Namibia is a large country with very few people and very little inhabitable land. At 315,000 sq. miles it is roughly the size of New Mexico, Arizona and Colorado. There are fewer than 2 million inhabitants, clustered in the few agricultural regions north of the capital of Windhoek, and along the coast.

This is one of the most interesting African countries. It is composed mostly of the great Namib Desert, the oldest desert on earth, which includes the world's highest sand dunes at Sossusvlei. This formidable desert lies astride the world's coldest ocean, the Atlantic, and that gives rise to the "Skeleton Coast", the most turbulent coastline on earth.

The country produces many of the world's diamonds and has several important uranium mines. Tourism, though, is the only non-mineral industry of importance, and is growing rapidly. The desert ecologies and fabulous scenery are unique on the continent.