During the apartheid era, the territory was used by the South African army as a launch-pad for its operations in neighbouring Angola, and against Swapo guerrillas. The Caprivi region has a population of just over 90 000. The region includes the whole of Mbukushu, Western Caprivi and Eastern Caprivi districts. Parts of the region become inundated during the rainy season, and swamps are widespread. This inevitably is a major determinant of population distribution, which is geographically uneven.
Concentrations are lowest along the rivers and in the immediate vicinity of swamps.
Most of Western Caprivi comprises of a national park from which the traditional inhabitants were removed. The region has tremendous tourism potential and with the tarring of the Trans-Caprivi highway tourist traffic has increased. The region's isolation from the rest of Namibia, coupled with traditional linkages, results in a high degree of cross-border interaction and trade with Zambia and Botswana. Until this week the region had been peaceful since independence, despite some tensions among the main groups - the maSubia and the Mafwe. It was only last year that the Caprivi Liberation Army emerged as a separatist group led by maverick politician Mishake Muyongo, with the support of his relative - the then Mafwe chief Boniface Mamili.