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Windhoek (pronounced "Wind hook" or German "Windhuk") is the capitol of Namibia, 22.56 deg S 17.09 deg E. It has a population of over 230,000 and the major port for Namibia.
Windhoek is situated in a semi-desert climatic region. Days are mostly warm with very hot days during the summer months, while nights are generally cool.
The winter months of June, July and August usually experience the least rainfall. Minimum temperatures range between 5°C (41°F) to 18°C (64°F). Nights are usually cold, although the temperature seldom drops below zero °C, and it almost never snows in Windhoek.
The city of Windhoek is traditionally known by two names: Ai-Gams, from the Nama people, which literally refers to the hot springs that were once part of Windhoek, while the second name, Otjomuise, meaning a place of steam, was given by the Herero people. Both traditional names reference the hot springs.
The early settlements of Windhoek came about because of the water from the hot springs. In the mid-1800's Captain Jan Jonker Afrianaer settled near one of the main hot springs, located in the present-day Klein-Windhoek, an upper-class suburb of Windhoek.
Theories vary on how Ai-Gams/Otjomuise got its modern name of Windhoek. Most believe the name Windhoek is derived from the Afrikaans word Wind-Hoek, meaning "corner of wind." It is also thought that the Afrikaners named Windhoek after the Windhoek Mountains, at Tulbagh in South Africa.
Present-day Windhoek was founded on 18 October 1890, when Von Francois lay the foundation stone of the fort, which is now known as the Alte Feste (Old Fortress). During the next fourteen years Windhoek developed slowly, with only the most essential government and private buildings being erected. In Klein-Windhoek, plots were allocated to settlers, who started farming on a small scale with fruit, tobacco and dairy cattle.
After 1907, development accelerated as people migrated from within country to the city of Windhoekand also some emigrated from outside the country. There was also a larger influx of western settlers arriving from Germany and South Africa. Businesses were erected on Kaiser Street, present Independence Avenue, and along the dominant mountain ridge over the city, including the three eye-catching castles.
In 1928, Kaiser Strasse, now Independence Avenue, was the first paved road in Windhoek. Ten years later the next one, Gobabis road, now Sam Nujoma Drive, was also paved. Today out of circ 40,000 Km's of Windhoek's total road network about 5000 kilometres is sealed.
Windhoek's three main access roads from Rehoboth, Gobabis, and Okahandja are paved, and are designed to be able to withstand the largest possible flood to be expected in fifty years. Sealed roads can carry traffic moving at 120 km/h and should last for 20 years.
Windhoek has two airports: Eros on its outskirts for smaller craft, and Windhoek Hosea Kitako International Airport 42 km east of the city. A number of foreign airlines operate to and from Windhoek. Air charters and helicopter and fixed-wing aircraft rentals are also available.
Windhoek is also served by public bus transportation routes throughout the city.
Hosea Kitako International Airport , situated 45 kilometres outside Windhoek, handles well over 400,000 passengers a year. The airport is Namibia's only international airport, and has one runway without capacity limitations. It directly connects bi-weekly to each of the following airports: London (Gatwick), Frankfurt, and Munich. Southern Africa's hub, Johannesburg, is only a two-hour flight away, from where it is possible to connect to over 50 cities. South African Airways, LTU, and Aair Namibia all have daily flights to Windhoek International Airport, whilst TAAG Angolan Airlines has bi-weekly turnarounds to Luanda.
Eros is the busiest airport in Namibia in terms of take offs and landings. This city airport handles around 12,000 individual flights a year, the majority of which are light aircraft. Primarily, limitations such as runway length, noise, and air space congestion have kept Eros from developing into a larger airport. Most of Namibia's charter operators have Eros as their base.
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