The Oshikoto Region

Oshikoto is one of the thirteen regions of Namibia. The northern part of the region is agricultural, whereas the main economic activities in the southern part are cattle rearing and mining. The two areas have important cultural and historical links in that the Ndonga people have extracted copper at Tsumeb since the earliest times in order to make rings and tools.

Omahangu is the principal crop in the north, while cattle are reared in the Mangetti and the Tsumeb district. Although the Tsumeb mine has only a limited life span, it can together with the associated support industries and services, provide a boost for the communal areas of the region.

Communication are good in much of the area: a paved trunk road runs across the region, linking it to both the south and the north of the country. The national microwave network terminates at Tsumeb, but telecommunications are now carried across the region and as far as Oshakati by means of a newly laid optical fiber cable.

The region's population has grown significantly over recent years, partly as a result of redistribution within the Oshiwambo speaking area. Apart from Tsumeb and Oniipa, people have settled in a corridor along the trunk road, sometimes forming quite dense concentrations.

Oshikoto is one of only three regions without either a shoreline or a foreign border. It borders the following regions:

    * Ohangwena - north
    * Okavango - east
    * Otjozondjupa - southeast
    * Kunene - southwest
    * Oshana - west

This region comprises ten constituencies: Oniipa, Onayena, Olukonda, Omuntele, Okatope, Okangolo, Omuthiygwiipundi, Engodi, Guinas, and Oshikoto.