Talk:Namibia

Formatting and language conventions For articles about Namibia, please use the 24-hour clock to show times, e.g. 09:00-12:00 and 18:00-00:00. Please show prices in this format: N$100 and not 100 N$ or NAD100. Although "$" is commonly used to denote the local currency, Wikivoyage use "N$" for clarity. Please use British spelling (colour, travelled, centre, realise, analogue, programme, defence).

General

For future reference the Project:CIA World Factbook 2002 import can be found at Talk:Namibia/CIA World Factbook 2002 import.

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Really excellent start! I'm so glad to see someone doing good work on Africa. Keep up the good work! (WT-en) Majnoona 23:43, 31 Jan 2004 (EST)

Uh... ditto. (Dang it, Maj! You always have better encouragements than I do!!!). --(WT-en) Evan 03:05, 1 Feb 2004 (EST)

Regions/Hierarchy

The current Namibian regions does not make a lot of sense from a travelers point of view. I'd suggest we a change to the following:

• Caprivi Strip
• Northern Namibia
• Central Namibia
• Southern Namibia
• Skeleton Coast

Though slightly differently named, this will also fit better with the official Namibian Tourism board regions rather than the political divisions --(WT-en) Nick 16:28, 13 March 2008 (EDT)

Hierarchy again

Hi all, like the poster above me some 10 years ago, I'm not happy with the first-level hierarchy of this article. Particularly the definition of Central Namibia seems to be arbitrary. I can expand on my critique, but maybe the following is sufficient:

• When Namibians refer to "the North", or "Northern Namibia", they mean the Four-O regions (Oshana, Oshikoto, Ohangwena, Omusati), and not what currently is defined as Northern Namibia,
• The current southern border of "Central Namibia" cuts right through the Namib-Naukluft-Park,
• The Hardap Region in common parlance is in central Namibia, not Southern,
• The regions currently are too large to be useful.

The administrative division of Namibia with 14 regions

I suggest to have the first-level division analogous to the real administrative division, as follows:

1. Caprivi (current Zambezi Region)
2. Kavango (current Kavango East and Kavango West)
3. Northern Namibia or former Ovamboland or politically most correct, Four-O region (Oshana, Oshikoto, Ohangwena, Omusati)
4. Kunene
5. Otjozondjupa
6. Omaheke
7. Erongo
8. Khomas
9. Hardap
10. ǁKaras

Many existing travel guides have a similar ordering. It also coincides much better with the existing cultural / ethnical separation (Four-O exclusively Ovambo, Kunene is Ovahimba, Erongo Damara, Otjozondjupa and Omaheke Ovaherero and San, and so on). I can give more reasons if required, but let me leave it at that for now. Please comment! Pgallert (talk) 12:46, 23 December 2018 (UTC)

I'm perfectly happy for you to reorder the regional structure of the country this way. Ikan Kekek (talk) 15:19, 23 December 2018 (UTC)

I will trust your judgement as a Namibian to reorganise the hierarchy in the way outlined above.--ThunderingTyphoons! (talk) 16:10, 23 December 2018 (UTC)

2 weeks, 2 supports, no oppose. I'll take that as consensus and go ahead. --Pgallert (talk) 12:07, 6 January 2019 (UTC)

Please do that.--ThunderingTyphoons! (talk) 14:18, 6 January 2019 (UTC)

Caprivi

Kavango

Four-O region

Kunene

Otjozondjupa

Omaheke

Erongo

Khomas

Hardap

ǁKaras

@Pgallert: I went ahead and made a dynamic map of the regions you proposed—here it is. —Granger (talk · contribs) 02:17, 18 February 2019 (UTC)

@Mx. Granger: Fantastic, thank you! As you can see from the redlinks, I'm not quite done yet, but I haven't forgotten. Currently travelling again, though... Cheers, Pgallert (talk) 08:15, 18 February 2019 (UTC)

Okay! I'm happy to see the progress and glad you haven't forgotten. Enjoy your trip! —Granger (talk · contribs) 08:39, 18 February 2019 (UTC)

