {{bar percent|[[Coloureds|Mixed]]|Green|2.1}} {{bar percent|[[White Namibian|White]]|Yellow|1.8}} }} {{bar box |title=Tribes in Namibia<ref name="CIA 2022">{{CIA World Factbook|article=Namibia |date=19 April 2022}}</ref> |titlebar=#ddd |left1=Tribe |float=right |bars= {{bar percent|[[Ovambo people|Ovambo]]|Black|50}} {{bar percent|[[Kavango people|Kavangos]]|green|9}} {{bar percent|[[Herero people|Herero]]|yellow|7}} {{bar percent|[[Damara people|Damara]]|blue|7}} {{bar percent|[[Nama people|Nama]]|orange|5}} {{bar percent|[[Lozi people|Lozi]]|grey|4}} {{bar percent|[[San people|San]]|pink|3}} {{bar percent|[[Tswana people|Tswana]]|cyan|0.5}} }} Namibia has many ethnic groups. The majority of the Namibian population is of [[Bantu peoples|Bantu]]-speaking origin—mostly of the [[Ovambo people|Ovambo]] ethnicity, which forms about half of the population—residing mainly in the north of the country, although many are now resident in towns throughout Namibia. They also include the [[Lozi people]] and [[Kavango people]]. Other ethnic groups are the [[Herero people|Herero]] and [[Himba people]], who speak a similar language, and the [[Damara (people)|Damara]], who speak the same "click" language as the [[Nama people|Nama]]. {{As of|2022}} Herero and Nama peoples make up less than 10% of the population, but at the beginning of the 20th century and before the [[Herero and Nama genocide]], they made up a majority.<ref name="genocide">{{Cite web |url=https://www.spiegel.de/international/world/it-s-as-if-we-never-existed-namibia-continues-seeking-justice-for-germany-s-colonial-era-genocide-a-57e3dbc5-8f51-476a-a692-bf2b036fcfc0 |work=[[Der Spiegel]] |date=2022-11-10 |accessdate=2022-11-10 |lang=en |last1=Popp |first1=Maximilian |last2=Riedmann |first2=Bernhard |title=Namibia Continues Seeking Justice for Germany's Colonial-Era Genocide}}</ref> The largest ten ethnic groups are Aakwanyama, Aandonga, Ovaherero, Damara, Aakwambi, Vakwangali, Nama, Aambalantu, Vakavango, and Aangandjera.<ref>https://census.nsanamibia.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/2023-Population-and-Housing-Census-Main-Report-28-Oct-2024.pdf</ref> In addition to the Bantu majority, there are large groups of [[Khoisan|San]], who are descendants of the original culture of Southern Africa, as well as Nama who are descendants of the above as well as mixed with colonists. They often speak [[Khoekhoe language|Khoekhoegowab]]. The country also contains some [[Angolans in Namibia|descendants of refugees from Angola]]. There are also two smaller groups of people with mixed racial origins, called "[[Coloured people in Namibia|Coloureds]]" (2,1%) and "[[Baster]]s" (1,5%).<ref>https://census.nsanamibia.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/2023-Population-and-Housing-Census-Main-Report-28-Oct-2024.pdf</ref> There is a substantial [[Chinese people in Namibia|Chinese minority in Namibia]]; it stood at 40,000 in 2006.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.migrationinformation.org/Feature/display.cfm?id=690 |title=China and Africa: Stronger Economic Ties Mean More Migration |author=Malia Politzer |publisher=Migration Information Source |date=August 2008 |access-date=10 September 2013}}</ref> [[White Namibians|Whites]] (mainly of [[Afrikaner people|Afrikaner]], German, British and [[Portuguese people|Portuguese]] origin) make up 1,8% of the population, according to the 2023 Population and Housing Census.<ref>https://census.nsanamibia.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/2023-Population-and-Housing-Census-Main-Report-28-Oct-2024.pdf</ref> Although their proportion of the population decreased after [[Independence of Namibia|independence]] due to emigration and lower birth rates, they still form the second-largest population of [[Ethnic groups in Europe|European ancestry]], both in terms of percentage and actual numbers, in [[Sub-Saharan Africa]] (after South Africa/Angola).<ref name=CIA>{{CIA World Factbook |article=Namibia |year=2009 |access-date=23 January 2010}}</ref> The majority of [[White Namibians|Namibian whites]] and nearly all those who are of [[Basters|mixed race]], speak [[Afrikaans]] and share similar origins, culture, and religion as the white and coloured populations of South Africa. A large minority of whites (around 30,000) trace their family origins back to the [[German Namibians|German]] settlers who colonised Namibia prior to the British confiscation of German lands after World War I, and they maintain German cultural and educational institutions. Nearly all Portuguese settlers came to the country from the former [[Portuguese West Africa|Portuguese colony]] of Angola.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.economist.com/world/mideast-africa/displayStory.cfm?story_id=12079340 |title=Flight from Angola |newspaper=The Economist |date=16 August 1975 |access-date=10 September 2013}}</ref> The 1960 census reported 526,004 persons in what was then South West Africa, including 73,464 whites (14%).<ref>{{Cite book |last=Singh |first= Lalita Prasad |title = The United Nations and Namibia |publisher=East African Publishing House |year = 1980}}</ref>
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