Namib-Naukluft National Park
Encyclopedia
The Namib-Naukluft National Park is a national park
of Namibia
encompassing part of the Namib Desert
(considered the world's oldest desert) and the Naukluft mountain range. With an overall area of 49,768 km², the Namib-Naukluft is the largest game park in Africa and the fourth largest in the world. The most well-known area of the park is Sossusvlei
, which is the main visitor attraction in Namibia.
A surprising collection of creatures survives in the hyper-arid region, including snake
s, gecko
s, unusual insect
s, hyena
s, gemsbok
s and jackal
s. More moisture comes in as a fog
off the Atlantic Ocean
than falls as rain, with the average 106 millimeters of rainfall per year concentrated in the months of February and April.
The winds that bring in the fog are also responsible for creating the park’s towering sand dunes, whose burnt orange color is a sign of their age. The orange color develops over time as iron
in the sand is oxidized, like rusty metal; the older the dune, the brighter the color.
These dunes are the tallest in the world, in places rising more than 300 meters (almost 1000 feet) above the desert floor. The dunes taper off near the coast, and lagoon
s, wetland
s, and mudflat
s located along the shore attract hundreds of thousands of birds.
‘Namib’ means open space and the Namib Desert gave its name to form Namibia – “land of open spaces”. The park was established in 1907 when the German Colonial Administration proclaimed the area between the Swakop River
and the Kuiseb River
a game reserve. The park's present boundaries were established in 1978 by the merging of the Namib Desert Park, the Naukluft Mountain Zebra Park and parts of Diamond Area 1
and some other bits of surrounding government land.
The park has some of the most unusual wildlife and nature reserves in the world, and covers an area of 49768 km² (19,215.5 sq mi). It's an area larger than Switzerland
(41,285 km²), roughly the size of the US states New Hampshire
and Vermont
combined. The region is characterised by high, isolated inselbergs and kopjes (the Afrikaans
term for rocky outcrops), made up of dramatic blood red granites, rich in feldspars and sandstone
. The easternmost part of the park covers the Naukluft Mountains
.
National park
A national park is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or owns. Although individual nations designate their own national parks differently A national park is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or...
of 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...
encompassing part of the Namib Desert
Namib Desert
The Namib Desert is a desert in Namibia and southwest Angola that forms part of the Namib-Naukluft National Park, the largest game reserve in Africa. The name "Namib" is of Nama origin and means "vast place"...
(considered the world's oldest desert) and the Naukluft mountain range. With an overall area of 49,768 km², the Namib-Naukluft is the largest game park in Africa and the fourth largest in the world. The most well-known area of the park is Sossusvlei
Sossusvlei
Sossusvlei is a salt and clay pan surrounded by high red dunes, located in the southern part of the Namib Desert, in the Namib-Naukluft National Park of Namibia...
, which is the main visitor attraction in Namibia.
A surprising collection of creatures survives in the hyper-arid region, including snake
Snake
Snakes are elongate, legless, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes that can be distinguished from legless lizards by their lack of eyelids and external ears. Like all squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales...
s, gecko
Gecko
Geckos are lizards belonging to the infraorder Gekkota, found in warm climates throughout the world. They range from 1.6 cm to 60 cm....
s, unusual insect
Insect
Insects are a class of living creatures within the arthropods that have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body , three pairs of jointed legs, compound eyes, and two antennae...
s, hyena
Hyena
Hyenas or Hyaenas are the animals of the family Hyaenidae of suborder feliforms of the Carnivora. It is the fourth smallest biological family in the Carnivora , and one of the smallest in the mammalia...
s, gemsbok
Gemsbok
The gemsbok or gemsbuck is a large antelope in the Oryx genus. It is native to the arid regions of southern Africa, but formerly some authorities included the East African Oryx as a subspecies...
s and jackal
Jackal
Although the word jackal has been historically used to refer to many small- to medium-sized species of the wolf genus of mammals, Canis, today it most properly and commonly refers to three species: the black-backed jackal and the side-striped jackal of sub-Saharan Africa, and the golden jackal of...
s. More moisture comes in as a fog
Fog
Fog is a collection of water droplets or ice crystals suspended in the air at or near the Earth's surface. While fog is a type of stratus cloud, the term "fog" is typically distinguished from the more generic term "cloud" in that fog is low-lying, and the moisture in the fog is often generated...
off the Atlantic Ocean
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...
than falls as rain, with the average 106 millimeters of rainfall per year concentrated in the months of February and April.