Hi all! (@Mx. Granger: @Ikan Kekek: @ThunderingTyphoons!:) I have now completed the new regions and updated the Namibia page. I will link the previous division back to Namibia; I distributed all useful content to the new regions. There is still a technical problem with my page move from Northern Namibia to Four-O region, as I get the message "... Your move should now be reflected in the Wikidata item language link. We ask that you check this has occurred." I'm not quite sure what to do here. Can someone please assist? Thanks, Pgallert (talk) 17:13, 16 March 2019 (UTC)

@Pgallert: The Wikidata item (accessible on the sidebar of any page) does reflect the new name in its sitelinks section, so all is well. ARR8 (talk | contribs) 17:20, 16 March 2019 (UTC)

Nice job, Peter! Dankeschön, ThunderingTyphoons! (talk) 19:06, 16 March 2019 (UTC)

Thanks for your great work! Ikan Kekek (talk) 22:05, 16 March 2019 (UTC)

"Informal areas"

@Pgallert: What do you mean by an "informal area", regarding the sale of alcohol on Sundays? --ThunderingTyphoons! (talk) 16:45, 27 December 2018 (UTC)

Hi ThunderingTyphoons! Informal areas, or "locations", are places where most houses are of metal sheets instead of bricks, where there's little sanitation or infrastructure. Most outsiders would call them slums, but that's considered offensive in Namibia. Any idea for a somewhat neutral word? --Pgallert (talk) 17:41, 29 December 2018 (UTC)

How about W:Shantytowns? If Namibians use the terms "informal areas" and "locations", then so should this article as the traveller will likely come across them, but they do need to be explained as they aren't used in that way for any other dialect of English that I know of. Thanks for replying. --ThunderingTyphoons! (talk) 18:56, 29 December 2018 (UTC)

I can put in a sentence of two under ===Respect=== explaining the terms. However, that would be further down the page than ==Drink==. Or should the explanation be at the first occurrence of 'location'? Thanks, Pgallert (talk) 06:27, 30 December 2018 (UTC)

Fair question. I would certainly put (shantytown) in brackets after the first occurrence of "location" or "informal area", and then any other time when the meaning may not be clear, but you can leave the explanation for 'Respect'.--ThunderingTyphoons! (talk) 08:42, 30 December 2018 (UTC)

Sounds good. Not sure if I'll manage this year ;) as we're preparing for our next trip, though. --Pgallert (talk) 18:01, 30 December 2018 (UTC)

Happy New Year, and enjoy your trip! Ikan Kekek (talk) 18:15, 30 December 2018 (UTC)

So we have to wait until 2019? Unacceptable! Bon voyage :-) --ThunderingTyphoons! (talk) 18:36, 30 December 2018 (UTC)

Done I think. Happy New Year to everyone! Do have a look, please, if it is comprehensible now. --Pgallert (talk) 11:01, 5 January 2019 (UTC)

12-hour or 24-hour clock?

Which is more commonly used? Ground Zero (talk) 18:16, 3 December 2019 (UTC)

Both are used, with the 24-hours probably a bit more common. In any case, if using the 12-hour clock it is done without the AM and PM and rather an explaining phrase like "11 at night". Cheers, Pgallert (talk) 18:46, 28 December 2019 (UTC)

Danke, Peter ;) I suggest we use the 24-hour clock in articles relating to Namibia.--ThunderingTyphoons! (talk) 19:10, 28 December 2019 (UTC)

Makes sense. All public notice boards use 24 hours, anyway. --Pgallert (talk) 19:32, 28 December 2019 (UTC)

Thanks, Peter and TT. Ground Zero (talk) 20:52, 28 December 2019 (UTC)

Afrikaans

I really appreciate the updates in this article today, but is this really a difference from South Africa?

For example, in South Africa a black South African may choose to speak English rather than Afrikaans (as a political choice) whereas among Namibia's mixed-race population (who call themselves 'coloured' in Namibia and South Africa) Afrikaans is a proud part of their culture

Isn't that true of many Coloureds in South Africa, too? Ikan Kekek (talk) 02:10, 19 February 2022 (UTC)