Namibia Environment - 2022

GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES 

Environment - current issues

depletion and degradation of water and aquatic resources; desertification; land degradation; loss of biodiversity and biotic resources; wildlife poaching

Environment - international agreements

party to: Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Climate Change-Paris Agreement, Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands

signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

Air pollutants

particulate matter emissions: 22.59 micrograms per cubic meter (2016 est.)

carbon dioxide emissions: 4.23 megatons (2016 est.)

methane emissions: 10.4 megatons (2020 est.)

Climate

desert; hot, dry; rainfall sparse and erratic

Land use

agricultural land: 47.2% (2018 est.)

arable land: 1% (2018 est.)

permanent crops: 0% (2018 est.)

permanent pasture: 46.2% (2018 est.)

forest: 8.8% (2018 est.)

other: 44% (2018 est.)

Urbanization

urban population: 54.9% of total population (2023)

rate of urbanization: 3.64% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)

total population growth rate v. urban population growth rate, 2000-2030

Revenue from forest resources

forest revenues: 0.47% of GDP (2018 est.)

Revenue from coal

coal revenues: 0% of GDP (2018 est.)

Major infectious diseases

degree of risk: high (2020)

food or waterborne diseases: bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever

vectorborne diseases: malaria

water contact diseases: schistosomiasis

Food insecurity

severe localized food insecurity: due to localized shortfalls in cereal production and rising food prices - cereal production increased in 2022 and this is expected to have a positive impact on food security, however, rising prices of basic foods is likely to limit a more substantial improvement (2022)

Waste and recycling

municipal solid waste generated annually: 256,729 tons (1993 est.)

municipal solid waste recycled annually: 11,553 tons (2005 est.)

percent of municipal solid waste recycled: 4.5% (2005 est.)

Major rivers (by length in km)

Zambezi (shared with Zambia [s]), Angola, Botswana, Zimbabwe, and Mozambique [m]) - 2,740 km; Orange river mouth (shared with Lesotho [s], and South Africa) - 2,092 km; Okavango (shared with Angola [s], and Botswana [m]) - 1,600 km
note – [s] after country name indicates river source; [m] after country name indicates river mouth

Major watersheds (area sq km)

Atlantic Ocean drainage: Orange (941,351 sq km)
Indian Ocean drainage: Zambezi (1,332,412 sq km)
Internal (endorheic basin) drainage: Okavango Basin (863,866 sq km)

Major aquifers

Lower Kalahari-Stampriet Basin, Upper Kalahari-Cuvelai-Upper Zambezi Basin

Total water withdrawal

municipal: 73 million cubic meters (2017 est.)

industrial: 14 million cubic meters (2017 est.)

agricultural: 201 million cubic meters (2017 est.)

Total renewable water resources

39.91 billion cubic meters (2017 est.)

NOTE: The information regarding Namibia on this page is re-published from the 2022 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency and other sources. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Namibia 2022 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Namibia 2022 should be addressed to the CIA or the source cited on each page.