Country profile
Namibia
Republic of Namibia
Africa · Sub-Saharan Africa
NA · NAM
- Capital
- Windhoek
- Population
- 3,022,401
- Area
- 825,615 km²
- Democracy index
- 77
- Regime type
- Fragmented Democracy
Events
Ballots from Namibia
The latest elections, referendums, and opinion polls from Namibia. Community totals are not official results.
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Classification
Democracy profile
The score and regime label are assigned by Porto Voto using our in-house democracy index and classification framework, not ratings from governments or external agencies.
Democracy index
77/100
Regime type
Fragmented Democracy
Namibia maintains an exceptionally stable and predictable political environment characterized by a strong commitment to constitutional governance, regular and transparent electoral competition, and robust institutional protections for basic civil liberties. The ruling South West Africa People's Organisation, known as SWAPO, continues to dominate the executive branch under President Netumbo Nandi Ndaitwah, yet opposition parties compete on an entirely open and functional playing field. The independent judiciary remains highly respected and consistently acts as a secure check on administrative authority, while the domestic media landscape operates without state censorship or systemic intimidation. However, the democratic framework experiences noticeable friction due to deep socioeconomic disparities, persistent public sector corruption, and structural delivery challenges that sometimes undermine civic trust in long term policy execution. Despite these lingering inefficiencies and the political dominance of a single major party, Namibia's foundational rule of law mechanisms and space for public dissent remain completely viable and secure.
Last evaluation:
How we classify regimes →World Factbook
Country background
A concise introduction to Namibia, together with notes on how power and law are organized, to put local ballots in context.
Various ethnic groups occupied southwestern Africa prior to Germany establishing a colony over most of the territory in 1884. South Africa occupied the colony, then known as German South West Africa, in 1915 during World War I and administered it as a mandate until after World War II, when it annexed the territory. In 1966, the Marxist South-West Africa People's Organization (SWAPO) guerrilla group launched a war of independence for the area that became Namibia, but it was not until 1988 that South Africa agreed to end its administration in accordance with a UN peace plan for the entire region.
Namibia gained independence in 1990, and SWAPO has governed it since, although the party has dropped much of its Marxist ideology. President Hage GEINGOB was elected in 2014 in a landslide victory, replacing Hifikepunye POHAMBA, who stepped down after serving two terms. SWAPO retained its parliamentary super majority in the 2014 elections.
In 2019 elections, GEINGOB was reelected but by a substantially reduced majority, and SWAPO narrowly lost its super majority in parliament.