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Southern Africa's earliest inhabitants were the San, a nomadic people organised in extended family groups who could adapt to even the severest terrain. San communities later came under pressure from Khoi-Khoi groups. The Khoi-Khoi were a tribal people who raised livestock rather than hunted, and who were among the first pottery makers in the archaeological record books. They came from the south, gradually displacing the San, and remained in control of Namibia until around AD 1500. Descendants of the Khoi-Khoi and San people still live in the country, but few have retained their original lifestyles. Between 2300 and 2400 years ago, the first Bantus appeared on the plateaus of south-central Namibia. Their arrival marked the first tribal structures in southern African societies. Other tribes either retreated to the desert or the swamps of the Okavango Delta, or were enslaved into Bantu society.
Because Namibia has one of the world's most barren and inhospitable coastlines, it was largely ignored by European explorers. The first European visitors were Portuguese mariners seeking a way to the Indies in the late 15th century. However, they confined their activities in Namibia to erecting stone crosses at certain points along the coast as navigational guides. It wasn't until the end of the 19th century that Namibia was annexed by Germany, with the exception of the enclave of Walvis Bay, which was taken in 1878 by the British for the Cape Colony.
In 1904, the Herero people launched a rebellion against German colonists, but it was brutally put down with 60,000 Herero's killed. Meanwhile, diamonds had been discovered east of Lüderitz - German authorities branded the area between Lüderitz and the Orange River a sperrgebiet, or 'forbidden area'.
Following WWI, South Africa was given a mandate by the League of Nations to rule the territory (aka South-West Africa). After WWII, the UN renewed the mandate but refused to sanction the outright annexation of Namibia by South Africa. Tightening its grip on the territory, the South African government granted parliamentary representation to the white population in 1949. Namibia's viable farmland was parcelled into farms owned by white settlers, while black workers were confined by law to 'reserves'.
This led to the development of nationalism in the late 50s. During this time, political parties formed and later merged into the South West Africa People's Organisation (Swapo). They took the issue of South African occupation to the International Court of Justice in 1966.
The outcome was inconclusive, but the UN General Assembly voted to terminate South Africa's mandate and set up the Council for South West Africa to administer the territory. The council's failure to establish an internal government made it easy for South Africa to assert control, refusing to cooperate unless Cuban troops were withdrawn from Angola. Swapo intensified its guerrilla activities, restricting movement in the north.
In 1988, a UN-sponsored deal ensured Cuban troops left Angola if South African troops left Namibia. The 1989 elections saw a clear Swapo victory. A constitution was adopted and independence granted under the presidency of Swapo leader, Sam Nujoma.
In 1998, Nujoma tied Namibia's currency to the South African rand. In 1999, Namibia agreed to let Angola attack UNITA (National Union for the Total Independence of Angola) rebels from its land, thrusting Namibia into an enduring civil war.
In 2001, the President declared homosexuals to be immoral, and the Prime Minister asserted that black Africans accept that whites were a part of the continent. It was also revealed that members of the armed forces owned interests in diamond mines in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where Namibian forces were fighting rebel forces.
Although President Nujoma supported Robert Mugabe's forcible possessions of white farms in Zimbabwe, he adopted a more concilatory approach to land reform, condemning illegal land seizures. By 2003, 15 farm invasions were averted when a black farmhands' union came to an agreement with white farmers.
In 2004, President Sam Nujoma finally stepped down as president after 15 years in office. His successor is Hifikepunye Pohamba - another Swapo veteran - who won 77% of the vote.
In 2006, expropriation of farms became compulsory and 18 orders were filed against white farmers, although the government still maintains that the rule of law will be obeyed.
