Walvis Bay (English: lit. Whale Bay; Afrikaans: Walvisbaai; German: Walfischbucht or Walfischbai) is a city[5] in Namibia and the name of the bay on which it lies. It is the second largest city in Namibia and the largest coastal city in the country. The city covers an area of 29 square kilometres (11 sq mi) of land.[6]
The bay is a safe haven for sea vessels because of its natural deep-water harbour, protected by the Pelican Point sand spit, being the only natural harbour of any size along the country's coast. Being rich in plankton and marine life, these waters also draw large numbers of southern right whales,[7] attracting whalers and fishing vessels.
A succession of colonists developed the location and resources of this strategic harbour settlement. The harbour's value in relation to the sea route around the Cape of Good Hope had caught the attention of world powers since it was discovered by the outside world in 1485. The importance of the harbour, combined with its extreme isolation by land, explains the complicated political history of the town. For much of its history, Walvis Bay was governed as an exclave separate from the rest of the territory that today is Namibia.
The town is situated just north of the Tropic of Capricorn in the Kuiseb River delta and lies at the end of the TransNamib Railway to Windhoek, and on B2 road.
Walvis Bay, with its large bay and sand dunes, is an important centre of tourism activity in Namibia. Attractions include the artificial Bird Island, centre of a guano collection industry, the Dune 7 sand dune, the salt works, the abundant birdlife, and a museum. Kuisebmund Stadium, home to two clubs in the Namibia Premier League, is also located in the city. The beach resort of Langstrand lies just a few kilometres north. The Walvis Bay Export Processing Zone is an important facet of the local economy.
^Cite error: The named reference Mbathera was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^"Table 4.2.2 Urban population by Census years (2001 and 2011)" (PDF). Namibia 2011 – Population and Housing Census Main Report. Namibia Statistics Agency. p. 39. Archived (PDF) from the original on 9 October 2022. Retrieved 24 August 2016.
^"2023 Population & Housing Census Preliminary Report" (PDF). Statistics Namibia.
^"Walvis Bay". Ramsar Sites Information Service. Retrieved 25 April 2018.
^"Local Authorities". Association of Local Authorities in Namibia (ALAN). Retrieved 1 October 2012.
^"ELECTIONS 2010: Erongo regional profile". New Era. 16 November 2010. Archived from the original on 16 March 2012. Retrieved 16 November 2010.
^Southern Right Whale, Eubalaena australis, The Namibian Dolphin Project
WalvisBay (English: lit. Whale Bay; Afrikaans: Walvisbaai; German: Walfischbucht or Walfischbai) is a city in Namibia and the name of the bay on which...
WalvisBay International Airport (IATA: WVB, ICAO: FYWB) is an airport serving WalvisBay, a town in the Erongo Region of Namibia. The airport is about...
on 21 March 1990, following the Namibian War of Independence. However, WalvisBay and the Penguin Islands remained under South African control until 1994...
The Treaty on WalvisBay is a treaty which transferred control of WalvisBay and the Penguin Islands from South Africa to Namibia. It was signed on 28...
Wayback Machine Namport, About Namport Namport, WalvisBay, Port of Walvis Namport, WalvisBay, WalvisBay Port Details Namport, Port of Lüderitz, Welcome...
WalvisBay Rural constituency is a constituency in the Erongo Region of Namibia. It comprises the rural area surrounding the constituency's district capital...
The WalvisBay Export Processing Zone (WBEPZMC) is a free trade zone in the coastal city of WalvisBay, Namibia. Rather than being a specific area or complex...
granted independence as the Republic of Namibia with the exception of WalvisBay and the Penguin Islands, which continued to remain under South African...
The WalvisBay Military Area was a specific militarised zone bordering South West Africa during the South African Border War. Military equipment was freighted...
to WalvisBay is 201 kilometres (125 mi) long. The section between Kranzberg and Swakopmund was completed in 1902. In 1914 an extension to WalvisBay was...
Trevino Forbes is a Namibian politician serving as mayor of WalvisBay since December 2020. Forbes the vice president of the Independent Patriots for Change...
plan. Area codes beginning with 06 were allocated to Namibia, including WalvisBay, a South African exclave, which was not transferred to Namibian sovereignty...
line between these two regions is roughly at the latitude of the city of WalvisBay, and it consists in a narrow strip of land (about 50 km wide) that is...
open up the region's access to WalvisBay. The WalvisBay Export Processing Zone operates in the key port of WalvisBay. Tourism is a major contributor...
later added to it. From 1878, the colony also included the enclave of WalvisBay and the Penguin Islands, both in what is now Namibia. It united with three...
as The 5th African Championships were held from 7 to 9 March 2010 in WalvisBay, Namibia. The competition was held in conjunction with the 2010 African...
Britain. Britain relented, insofar as allowing the Cape to incorporate WalvisBay as an exclave, which was brought under the magisterial district of Cape...
and Africa.)[1] WalvisBay, as the second biggest town in Namibia and the main port of the country. The town is served by the WalvisBay International Airport...
was also a Portuguese, Bartholomeu Dias, who stopped at what today is WalvisBay and Lüderitz (which he named Angra Pequena) on his way to round the Cape...
arriving after a flight of about six hours from Johannesburg, with a stop at WalvisBay, Namibia. The flight began a once-a-week scheduled service between Johannesburg...
WalvisBay Commando was a light infantry regiment of the South African Army. It formed part of the South African Army Infantry Formation as well as the...
group that were sent to Brazil in August 1995[clarification needed] after WalvisBay had been integrated into Namibia in 1994. This group, led by Phestus Sacharia...
cusk eel occurring along the Southern African coast from WalvisBay in Namibia to Algoa Bay in South Africa. It is closely related to Genypterus blacodes...
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