Otavi triangle

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Elephant Mountain in the Otavi Triangle

The Otavi triangle or corn triangle is an area in Namibia , which lies between the villages of Otavi , Tsumeb and Grootfontein in the north-west of the country.

Origin of name

The highways between the cities of Otavi, Tsumeb and Grootfontein, which run in the shape of a triangle on the map , form the outer boundary of the area. The three cities are each around 60 kilometers apart, so that, roughly speaking, an isosceles triangle is created. Since it is considered the granary of Namibia due to the cultivation of maize , the name Maisdreieck is widespread.

geology

From a geological point of view, the gentle hilly landscape in the triangle, the Otaviberge , represents a strong contrast to the surrounding area.

Another special feature of the Otavi triangle are caves , which occur in large numbers and prompt connoisseurs to call the region the " cave triangle ". About half of the known and developed caves in Namibia are located within the region. For example, the Dragon Breath Hole is located in the Otavi Triangle, whose underground lake is even larger than the Lost Sea in Tennessee (which is still listed by the Guinness Book of Records as the largest underground lake in the world). The Otavi Triangle is the heart of a karst area south-east of Etosha, rich in groundwater .

Agriculture

Due to the mountain range of the Otaviberge , which is up to 2100 m above sea ​​level , the region has a very rich annual precipitation of more than 600 millimeters per year for Namibian standards . Therefore, compared to most of the rest of the country, the Otavi triangle offers very good conditions for intensive agriculture , from which the alternative name of the region as the maize triangle is derived. Due to the high rainfall, dry fields are cultivated over large areas in the Otavi triangle , whereby the soil is extremely fertile and abundant groundwater resources can be used. In addition, temperatures rarely drop below freezing, even in winter . Mainly corn , alfalfa , cocktail tomatoes , citrus fruits and wheat are grown . Maize is still the most important crop in the region; In 2004 maize was grown on 5500 hectares, so that the Otavi Triangle continues to be one of the most important maize growing areas in Namibia. In addition, more cattle and pigs are kept.

Despite the comparatively high annual precipitation in the Otavi Triangle, as in the rest of Namibia, the rain occurs only seasonally , so that here too the agricultural areas have to be irrigated during the dry season .

Viticulture is also practiced in the Otavi triangle .

Others

On July 9, 1915, the German Schutztruppe surrendered to the South Africans near Otavi, which meant the final end of German South West Africa . To this day, a monument near the city, the Khorab monument , commemorates this event.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b The Otavi triangle on Mopanetree.com mopanetree.com ( Memento from January 29, 2013 in the web archive archive.today ) (English)
  2. ↑ a b c d e f g Livia and Peter Pack: Namibia. 2nd, completely revised edition. DuMont, Cologne 2004, ISBN 3-7701-6137-8 .
  3. ↑ DF Joubert and PL Cunningham (2002): The distribution and invasive potential of Fountain Grass Pennisetum setaceum in Namibia  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (English; PDF; 6.5 MB)@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / ir.polytechnic.edu.na  
  4. ↑ The Otavi Triangle on Guide.com.na Archived copy ( Memento from September 15, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
  5. ↑ a b c The Otavi Triangle on Namibiatravel.com [1] (English)
  6. ↑ The Namibian (2004): Maize farmers are smiling (English)
  7. ↑ Namibia Agronomic Board: Grain - Controlled Crops / White Maize ( Memento from July 4, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) (English)

Coordinates: 19 ° 31 ′  S , 17 ° 46 ′  E