Population: 12,581
District Area: 283 km2
Leader: Edward Alfred Wambo (South West African People's Organisation SWAPO)
Name and Etymology:
Rehoboth means "open spaces" in Hebrew. The site is named ǀAnes in the Nama language meaning "smoke" after the local hot springs. It was named ǀGaoǁnāǀaus in the Damara language meaning "fountain of falling buffalo."
Economy:
Rehoboth has a railway station and sits on the B1 highway to Windhoek. Freshwater is supplied by the Oanab Dam.
History:
Rehoboth was first settled by the Nama/Damara. Rehoboth was founded in 1845 by the ǁKhauǀgôan under Willem Swartbooi and missionary Heinrich Kleinschmidt. Rehoboth was largely settled by the Rehoboth Basters who migrated out of the Cape Colony in 1870. The Basters signed a treaty with Germany in 1885 beginning Colonial rule. The area was occupied by South Africa from 1915 through independence in 1991.
