Namaqualand

Arid area on the southwest coast of Africa divided between Namibia and South Africa. Great Namaqualand is in the Kara district of Namibia, north of the Orange River, area 388,500 sq km/150,000 sq mi; sparsely populated by the Nama, a Khoikhoi people. Little Namaqualand is in Northern Cape Province, South Africa, south of the Orange River, area 52,000 sq km/20,000 sq mi; copper, diamonds, and rare earth minerals are mined here.

‘Namaqua’ is the plural of ‘Nama’, the name of the Khoikhoi people that lived here at the time of the first white settlement. In Little Namaqualand there are copper mines at O'okiep; the region is barren and is covered with rugged volcanic mountains. The chief town is Springbok. The land is arid, but well suited to karakul sheep and goats. The existence of copper in Namaqualand was known in the 17th century, and rich ore was brought back to the governor of the Cape Colony Simon van der Stel in 1681. The supply has declined in recent years. Diamonds have been found in the gravel beds near the mouth of the Orange River up to Port Nolloth. Gold was discovered on the Richterveld in 1934. The Steenkampskraal mine has one of the richest deposits of rare earth minerals in the world.