Administrative divisions of Namibia

National Assembly

.

History

Before the

German South-West Africa during the time of colonialisation by the German Empire

(1885-1915).

During the

constituencies.^[2]

Delimitation Commissions

Delimitation Commissions are three-member bodies appointed by the president that make suggestions as to how Namibia should be administratively divided, considering only geographical changes like population grow and migration but not discriminating by ethnic factors. They are mentioned in articles 102-104 of the constitution, and they are to sit approximately once every ten years,^[3] although they sat more frequently before 2002.

The chairman of the Delimitation Commission must be a judge at either a High Court or the Supreme Court. This judge and the other two commission members are appointed by the president, subject to the approval of Parliament.^[3]

The four Delimitation Commissions of Namibia so far are:^[2]

Commission	Formed	Members	Decisions
1st	1990	Judge President Johan Strydom Martin Shipanga Gerhard Tötemeyer	Namibia divided into 13 Regions and 95 constituencies Regions formally enacted by the Regional Councils Act of 1992
2nd	1998	Judge JP Karuaihe Samuel Mbambo Lazarus Hangula	Okavango Region renamed to Kavango Region Number of constituencies raised to 102 Several boundary changes
3rd	2002	Judge Peter Shivute Inge Murangi Peter Kauluma	Number of constituencies raised to 107
4th	2013	Judge Jonathan Steytler	Kavango Region split into Kavango East and Kavango West Number of constituencies raised to 121 Caprivi Region renamed to Zambezi Region Karas Region renamed to ǁKaras Region Several boundary changes Several constituency name changes^[4]^[5]

Current administrative division

The current administrative division of Namibia is the result of the work of the Fourth Delimitation Commission, tabled in 2013. Namibia is divided into 14 regions and 121 constituencies.^[5]

References

^ "Namibia: Apartheid, resistance and repression (1945-1966)". Electoral Institute for the Sustainability of Democracy in Africa. August 2009. Archived from the original on 20 April 2011. Retrieved 15 April 2011.
^ ^a ^b "Composition of the Delimitation Commissions and the major decisions made from 1990 to present". Election Watch (1). Institute for Public Policy Research: 2. 2013.
^ ^a ^b "Delimitation Underway". Election Watch (1). Institute for Public Policy Research: 1. 2013.
^ "Creation of new regions and division and re-division of certain regions into constituencies: Regional Councils Act, 1992". Government Gazette of the Republic of Namibia. No. 5261. Government of Namibia. 9 August 2013. pp. 23, 39. Archived from the original (pdf) on 27 April 2021. Retrieved 25 May 2021.
^ ^a ^b Nakale, Albertina (9 August 2013). "President divides Kavango into two". New Era. allafrica.com.

[EISA-1] "Namibia: Apartheid, resistance and repression (1945-1966)". Electoral Institute for the Sustainability of Democracy in Africa. August 2009. Archived from the original on 20 April 2011. Retrieved 15 April 2011.

[composition-2] "Composition of the Delimitation Commissions and the major decisions made from 1990 to present". Election Watch (1). Institute for Public Policy Research: 2. 2013.

[underway-3] "Delimitation Underway". Election Watch (1). Institute for Public Policy Research: 1. 2013.

[4] "Creation of new regions and division and re-division of certain regions into constituencies: Regional Councils Act, 1992". Government Gazette of the Republic of Namibia. No. 5261. Government of Namibia. 9 August 2013. pp. 23, 39. Archived from the original (pdf) on 27 April 2021. Retrieved 25 May 2021.

[split-5] Nakale, Albertina (9 August 2013). "President divides Kavango into two". New Era. allafrica.com.

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