Namibias Independence essays

Namibia's Independence essays Namibia is a country on the southwestern tip of Africa. The geography of Namibia has shaped its course through history. Characterized by two deserts, it was assumed Namibia had little to offer. Despite its low population when Germany took it as a colony in the early 1900s, it still bitterly revolted. Likewise, when South Africa began an attempt at cheap migrant workers for the regions diamond and gold mines, nationalist sentiment caused Namibia to fight for its freedom. Freedom was a long and hard struggle, but after overcoming many hard trials, the country of Namibia gained its independence from external powers in 1990. Namibias earliest occupants were the San people (also known as bushmen). They lived in the area now know as Namibia as early as 8000 BC. Although they were the first inhabitants, they were eventually pushed aside by Bantu-speakers, who, with the advanced technology of iron working for them, pushed the bushmen into the Kalahari. The Bantu-speakers spread throughout the country, and had varied governments in various places. There were villages with chiefs, kingdoms with hereditary succession, and cattle-raisers. These various people occasionally traded goods and had various conflicts with each other. Portuguese sailors placed a cross on the shores of Namibia in 1484 AD, but few Europeans actual began to explore the country until 1650, when the Dutch East Indies Company briefly explored it. The major problem Europeans had was the Skeleton Coast, which took many ships and sailors to their doom. In the 1700s several whaling and sealing ships frequented the area, but there were few European settlers in the area. The early 1800s were when Europeans and Americans stepped up their trading with Namibia for ivory and cattle. The discovery of diamonds in the 1850s brought a veritable flood of miners and traders. Several countries had commercial interests in Namibia by the 1880...