Khorixas is a town of 6,000 inhabitants in southern Kunene Region

Kunene Region

Kunene is one of the thirteen regions of Namibia and home to the Himba ethnic group. Compared to the rest of Namibia, it is relatively underdeveloped...

, Namibia

Namibia

Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia , is a country in southern Africa whose western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and east. It gained independence from South Africa on 21 March...

. It was previously the capital of the Damaraland

Damaraland

Damaraland was a name given to the north-central part of what later became Namibia, inhabited by the Damaras. It was bounded roughly by Ovamboland in the north, the Namib Desert in the west, the Kalahari Desert in the east, and Windhoek in the south....

 bantustan

Bantustan

A bantustan was a territory set aside for black inhabitants of South Africa and South West Africa , as part of the policy of apartheid...

 prior to Namibia's independence. It is located in Khorixas Constituency

Khorixas Constituency

Khorixas is a constituency in Kunene Region, Namibia. The region's population is 10,906, its district capital is the town of Khorixas. The interesting name of this constituency comes from a derivation of the Khoekhoegowab word "Gorigas", which is a water bush that grows in the area. This area is...

. Most of the inhabitants are from the Damara

Damara

Damara may refer to:* Damara , breed of sheep* Damara , Namibian people* Damaraland, a region in Namibia* Damara , landlords of ancient Kashmir* Damara, Central African Republic, town...

 ethnic group. The town is located close to a petrified forest

Petrified Forest

A petrified forest is a forest in which tree trunks have fossilized as petrified wood.Petrified Forest may refer to:*Lake Macquarie Petrified Forest, Lake Macquarie, New South Wales, Australia*Mississippi Petrified Forest, Mississippi, United States...

 and the Twyfelfontein

Twyfelfontein

Twyfelfontein , officially known as ǀUi-ǁAis , is a site of ancient rock engravings in the Kunene Region of north-western Namibia...

 valley, known for its rock art

Rock art

Rock art is a term used in archaeology for any human-made markings made on natural stone. They can be divided into:*Petroglyphs - carvings into stone surfaces*Pictographs - rock and cave paintings...

.

The regional hospital and some other regional offices are still located in Khorixas, though the capital of Kunene Region is Opuwo

Opuwo

Opuwo is the capital of the Kunene Region in north-western Namibia. The town is situated about 720 km north-northwest from the capital Windhoek, and has a population of 5,100...

. There are six schools and one branch of University of Namibia

University of Namibia

The University of Namibia is the national university of Namibia, located in the Pioneers Park district of Windhoek. Established by an act of National Assembly on 31 August 1992, UNAM includes Colleges of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Economics & Management Science Education, Humanities and...

 (UNAM) in Khorixas, Versteende Wood as the biggest primary school and Cornelius Goreseb High School is the biggest secondary school. Other schools are: Eddie Bowe, Welwitchia Primary School, Welwitchia Secondary School and Th. F. ǃGaeb

Economics

As of 2009, Khorixas suffered from a lack of economic development and employment opportunities, which led to frustration and outward migration among many of the town's youth.

Politics

In February 2004, Mayor Gerson /Goagoseb and two other town councillors were dismissed from their positions by their party, the United Democratic Front

United Democratic Front (Namibia)

The United Democratic Front is a political party in Namibia. Justus Garoëb is the party's leader.-1989:The UDF received 37,874 votes in the 1989 election, which elected members to the Constituent Assembly of Namibia. The Constituent Assembly elected the first President and wrote Namibia's...

, a day after a government audit began on the town's financial dealings. In May 2005, UDF removed Marta Claasen as mayor following internal council elections in which she collaborated with SWAPO councillors in order for her to obtain the position of mayor. She was expelled from the party and replaced on the council by Efraim Gariseb. UDF had four seats on the local council and SWAPO had three. Immanuel //Garoeb, also of UDF, became acting mayor. Claasen later claimed that she was replaced because of her stance on corruption and mismanagement.

Local authority results, 2010

In the 2010 local authority election

Namibian local and regional elections, 2010

Namibia held elections for their local and regional councils on 26 and 27 November 2010. The terms of regional councillors and local authority representatives were originally set to expire in 2009...

, a total of 2,788 votes were cast in the town. UDF

United Democratic Front

*United Democratic Front *United Democratic Front *United Democratic Front , a political party in Malawi, which won the 2005 general election.*United Democratic Front *United Democratic Front...

 won with approximately 58% of the vote. Of the two other parties seeking votes in the election, SWAPO received approximately 39% of the vote, followed by RDP

Rally for Democracy and Progress (Namibia)

The Rally for Democracy and Progress is an opposition political party in Namibia. It was launched on November 17 2007 under the leadership of Hidipo Hamutenya and Jesaya Nyamu, both former leading members of the ruling SWAPO party and cabinet ministers. Hamutenya had unsuccessfully sought the SWAPO...

 (2%).

Climate

Khorixas has a semi-arid climate (BSh, according to the Köppen climate classification

Köppen climate classification

The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by Crimea German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen himself, notably in 1918 and 1936...

), with warm to hot summers and mild winters. It borders on a desert climate

Desert climate

A desert climate , also known as an arid climate, is a climate that does not meet the criteria to be classified as a polar climate, and in which precipitation is too low to sustain any vegetation at all, or at most a very scanty scrub.An area that features this climate usually experiences less than...

 (BWh). The average annual precipitation is 233 mm (9 in).

Sport

The Robber Chanties, which in August 2010 played in the Northern Stream Division One and sought promotion the Namibia Premier League

Namibia Premier League

The Namibia Premier League , also known as MTC Namibia Premier League due to sponsorship reasons, is the highest level of domestic association football in Namibia...

, are based in Khorixas.