MAPS OF HISTORY · HISTORY OF · Namibia
ONE LAND · 3 ATLASES
Namibia, on the map of history
What was Namibia before it was Namibia? Below, every era of this land in the Maps of History collection — 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.
German South-West Africa · The Great War, 1914–1918
| NOV 1914 | The Central Powers — the opening position |
| DEC 1915 | Entente-aligned & imperial territories |
Namibia · The Cold War, 1945–1991
| AUG 1945 | US-aligned states — the opening position |
| DEC 1991 | Non-aligned & neutral |
OPEN THE COLD WAR ON THE LIVING MAP →
Namibia (South-West Africa) · The Decolonization of Africa, 1945–1994
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.
| 1945 | Settler-minority rule — the opening position |
| MAR 1990 | Independent Africa |
OPEN THE DECOLONIZATION OF AFRICA ON THE LIVING MAP →
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