Everything about Caprivi Strip totally explained
Caprivi, sometimes called the
Caprivi Strip (in German:
Caprivizipfel) or the
Okavango Strip and formally known as
Itenge, is a
narrow protrusion of
Namibia eastwards about 450km (280 miles), between
Botswana on the south,
Angola and
Zambia to the north, and
Okavango Region to the west. Caprivi is bordered by the
Cuando,
Linyanti,
Chobe and
Zambezi rivers. Its largest settlement is the town of
Katima Mulilo.
The
strip is
administratively divided between the eastern
Caprivi Region and the western
Okavango Region.
Languages
Inhabitants of the Caprivi Strip speak a number of African languages: most are in the
Bantu family, although there's also at least one language in the northwest of the strip (against the Namibia/Angola border) which is a
Khoisan language:
Hukwe. The Bantu languages include
Yeyi (or 'Yei' or 'Yeeyi'),
Mbukushu,
Gciriku (or 'Dciriku'),
Fwe,
Totela, and
Subiya. Perhaps a majority in the Caprivi Strip, especially in the capital town of
Katima Mulilo, speak
Lozi as a
lingua franca. Many also speak some English.
Importance
The area is rich in wildlife and has mineral resources. Of particular interest to the government of Namibia is that it gives access to the
Zambezi River and thereby a potential trading route to Africa's East Coast. However, the vagaries of the river level, various rapids, the presence of
Victoria Falls downstream and continued political uncertainty in the region make this use of the Caprivi Strip unlikely, although it may be used for
ecotourism in future.
History
Caprivi was named after
German Chancellor Leo von Caprivi, who negotiated the land in an
1890 exchange with the
United Kingdom. Von Caprivi arranged for Caprivi to be annexed to
German South-West Africa in order to give
Germany access to the
Zambezi River and a route to Africa's East Coast, where the German colony
Tanganyika was situated. The annexation was a part of the
Heligoland-Zanzibar Treaty, in which Germany gave up its interest in
Zanzibar in return for the Caprivi Strip and the island of
Heligoland in the
North Sea.
The Caprivi Strip is of strategic military importance. During the
Rhodesian Bush War (1970–1979),
African National Congress operations against the
South African government (1965–1994) and the
Angolan Civil War, this little finger of land saw continual military action and multiple incursions by various armed forces using the Strip as a corridor to access other territories.
The Caprivi Strip also attracted attention as Namibia and Botswana took a long-standing dispute over its southern boundary to the International Court of Justice
(External Link
). The core of the dispute concerned which channel of the Chobe River was the bona fide international boundary. This was important, as, depending on the decision, a large island, (known as Kasikili or Seddudu by Namibia and Botswana, respectively) would fall into national territory. The Botswana government considered the island as an integral part of the Chobe National Park, whereas the Namibian government, and many inhabitants of the eastern Caprivi Strip, held that not only was the island part of the original German–British agreement, but that generations of inhabitants had used it for seasonal grazing, reed gathering as well as a burial site. In December 1999, the International Court of Justice ruled that the main channel, and hence the international boundary, lay to the north of the island, thus making the island part of Botswana.
The Caprivi Conflict
Caprivi conflict is an armed conflict in
Namibia between the
Caprivi Liberation Army, a
rebel group working for the secession of the Caprivi Strip, and the Namibian government.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Caprivi Strip'.
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