Namib Desert Vna-mib\ Desert region, extending 1,200 mi (1,900 km) from Namibe, Angola, along the entire coast of Namibia to the Olifants River in South Africa. It is an almost rainless area, 50-80 mi (80-130 km) wide over most of its length, traversed by rail lines linking Walvis Bay with the Republic of South Africa. It is basically a smooth platform of bedrock of various types and ages. In the southern half the platform is covered with sand. The eastern part, the Inner Namib, supports large numbers of antelope. The shore area has a dense population of marine birds, including flamingos, pelicans, and penguins.
Namibia \n3-'mi-be-9\ officially Republic of Namibia Country, southwest coast of Africa. Area: 318,580 sq mi (825,118 sq km). Popu¬ lation (2005 est.): 2,030,000. Capitaclass="underline" Windhoek. About one-third of the people are Ovambo. Others include Nama, Kavango, Herero, and San.
Cape
Fria
ANGOLA
Ruacana Falls
0puyvo # Oshakati 0ndangwa JOUBERT .
ty MTS ETOSHA
ZAMBIA
.< I bulMcU
. Grm,,,,ntein
20° SKELETON ^ MC .
“ COAST PARK „ rtv
WL X. •Khorixas ,
^ O ^ Otjiwardngo
Mount
NATL WEST COAST
RECREATION AREA "J<anbib^Qkahandja
^Usakos «0tjimbingwe Gobab
Swakopmund* KH?,ffu D ®:Windhoek Walvis Bay O ^Rehoboth
-pl-
KALAHARI
NAMIB-NAUKLUFT
PARK
ATLANTIC
OCEAN
pi
Oranjemund
Mount \ Gartis ' r :7,698 ft. -
SS Mount Bruk u A5,202 ft.
\ N JCeetmanshobp
Karasburg i A 0 Warmbad
Tropic of Capricorn
DESERT Gaborone*
r)
S> 2002 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
Languages: English (official), various Bantu languages (notably Ovambo), Afri¬ kaans, San. Religions: Christianity (Protes¬ tant, Roman Catholic, other Christians); also traditional beliefs. Currency: Namib¬ ian dollar. Namibia may be divided into three broad regions: the Namib Desert, the Central Plateau, and the Kalahari Desert. The economy is based largely on agriculture and on the production and export of diamonds. Namibia is a republic with two legislative houses; its head of state and government is the president. Long inhabited by indigenous peoples, it was explored by the Portuguese in the late 15th century. In 1884 it was annexed by Germany as German South West Africa. It was captured in World War I by South Africa (and subsequently called South West Africa until 1968), which received it as a mandate from the League of Nations in 1919 and refused to give it up after World War II. A UN resolution in 1966 ending the mandate was challenged by South Africa in the 1970s and ’80s. Through long negotiations involving many factions and inter¬ ests, Namibia achieved independence in 1990. The country has been severely affected by the AIDS epidemic; a large proportion of the popu¬ lation has become infected with HIV.
Namri Songtsen See Gnam-ri strong-btsan Nan-ching See Nanjing
Nanak Vna-nok\ (b. April 15, 1469, Rai Bhoi di Talvandi, near Lahore, India—d. 1539, Kartarpur, Punjab) Indian founder of Sikhism. Bom into a Hindu merchant caste, he worked as a storekeeper until a spiritual expe¬ rience incited him to leave his job and family and begin a 20-year phase of travel. He eventually settled in Kartarpur, a village in Punjab, to which he attracted many disciples, and he became the first Guru of the Sikhs. His doctrine stressed the unity and uniqueness of God and offered salva¬ tion through disciplined meditation on the divine name. It stipulated that meditation must be inward and rejected all external aids such as idols, temples, mosques, scriptures, and set prayers. After his death the stories told of his life were collected in anthologies called the Janam-sakhis.
