Grootfontein

From Infogalactic: the planetary knowledge core
Jump to: navigation, search
Grootfontein
Town
300px
Coat of arms of Grootfontein
Coat of arms
Motto: Fons Vitæ
Grootfontein is located in Namibia
Grootfontein
Grootfontein
Location in Namibia
Coordinates: Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Country  Namibia
Region Otjozondjupa Region
Constituency Grootfontein constituency
Established 1885
Government
 • Mayor Emma Taukuheke[1]
Population (2011)[2]
 • Total 23,793
Time zone West Africa Time (UTC+1)
Area code(s) 067
Climate Cwa
Website http://www.grootfonteinmun.com.na/

Grootfontein (Afrikaans: Large Spring after the nearby hot springs) is a city[3] of 23,793 inhabitants in the Otjozondjupa Region of central Namibia. It is one of the three towns in the Otavi Triangle, situated on the B8 national road that leads from Otavi to the Caprivi Strip. Grootfontein receives an annual average rainfall of 557 millimetres (21.9 in), although in the 2010/2011 rainy season 956 millimetres (37.6 in) were measured.[4]

Overview

The place was known to the Herero under the name Otjivanda.[5] In 1885, 40 Boer families from the north-west of South Africa settled at Grootfontein. Part of the Dorsland trekkers, they were heading towards Angola. When that territory fell under Portuguese control, they turned back and established the Republic of Upingtonia at Grootfontein. Abandoned by 1887, it became the headquarters of the South West Africa Company in 1893.

In 1908 the Roman Catholic church established a mission in Grootfontein as the basis of their eventually successful attempt to establish missions in Kavango.[6]

Like all the towns in the Otavi Triangle, Grootfontein is very green in summer but drier in winter. In spring, jacaranda and flamboyant trees bloom in profusion. The town has an old German Schutztruppe fortress from the year 1896, which today houses a museum that expounds on the local history. The economic mainspring of the area were for many decades the Berg Aukas and Abenab mines to the north east of the town. These produced zinc and vanadium but have since closed. This is dolomite country and the carbonate deposits in the upper parts of the mine have yielded interesting fossils of simian or pongoid creatures that lived millions of years before modern humans evolved.

Twenty four kilometres west of Grootfontein lies the huge Hoba meteorite. At over 60 tons, it is the largest known meteorite on Earth, as well as being the largest naturally occurring mass of iron known to exist on the planet's surface.

Economy and infrastructure

Transport

Grootfontein is a railhead on TransNamib, the national railway and transport system. The next station to the west is Otavi. Grootfontein is also home of Namibia's main military base which housed several units of the now departed South African Defence Force. It has an airfield that can handle large transport carriers such as the Hercules C130, as well as commercial passenger aircraft.

Agriculture

Wappen Grootfontein - Namibia.jpg

Grootfontein Show, an annual agricultural exhibition that takes place since 1911,[7] is the second largest annual entrepreneurial exhibition in the country, after Windhoek Show.[8]

Climate

Climate data for Grootfontein, Namibia
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Average high °C (°F) 30.9
(87.6)		 29.8
(85.6)		 29.4
(84.9)		 28.5
(83.3)		 26.5
(79.7)		 24.0
(75.2)		 23.8
(74.8)		 26.8
(80.2)		 30.6
(87.1)		 32.1
(89.8)		 31.9
(89.4)		 31.3
(88.3)		 28.8
(83.8)
Average low °C (°F) 18.5
(65.3)		 18.0
(64.4)		 17.1
(62.8)		 14.4
(57.9)		 10.4
(50.7)		 7.1
(44.8)		 6.8
(44.2)		 9.6
(49.3)		 13.8
(56.8)		 16.9
(62.4)		 18.0
(64.4)		 18.4
(65.1)		 14.1
(57.4)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 141.7
(5.579)		 127.0
(5)		 99.6
(3.921)		 30.1
(1.185)		 4.3
(0.169)		 0.4
(0.016)		 0
(0)		 1.3
(0.051)		 4.9
(0.193)		 21.5
(0.846)		 51.6
(2.031)		 70.7
(2.783)		 553.1
(21.774)
Average relative humidity (%) 58 66 66 70 51 48 43 34 28 33 42 46 49
Source: Ministry of Works and Transport (Meteorological Service Division)

Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

Politics

Grootfontein is governed by a municipal council that currently has seven seats.[9]

Namesake

There is another Grootfontein in Hardap province.[10]

Notable people from Grootfontein

External links

References

<templatestyles src="Reflist/styles.css" />

Cite error: Invalid <references> tag; parameter "group" is allowed only.

Use <references />, or <references group="..." />

Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ Maps, Weather, and Airports for Grootfontein, Namibia
  11. ↑ Leon Jooste Namibia Institute for Democracy
Retrieved from "https://infogalactic.com/w/index.php?title=Grootfontein&oldid=2148831"