Namibia is divided into 14 regions and subdivided into 121 constituencies. Regional councillors are directly elected through secret ballots.
Tourism is a major contributor (14.5%) to Namibia's economy. It creates tens of thousands of jobs (18.2% of all employment). There are over a million tourists per year. The country is among the main tourist places in Africa. It is known for ecotourism which features Namibia's extensive wildlife.
There are many lodges and reserves for tourists. Sport Hunting is also a large, and growing part of the Namibian economy. It was 14% of total tourism in the year 2000. Namibia has numerous species wanted by international sport hunters. In addition, extreme sports such as sandboarding and 4x4ing have become popular. Many cities have companies that provide tours. The most visited places include the Caprivi Strip, Fish River Canyon, Sossusvlei, the Skeleton Coast Park, Sesriem, Etosha Pan and the coastal towns of Swakopmund, Walvis Bay and Lüderitz.
Namibia has required free education for 10 years between the ages of 6 and 16. Grades 1–7 are primary level, grades 8–12 secondary.
Most schools in Namibia are state-run. There are a few private schools. There are four teacher training colleges, three colleges of agriculture, a police training college, a Polytechnic at university level, and a National University.
The most popular sport in Namibia is football. The Namibia national football team qualified for the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations. They have yet to qualify for any World Cups. The Namibian rugby team has been in four separate World Cups. Namibia were participants in the 1999, 2003, 2007 and 2011 Rugby World Cups. Cricket is also popular. The national team played in the 2003 Cricket World Cup.
Inline Hockey was first played in 1995. It has become more and more popular in the last years. The Women's Inline Hockey National Team were in the 2008 FIRS World Championships. Namibia is the home for one of the toughest footraces in the world, the Namibian ultra marathon.
The most famous athlete from Namibia is certainly Frankie Fredericks, sprinter (100 and 200 m). He won four Olympic silver medals (1992, 1996). He also has medals from several World Athletics Championships. He is also known for humanitarian activities in Namibia and further.
Jubal Early
Jubal Anderson Early (November 3, 1816 – March 2, 1894) was a Confederate general in the American Civil War. He commanded a corps in Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia. He invaded the north in 1864. After the war, he was one of the major defenders of the Confederate.
Lewis Carroll
Lewis Carroll was the pen name of Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (Daresbury, Cheshire, 27 January 1832 – Guildford, Surrey, 14 January 1898). Dodgson was an Oxford don, a logician (mathematics expert), a writer, a poet, an Anglican clergyman, and a photographer. He is most famous for his story "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" which he told to a young friend, Alice Liddell, when he took the girl and two sisters on a boat trip. Alice enjoyed the story and asked Dodgson to write it down. Carroll then wrote a second story about Alice called "Through the Looking-Glass". Both stories are still popular all over the world.
Dodgson was a Fellow of Christ Church, Oxford, specialising in logic and mathematics. He wrote a number of books and pamphlets on the subject. He died of pneumonia in Guildford, Surrey.
1935
Belize
Belize (), formerly known as "British Honduras", is a country in Central America. It used to be called "British Honduras", but changed its name in 1973. Long before that it was part of the Mayan Empire. Belize is the only English-speaking country in Central America.
Some people in Belize speak Spanish or Kriol, but English is the official language and the most commonly spoken. This is because Belize is a former colony of the United Kingdom, while its neighbors were once colonies of Spain. Many people speak two languages. Belize is a melting pot of cultures.
More than three hundred and thirty thousand (374,681 (2017)) people live in Belize. Kriols make up about 21% of the Belizean people. Three Maya groups now live in the country: the Yucatec, the Mopan, and Kekchi. The Garinagu are a mix of African, Arawak, and Carib ancestry. There are also Mestizos.
Belmopan, which is near the centre of the country, is its capital. The first capital was Belize City. Other towns and cities include Belize City, Corozal Town, Orange Walk Town, Punta Gorda, Santa Elena/San Ignacio (known as the twin town) and San Pedro Town.
Belize is on the coast of the Caribbean Sea. There are about 450 islands. The largest island, Ambergris Caye, is forty kilometres long. Many other islands are very small. In the water around the islands are coral reefs.
The temperature along the coast is warm all year round. It typically ranges from 20 °C to 32 °C. Sometimes hurricanes hit, causing great damage.
Belize is on the Caribbean coast of northern Central America. It shares a border on the north with the Mexican state of Quintana Roo, on the west with the Guatemalan department of Petén, and on the south with the Guatemalan department of Izabal. To the east is the Caribbean Sea. The Belize Barrier Reef is along most of the of predominantly marshy coastline. Belize have the second largest living barrier reef in the world. The area of the country totals . There are many lagoons along the coasts and in the northern part of the country. This makes the actual land area smaller at .
The Hondo and the Sarstoon River make the northern and southern border.
The north of Belize is mostly flat, swampy coastal plains. In some places it is heavily forested. The south has the low mountain range of the Maya Mountains. The highest point in Belize is Doyle's Delight at . The Caribbean coast is lined with a coral reef and about 450 islets and islands.The islands are locally called cayes (pronounced "keys"). Three of only four coral atolls in the Western Hemisphere are off the coast of Belize.
Over 60% of Belize's land surface is covered by forest. 20% is covered by cultivated land (agriculture) and human settlements. There are also important mangrove ecosystems across Belize's landscape.
Belize is divided into 6 districts. The districts are shown below with their areas (in km) and number of people at the 2010 Census:
Total areas and number of people 22,964 – 312,971
These districts are further divided into 31 constituencies.
The largest communities as of 2017 are:
The Belize Defence Force (BDF) is the military. It is responsible for protecting Belize. In 1997, the regular army had over 900 people, the reserve army 381, the air wing 45 and the maritime wing 36. This amounts to an overall strength of about 1400. In 2005, the maritime wing became part of the Belizean Coast Guard. In the same year, the government spent $1.2 million on the military. This is 1.87% of the country's gross domestic product (GDP).
After Belize became independent in 1981 the United Kingdom kept some military in the country to protect it from invasion by Guatemala. The main British force left in 1994. This was three years after Guatemala said Belize was independent. The United Kingdom still keeps some military people in the country. In 2011 the base was only 10 soldiers due to British budget cuts. They hope to reopen the base later.