ONE LAND · 4 ATLASES
History of Namibia in maps
Namibia as it appears in 4 interactive history atlases, from 1890 to 1994: Namibia, German South-West Africa. Each era below lists who ruled the land and when control changed, linked to the dated map that shows it.
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What was Namibia before it was Namibia? Below, every era of this land in the Maps of History atlases — who ruled it, what it was called, and when control changed — each line linked to the dated map that shows it. Modern borders stand in as an honest approximation; every atlas says so on the map itself.
Namibia · Industrial Revolution
| Colony or dependency — the opening position | |
| Colony or dependency |
INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION: EVERY CHAPTER AND MAP →
German South-West Africa · WWI
| Germany and its allies — the Central Powers — the opening position | |
| Entente-aligned & imperial territories |
Namibia · Cold War
| US-aligned states — the opening position | |
| Non-aligned & neutral |
COLD WAR: EVERY CHAPTER AND MAP →
Namibia (South-West Africa) · Decolonization of Africa
South-West Africa was ruled by South Africa from 1915 in defiance of the UN, its people subjected to a version of apartheid. SWAPO’s guerrillas fought from 1966; independence came only in 1990, after the battle of Cuito Cuanavale forced Pretoria to trade Namibia for Cuban withdrawal from Angola. Africa’s last colony — freed by a stalemate in the Angolan bush, under UN supervision that became a model.
| Settler-minority rule — the opening position | |
| Independent Africa |
DECOLONIZATION OF AFRICA: EVERY CHAPTER AND MAP →
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