thumb|right|A [[waterfall situated a few kilometres north of Nieuwoudtville on the road to Loeriesfontein, in the Northern Cape (Namaqualand region)]]

thumb|Namaqualand, outside of the flower season

thumb|right|The spring flowers in Namaqualand

Namaqualand (Khoikhoi: "Nama-kwa" meaning Nama Khoi people's land) is an arid region of Namibia and South Africa, extending along the west coast over and covering a total area of . It is divided by the lower course of the Orange River into two portions – Little Namaqualand to the south and Great Namaqualand to the north.

Little Namaqualand is within the Namakwa District Municipality, forming part of Northern Cape Province, South Africa. It is geographically the largest district in the country, spanning over 26,836&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup>.

Great Namaqualand, in the Karas Region of Namibia, is sparsely populated by the Nama, a Khoikhoi people who have traditionally inhabited the Namaqualand region.

Tourism

thumb|[[Goegap Nature Reserve]]

The area’s landscape ranges from an unexploited coastal strip in the west to semidesert areas in the north-east. Famed for its proximity to the Atlantic Ocean, its wild flowers during spring, its wealth of minerals, and cultural history, Namaqualand is a popular region for international and local tourists. The Namakwa coastline and the banks of the Orange River are popular for their hiking trails and off-roading routes.

The Ai-Ais/Richtersveld Transfrontier Park, on the border of Namibia and South Africa, was known as the Richtersveld National Park in South Africa and the Ai-Ais Hot Springs Game Park in Namibia before the two parks were formally combined in August 2003. while a large mine extracting copper, lead, zinc, and silver is located at Aggeneys, further inland.

People

thumb|[[Nama people|Nama group in front of a hut, circa 1910]]

The region is known for its cultural history, which was preserved by the Nama and Khoisan tribes. The Nama people are a group of Khoikhoi people. Around 50% of the Nama population and 80% of the neighboring Herero population were brutally killed by the German Empire between 1904 and 1907 in a racial extermination during the Herero and Nama genocide. Nama people traditionally speak the Khoekhoe language.

Conservation

Community-based climate-adaptation and grazing-management projects in Namaqualand have been supported through the Community Adaptation Small Grants Facility, facilitated in the Namakwa area by Conservation South Africa.

See also

  • Letterklip
  • Mafuta
  • Namaqualand Railway

References

  • Namakwa Region – Northern Cape Tourism
  • Namakwa District Municipality