Walvis Bay

Walvis Bay is a town on the Atlantic coast of western-central Namibia, with 46,000 inhabitants. The country's only deep-water sea port, it handles some 800 ships and two million tonnes of cargo annually [1] (http://www.namport.com.na/walvis/).

The settlement of Walvisbaai (walvis is Dutch for whale) was incorporated in the Cape Colony in 1878. Six years later, neighbouring South-West Africa was annexed by Germany, but Walvis Bay and its surrounding area of 1124 sq. km. remained part of the Cape Colony.

Following South Africa's occupation (1915) of South-West Africa during World War I, Walvis Bay was administered jointly with South-West Africa from 1922 until 1978. South Africa retained control of the enclave for four years after South-West Africa's independence as Namibia (1990), ceding it to that country on March 1, 1994.