Damaraland

/deuh mahr"euh land', dam"euhr euh-/, n.

a region in the central part of Namibia.

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Historical region, north-central Namibia.

Occupied by the Herero and Khoisan people, who subjugated the original Bergdama people there, it extends between the Namib and Kalahari deserts and from Ovamboland to Great Namaqualand, centring on Windhoek. The grassland region was suited both to the nomadic hunting and pastoral life of its original inhabitants and to the cattle breeding of the Europeans who, in the early 20th century, displaced the indigenous peoples and confiscated their herds.

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▪ historical region, Namibia

      historical region of Namibia; the name is in part a misnomer, as it was originally applied to lands of north-central Namibia predominantly occupied by the Herero and Khoisan (Hottentot) people rather than the Bergdama (Damara), the latter having been displaced and subjugated by the other two when the Bergdama were first visited by a European in 1791. The territory encompassing historic Damaraland extends between the Namib and Kalahari deserts (west and east, respectively) and from Ovamboland (north) to Great Namaqualand (south), centring upon Windhoek.

      The region is predominantly grassland, with an annual rainfall of from 13 to 20 inches (330 to 500 mm), and is suited both to the nomadic hunting and pastoral life of its original inhabitants and to the cattle breeding of the Europeans who displaced the indigenous peoples and confiscated their herds beginning in the early 20th century.

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