Iron
Iron is a chemical element with the symbol Fe and atomic number 26. It is a metal in the first transition series. It is the most common element forming the planet Earth as a whole, forming much of Earth's outer and inner core. It is the fourth most common element in the Earth's crust...
in the sand is oxidized, like rusty metal; the older the dune, the brighter the color.
These dunes are the tallest in the world, in places rising more than 300 meters (almost 1000 feet) above the desert floor. The dunes taper off near the coast, and lagoon
Lagoon
A lagoon is a body of shallow sea water or brackish water separated from the sea by some form of barrier. The EU's habitat directive defines lagoons as "expanses of shallow coastal salt water, of varying salinity or water volume, wholly or partially separated from the sea by sand banks or shingle,...
s, wetland
Wetland
A wetland is an area of land whose soil is saturated with water either permanently or seasonally. Wetlands are categorised by their characteristic vegetation, which is adapted to these unique soil conditions....
s, and mudflat
Mudflat
Mudflats or mud flats, also known as tidal flats, are coastal wetlands that form when mud is deposited by tides or rivers. They are found in sheltered areas such as bays, bayous, lagoons, and estuaries. Mudflats may be viewed geologically as exposed layers of bay mud, resulting from deposition of...
s located along the shore attract hundreds of thousands of birds.
‘Namib’ means open space and the Namib Desert gave its name to form Namibia – “land of open spaces”. The park was established in 1907 when the German Colonial Administration proclaimed the area between the Swakop River
Swakop River
The Swakop River is a major river in the western part of Namibia, reaching the sea at the southern edge of the city of Swakopmund . The Swakop is an ephemeral river, its run-off is roughly 40 million cubic metres per annum. The main tributary is the Khan...
and the Kuiseb River
Kuiseb River
The Kuiseb River in Namibia flows from the Khomas highlands west of Windhoek to Walvis Bay. The Kuiseb is an ephemeral river with a mean run-off of roughly 20 million cubic metres per annum....
a game reserve. The park's present boundaries were established in 1978 by the merging of the Namib Desert Park, the Naukluft Mountain Zebra Park and parts of Diamond Area 1
Sperrgebiet
The Sperrgebiet is a diamond mining area in south-western Namibia, in the Namib Desert. It spans the Atlantic Ocean-facing coast from Oranjemund on the border with South Africa, to around north of Lüderitz, a distance of north...
and some other bits of surrounding government land.
The park has some of the most unusual wildlife and nature reserves in the world, and covers an area of 49768 km² (19,215.5 sq mi). It's an area larger than Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
(41,285 km²), roughly the size of the US states New Hampshire
New Hampshire
New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state was named after the southern English county of Hampshire. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Canadian...
and Vermont
Vermont
Vermont is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state ranks 43rd in land area, , and 45th in total area. Its population according to the 2010 census, 630,337, is the second smallest in the country, larger only than Wyoming. It is the only New England...
combined. The region is characterised by high, isolated inselbergs and kopjes (the Afrikaans
Afrikaans
Afrikaans is a West Germanic language, spoken natively in South Africa and Namibia. It is a daughter language of Dutch, originating in its 17th century dialects, collectively referred to as Cape Dutch .Afrikaans is a daughter language of Dutch; see , , , , , .Afrikaans was historically called Cape...
term for rocky outcrops), made up of dramatic blood red granites, rich in feldspars and sandstone
Sandstone
Sandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized minerals or rock grains.Most sandstone is composed of quartz and/or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earth's crust. Like sand, sandstone may be any colour, but the most common colours are tan, brown, yellow,...
. The easternmost part of the park covers the Naukluft Mountains
Naukluft Mountains
thumb|222 px|Naukluft, seen from Sesriem The Naukluft Mountains are a massif in central Namibia, forming the easternmost part of the Namib-Naukluft National Park. They are known for their wildlife, including mountain zebras and leopards...
.
External links
- Ministry of Environment and Tourism report
- Gobabeb Training & Research Centre - A major centre for Namib ecological and development research since 1962; joint venture between the Ministry of Environment and Tourism and the Desert Research Foundation of Namibia