Usakos

local community Usakos ǃUssaǃkos ( naq ) Okanduu ( her )
Details Details
Usakos aerial photo (2018)
motto	Excelsior (outstanding)
Basic data
Population Area Population Density	3583 (2011 census) 60.8 km² 59 inhabitants / km²
State Region Constituency	Namibia Erongo Karibib
Establishment date	November 2, 1904
License plate phone code	U 64
Website

Historic train in front of the train station in Usakos

Old steam locomotive at the train station in Usakos

Usakos is a municipality in the constituency of Karibib ( Erongo region ) in Namibia with 3583 inhabitants (as of 2011). on an area of ​​60.8  square kilometers .

Usakos is around 150 kilometers east of Swakopmund and 210 kilometers west of Windhoek on the B2 national road not far from Karibib . The Nubebberg in the immediate south of the village as well as the Erongo Mountains around 40 kilometers to the north and the imposing 2319 meter high Hohenstein determine the surroundings. The famous Spitzkoppe is also in the vicinity .

history

At the beginning of the German colonial era in Namibia, the Herero chief Maharero sold Usakos as a farm to the Jansen brothers . In 1903 the Otavi Mines and Railway Company (OMEG) bought the land to build a train station and other farm buildings, giving Usakos a railway connection to Swakopmund and Tsumeb .
In 1914, large tourmaline deposits were discovered north of Usakos . In addition, larger tin deposits were found. After the First World War , a notable mining industry soon developed in Usakos under South African rule .
Usakos flourished as a typical mining town until the 1960s and grew into a local center of the region. From the 1960s, however, mining around Usakos increasingly lost its importance, so that the town itself also experienced an economic decline.
In particular, the continuous paving of the road connection between Windhoek and Swakopmund in 1969 marked the sinking of Usakos into economic and infrastructural insignificance, because the previously important role of the local rail connection had become obsolete.
Today Usakos acts primarily as a stopover for the heavy through traffic between the coast and the capital Windhoek as well as other cities inland. Usakos now has elementary schools, hospitals, banks as well as a post office and police station.

Educational institutions

• Elifas Goseb Primary School
• Erongosig Primary School
• Usakos Unior Secondary School

politics

The following official final result was determined in the 2015 local elections .

Political party	be right	Share of votes	Seats
SWAPO	513	51.2%	4th
UDF	297	29.6%	2
DTA	76	7.6%	1
CDVP	35	3.5%	0
NUDO	35	3.5%	0
RDP	28	2.8%	0
COD	18th	1.8%	0
All in all	1002	100%	7th

Sons and daughters of the church

• Theo-Ben Gurirab (1938–2018), politician
• Alpheus ǃNaruseb (* 1954), politician
• Björn von Finckenstein (* 1958), German Namibian doctor and politician
• Barbara Kahatjipara (* 1975), international photo model and lecturer in economics

literature

• Johannes Paul : Germans, Boers and English in South West Africa. Accompanying word to a map of nationalities of Europeans in South West Africa. In: "Koloniale Rundschau" issue 9/10, 1931.

Web links

Commons : Usakos  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ↑ 2011 Population and Housing Census, Erongo Regional Tables based on the 4th Delimitation. Namibia Statistics Agency, 2014, p. 41/42 ( Memento of the original dated April 2, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
2. ↑ ^{a b c} Namibia 2011 Population and Housing Census Preliminary Results. Namibia Statistics Agency, April 2012  ( 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. Retrieved May 9, 2012  
3. ↑ ^{a b c d} Usako's History on Tourbrief.com Accessed August 10, 2012. (English)
4. ↑ Usakos on Mydestination.com ( 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.   Retrieved August 10, 2012.
5. ↑ Local Authorities 2015. The Namibian, December 4, 2015, pp. 6ff

Coordinates: 22 ° 0 ′  S , 15 ° 35 ′  E