Grootfontein

Apr 27, 2026 - 17:05
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Grootfontein

create history and geography sections, dissolving "overview". Add historic population table. Improve 1 ref

← Previous revision Revision as of 11:34, 27 April 2026
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|population_as_of = 2023
|population_as_of = 2023
|population_footnotes =
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|population_footnotes = nsa>{{cite web | title=Table 4.2.2 Urban population by Census years (2001 and 2011) | url=http://cms.my.na/assets/documents/p19dmn58guram30ttun89rdrp1.pdf | work=Namibia 2011 - Population and Housing Census Main Report | publisher=Namibia Statistics Agency | access-date=24 August 2016 | page=39}}{{cite web|url=https://nsa.nsa.org.na/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Preliminary-Report-doc-fn.pdf |title=2023 Population & Housing Census Preliminary Report|website=Statistics Namibia| df=dmy }}
|population_note =
|population_note =
|population_total = 26,839
|population_total = 26,839
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}} with 26,839 inhabitants in the [[Otjozondjupa Region]] of central [[Namibia]]. It is one of the three towns in the Otavi Triangle, situated on the [[B8 road (Namibia)|B8 national road]] that leads from [[Otavi]] to the [[Caprivi Strip]].
}} with 26,839 inhabitants in the [[Otjozondjupa Region]] of central [[Namibia]]. It is one of the three towns in the Otavi Triangle, situated on the [[B8 road (Namibia)|B8 national road]] that leads from [[Otavi]] to the [[Caprivi Strip]].


==Overview==
==History==
The place was known to the [[Herero people|Herero]] under the name ''Otjivanda''.{{cite news | title=Windhoek?! Rather make that Otjomuise | url=https://www.namibian.com.na/16007/archive-read/Windhoek-Rather-make-that-Otjomuise | last=Menges | first=Werner | newspaper=[[The Namibian]] | date=12 May 2005}} In 1885, 40 [[Boer]] families from the north-west of [[South Africa]] settled at Grootfontein. Part of the [[Dorsland trek]]kers, they were heading towards [[Angola]]. When that territory fell under [[Portugal|Portuguese]] control, they turned back and established the [[Upingtonia|Republic of Upingtonia]] at Grootfontein. Abandoned by 1887, it became the headquarters of the [[South West Africa Company]] in 1893.
The place was known to the [[Herero people|Herero]] under the name ''Otjivanda''.{{cite news | title=Windhoek?! Rather make that Otjomuise | url=https://www.namibian.com.na/16007/archive-read/Windhoek-Rather-make-that-Otjomuise | last=Menges | first=Werner | newspaper=[[The Namibian]] | date=12 May 2005}} In 1885, 40 [[Boer]] families from the north-west of [[South Africa]] settled at Grootfontein. Part of the [[Dorsland trek]]kers, they were heading towards [[Angola]]. When that territory fell under [[Portugal|Portuguese]] control, they turned back and established the [[Upingtonia|Republic of Upingtonia]] at Grootfontein. Abandoned by 1887, it became the headquarters of the [[South West Africa Company]] in 1893.


In 1908, the [[Roman Catholic church]] established a [[Mission (station)|mission]] in Grootfontein as the basis of their eventually successful attempt to establish missions in [[Kavango Region|Kavango]].{{cite book |title= Sata vuotta suomalaista lähetystyötä 1859–1959. II: Suomen Lähetysseuran Afrikan työn historia |trans-title= ‘One Hundred Years of Finnish Missionary Work 1859–1959. II: The History of FMS’s Missionary Work in Africa’ |last= Peltola |first= Matti |year=1958 |publisher=The Finnish Missionary Society |location=Helsinki |page=217 }}
In 1908, the [[Roman Catholic church]] established a [[Mission (station)|mission]] in Grootfontein as the basis of their eventually successful attempt to establish missions in [[Kavango Region|Kavango]].{{cite book |title= Sata vuotta suomalaista lähetystyötä 1859–1959. II: Suomen Lähetysseuran Afrikan työn historia |trans-title= ‘One Hundred Years of Finnish Missionary Work 1859–1959. II: The History of FMS’s Missionary Work in Africa’ |last= Peltola |first= Matti |year=1958 |publisher=The Finnish Missionary Society |location=Helsinki |page=217 }}


