Namibian Geography

Namibia, the arid country in South western Africa has five distinct ecological zones. These zones vary in terms of rainfall, elevation, and community composition. The map below depicts these zones.

Namib Desert

    The Namib desert which spands more than 1000 miles down the country's western coast is considered one of the world's oldest and most arid deserts.  The Namib desert is known for having the tallest sand dunes in the world, but the northern portions have large gravel plains.    The sand in the desert varies from light yellow near the coast to dark red closer to the Great Escarpment. 

The Great Escarpment: 

  The Great Escarpment is a mountain range that separates the Namib from the Central plateau of the country. The mountains were created by uplift and reach up to 1000m high.  

The Central Plateau: 

   The Central Plateau is where most of the population lives including the capital.  In the Central Plateau the elevation is between 1000 and 2000 meters.

The Kalahari 
   The Kalahari, a famous "desert" teaming with wildlife and with bright red sand dunes is not actually a desert at all. There is too much rain for it to actually be considered a desert.  The Kalahari has more shrublike plants and bushes and foliage extends after wet times of the year. 

The Kavango-Caprivi Region

   The Kavango- Cavigi is mostly national parks and is a wet region that extends into Zambia.   It is mostly national parks. 
- Chris LeBoa