Nanchang or Nan-ch'ang City (pop., 2003 est.: 1,419,813), capi¬ tal of Jiangxi province, southeastern China. An old walled city on the right bank of the Gan River, it was founded in 201 bc. In ad 959 it became the capital of the Southern Tang dynasty. At the end of the Mongol period it was a battleground between the founder of the Ming dynasty and local warlords. In the early 16th century a rebellion was launched against the Ming regime. Nanchang suffered from the Taping Rebellion. In 1927 it was the site of revolutionary activities of the Chinese Communist Party. Since 1949 it has become industrialized; its products include textiles, milled rice, and automotive parts.
© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
Nanda dynasty ► napalm I 1325
Nanda dynasty Family that ruled Magadha, in northern India (c. 343-c. 321 bc). Legends regarding the low-class origins and ruthless con¬ quests of its founder, Mahapadma, are supported by classical scholarship. The brief period of Nanda rule, along with the succeeding and more lengthy tenure of the Mauryan empire, represent the political aspect of a great transitional epoch in which settled agriculture and the growing use of iron resulted in production surpluses and the growth of cities. There are references to the wealth of the Nandas, their sizable military, and administrative initiatives such as irrigation projects.
Nanga Parbat Vnoq-go-'psr-botX Peak, western Himalayas. It is located in the Pakistani-administered portion of the Kashmir region. In 1895 the British climber Albert F. Mummery led the first expedition to the 26,660-ft (8,126-m) summit, but he died in the attempt. Severe weather and fre¬ quent avalanches caused the deaths of at least 30 other climbers before the Austrian Hermann Buhl reached the top in 1953.
Nangnang or Lelang or Lo-lang Colony of China in northern Korea, established during the Han dynasty (206 bc-ad 220). It was located near modern-day Pyongyang, and from there the Chinese incorporated southern Korea and parts of Japan into their sphere of influence. The Chi¬ nese maintained a commandery there for 400 years. Its presence intro¬ duced the local people to wet-rice cultivation and iron and high-fired ceramic technology.
Nanjing Ynan-'jiqV or Nan-ching conventional Nanking \'nan-'kiq\ City (pop., 2003 est.: 2,966,000), capital of Jiangsu province, east-central China. Located on the southeastern bank of the Yangtze River (Chang Jiang) northwest of Shanghai, the site has been inhabited for thousands of years. The present city was founded in 1368 by the Ming dynasty, which had its capital there (1368-1421). It was taken by the British in the Opium Wars of 1842 and was largely destroyed in 1864 after having served (since 1853) as the capital of the Taiping revolutionaries. Nanjing was opened as a treaty port in 1899 and was the Nationalist capital from 1928 to 1937; it was then taken by the Japanese, and it was the site of the Nanjing Mas¬ sacre in the Sino-Japanese War of 1937—45. It was occupied by commu¬ nist forces in 1949 and became the provincial capital in 1952. Nanjing is a port city and a major industrial and communications centre with a num¬ ber of universities and colleges. Nearby monuments include mausoleums of Sun Yat-sen and a Ming emperor.
Nanjing, Treaty of (Aug. 29, 1842) Treaty that ended the first Opium War, the first of the unequal treaties between China and foreign imperi¬ alist powers. China paid the British an indemnity, ceded the territory of Hong Kong, and agreed to establish a “fair and reasonable” tariff. British merchants, who had previously been allowed to trade only at Guangzhou (Canton), were now permitted to trade at five “treaty ports” and with whomever they pleased (see Canton system). The treaty was supplemented in 1843 by the British Supplementary Treaty of the Bogue, which allowed British citizens to be tried in British courts and granted Britain any rights in China that China might grant to other countries. See also British East India Company; Lin Zexu.
Nanjing Massacre or Rape of Nanjing (December 1937-January 1938) Mass killing and rape of Chinese people in Nanjing by Japanese soldiers after the Japanese had captured the city on Dec. 13, 1937. The Japanese commander ordered the destruction of Nanjing, which had been the Nationalist Chinese capital. Estimates of the number killed range from 100,000 to more than 300,000, and tens of thousands of rapes were com¬ mitted. Japanese wartime brutality in China contributed to cool relations between the two countries into the 21st century. See also war crime; World War II.