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{{Historical populations|2001|14,249|2011|16,632|2023|26,839|percentages=pagr|align=none|footnote=Sources:nsa2011>{{cite web | title=4.2.2 Urban population by Census years (2001 and 2011) | url=http://cms.my.na/assets/documents/p19dmn58guram30ttun89rdrp1.pdf | work=Namibia 2011 - Population and Housing Census Main Report | publisher=[[Namibia Statistics Agency]] | access-date=10 February 2026 | page=39}} name=nsa2023>{{cite web | title=4.5 Population by town and census years (2011 and 2023) | url=https://nsa.org.na/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/2023-Population-and-Housing-Census-Main-Report-28-Oct-2024.pdf | work=Namibia 2023 - Population and Housing Census. Main Report | publisher=[[Namibia Statistics Agency]] | access-date=10 February 2026 | pages=33–34}}}}
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Like all the towns in the Otavi Triangle, Grootfontein is green in summer but drier in winter. In spring, [[jacaranda]] and [[Royal Poinciana|flamboyant trees]] bloom in profusion. The town has an old German [[Schutztruppe]] fortress from the year 1896, which today houses a [[museum]] that expounds on the local history. The economic mainspring of the area were for many decades the Berg Aukas and [[Abenab]] mines to the north east of the town. These produced [[zinc]] and [[vanadium]] but have since closed. Namibia is a [[Dolomite (rock)|dolomite]] country and the [[carbonate]] deposits in the upper parts of the mine have yielded interesting [[fossil]]s of [[simian]] or [[pongoid]] creatures that lived millions of years before modern humans evolved.
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[[File:Hoba Meteorite 2007.jpg|thumb|left|Hoba Meteorite 2007]]
⚫
Twenty-four kilometres west of Grootfontein lies the huge [[Hoba meteorite]]. At more than 60 tons, it is the largest known [[meteorite]] on Earth, as well as the largest naturally occurring mass of iron known to exist on the planet's surface.


==Economy and infrastructure==
==Economy and infrastructure==
The economic mainspring of the area were for many decades the Berg Aukas and [[Abenab]] mines to the north east of the town. These produced [[zinc]] and [[vanadium]] but have since closed.

===Transport===
===Transport===
[[File:Grootfontein Airport (2018).jpg|thumb|Military Airport and the town beyond|left]]
[[File:Grootfontein Airport (2018).jpg|thumb|Military Airport and the town beyond|left]]
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===Agriculture===
===Agriculture===
''The Grootfontein Show'', an annual agricultural exhibition that has taken place since 1911,{{cite news | url=https://allafrica.com/stories/201109230986.html | archive-url=https://archive.today/20130221051202/http://www.newera.com.na/article.php?articleid=40818 | url-status=live | url-access=subscription | archive-date=21 February 2013 | title=Onÿarata @ Grootfontein Show centenary while The Wire storm the coastal towns | date=23 September 2011 |newspaper=[[New Era (Namibia)|New Era]] | publisher=via allafrica.com}} is the second largest annual entrepreneurial exhibition in the country, after the [[Windhoek Show]].{{cite news
''The Grootfontein Show'', an annual agricultural exhibition that has taken place since 1911,{{cite news
|url = http://www.newera.com.na/article.php?articleid=40818
|archive-url = https://archive.today/20130221051202/http://www.newera.com.na/article.php?articleid=40818
|url-status = usurped
|archive-date = 21 February 2013
|title = Onÿarata @ Grootfontein Show centenary while The Wire storm the coastal towns
|date = 23 September 2011
|newspaper = [[New Era (Namibia)|New Era]]
}} is the second largest annual entrepreneurial exhibition in the country, after the [[Windhoek Show]].{{cite news
|url=https://www.namibian.com.na/archive19982004/2004/september/national/046B5E1F0B.html
|url=https://www.namibian.com.na/archive19982004/2004/september/national/046B5E1F0B.html
|title=Farmer dies at Show
|title=Farmer dies at Show
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}}
}}


== Climate ==
==Geography==
⚫
Like all the towns in the Otavi Triangle, Grootfontein is green in summer but drier in winter. In spring, [[jacaranda]] and [[Royal Poinciana|flamboyant trees]] bloom in profusion. The town has an old German [[Schutztruppe]] fortress from the year 1896, which today houses a [[museum]] that expounds on the local history. Namibia is a [[Dolomite (rock)|dolomite]] country and the [[carbonate]] deposits in the upper parts of the mine have yielded interesting [[fossil]]s of [[simian]] or [[pongoid]] creatures that lived millions of years before modern humans evolved.
⚫
[[File:Hoba Meteorite 2007.jpg|thumb|left|Hoba Meteorite 2007]]
⚫
Twenty-four kilometres west of Grootfontein lies the huge [[Hoba meteorite]]. At more than 60 tons, it is the largest known [[meteorite]] on Earth, as well as the largest naturally occurring mass of iron known to exist on the planet's surface.

===Climate===
Grootfontein receives an annual average rainfall of {{convert|557|mm}}, with a high of {{convert|956|mm|abbr=on}} in the 2010/2011 rainy season,{{cite news
Grootfontein receives an annual average rainfall of {{convert|557|mm}}, with a high of {{convert|956|mm|abbr=on}} in the 2010/2011 rainy season,{{cite news
|url=http://www.namibian.com.na/news/full-story/archive/2011/may/article/rainy-season-was-one-for-the-record-books/
|url=http://www.namibian.com.na/news/full-story/archive/2011/may/article/rainy-season-was-one-for-the-record-books/
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