 Hybrid Flag of Namibia and Germany | |
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| c. 30,000 (c. third of White Namibians) | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Central and South Namibia | |
| Languages | |
| German, Afrikaans, English | |
| Religion | |
| Roman Catholic, Lutheran | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| White Namibians, Afrikaners, White South Africans, German South Africans |
German Namibians (German: Deutschnamibier) are a community of people descended from ethnic German colonists who settled in present-day Namibia. In 1883, the German trader Adolf Lüderitz bought what would become the southern coast of Namibia from Josef Frederiks II, a chief of the local Oorlam people, and founded the city of Lüderitz. The German government, eager to gain overseas possessions, annexed the territory soon after, proclaiming it German South West Africa (German: Deutsch-Südwestafrika). Small numbers of Germans subsequently immigrated there, many coming as soldiers (German: Schutztruppe), traders, diamond miners, or colonial officials. In 1915, during the course of World War I, Germany lost its colonial possessions, including South West Africa (see History of Namibia); after the war, the former German colony was administered as a South African mandate. Roughly half of the German settlers were allowed to remain and, until independence in 1990, German remained an official language of the territory alongside Afrikaans and English.