Namibia, the most arid country in sub-Saharan Africa, is one of the most sparsely populated
countries on earth, with land area of 824 292 km2 and population of just over 1.8 million. March
1990 saw the end of a century of colonial rule during which indigenous Namibians were
dispossessed from rights to both land and resources. First German and then white South African
settlers were encouraged to migrate to Namibia and establish commercial farms and related
businesses. Finding the large tracts of land needed for this first wave of resettlement required
expropriation of that land from blacks. Access to freehold tenure was reserved for white settlers
and tenure security for indigenous Namibians largely disappeared. In non-white areas, rights
were provided under indigenous tenure systems whose legal status was somewhat murky. Urban
tenure was denied as blacks were not allowed ownership of residential land.