Mariental, Namibia

---

title: "Mariental, Namibia" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["cities-in-namibia", "mariental,-namibia", "regional-capitals-in-namibia", "populated-places-in-the-hardap-region", "populated-places-established-in-1912", "1912-establishments-in-german-south-west-africa"] topic_path: "geography" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mariental,_Namibia" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::data[format=table title="Infobox settlement"]

Field	Value
	name
native_name	Tsaraxeibes
nickname	Stofbakkies
settlement_type	City
motto	Luceat et crescat
	image_skyline
image_caption	Mariental from bird's eye view in 2017
image_seal	Mariental, Namibia COA.svg
seal_size	120px
pushpin_map	Namibia
pushpin_label_position	bottom
pushpin_mapsize	300
pushpin_map_caption	Location in Namibia
	subdivision_type
subdivision_name	Namibia
subdivision_type1	Region
subdivision_name1	Hardap Region
subdivision_name3
leader_title	Mayor
leader_name	Cherien Kock
leader_title1
established_title
established_date
unit_pref	metric
area_total_km2	34.4
area_land_km2
area_total_sq_mi
population_footnotes
population_total	18,494
population_as_of	2023
population_density_km2	auto
population_blank1_title	Ethnicities
population_density_blank1_sq_mi
timezone	South African Standard Time
utc_offset	+2
coordinates
elevation_footnotes
elevation_m	1090
elevation_ft
postal_code_type
::

| name = Mariental | other_name = | native_name = Tsaraxeibes | nickname = Stofbakkies | settlement_type = City | motto = Luceat et crescat | image_skyline = Mariental bird eye view 2.jpg | imagesize = | image_caption = Mariental from bird's eye view in 2017 | image_flag = | flag_size = | image_seal = Mariental, Namibia COA.svg | seal_size = 120px | image_shield = | shield_size = | image_blank_emblem = | blank_emblem_type = | blank_emblem_size = | image_map = | mapsize = | map_caption = | pushpin_map = Namibia | pushpin_label_position = bottom | pushpin_mapsize = 300 | pushpin_map_caption = Location in Namibia | subdivision_type = Country | subdivision_name = Namibia | subdivision_type1 = Region | subdivision_name1 = Hardap Region | subdivision_type2 = | subdivision_name2 = | subdivision_type3 = | subdivision_name3 = | government_footnotes = | government_type = | leader_title = Mayor | leader_name = Cherien Kock | leader_title1 = | leader_name1 = | established_title = | established_date = | area_magnitude = | unit_pref = metric | area_footnotes = | area_total_km2 = 34.4 | area_land_km2 = | area_water_km2 = | area_total_sq_mi = | population_footnotes = | population_total = 18,494 | population_as_of = 2023 | population_density_km2 = auto | population_density_sq_mi = | population_metro = | population_density_metro_km2 = | population_density_metro_sq_mi = | population_urban = | population_density_urban_km2 = | population_density_urban_sq_mi = | population_blank1_title = Ethnicities | population_blank1 = | population_density_blank1_km2 = | population_density_blank1_sq_mi = | timezone = South African Standard Time | utc_offset = +2 | timezone_DST = | utc_offset_DST = | coordinates = | elevation_footnotes = | elevation_m = 1090 | elevation_ft = | postal_code_type = | postal_code = | area_code = | blank_name = | blank_info = | blank1_name = | blank1_info = | website = | footnotes = ::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/de/Mainstreet1.jpg" caption="Mariental Main Street"] ::

Mariental is a town{{cite web |url=http://www.alan.org.na/?q=localauthorities/list |title=Local Authorities |publisher=Association of Local Authorities in Namibia (ALAN) |accessdate=1 October 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130610203011/http://www.alan.org.na/?q=localauthorities%2Flist |archive-date=10 June 2013 |url-status=dead

History

Named by local Rhenish (German Lutheran) missionaries, the town was founded in 1912 as a railway stop between Windhoek and Keetmanshoop and named after Maria, the wife of the first colonial settler of the area, Hermann Brandt. It is home to the oldest Dutch Reformed church congregation in Namibia, founded in 1898. It was proclaimed a town in 1920 and a municipality in 1946. Mariental is home to a large number of Nama-speaking people, descendants of the early Khoi inhabitants of Namibia.

Geography

Mariental is situated on the B1 national road, 232 km north of Keetmanshoop and 274 km southeast of Windhoek. It lies at an elevation of 1090 m. Mariental is connected to the TransNamib railway line from Windhoek to Keetmanshoop.

Hardap dam

Main article: Hardap Dam

The Hardap Dam, situated 22 km northwest of Mariental, is the second largest dam in Namibia. It supplies the city with water and controls the flow of the Fish River , which flows in a southerly direction past the town. Hardap Dam has a capacity of 320 e6m3 and a surface area of 25 km2. Construction began in 1960 and was completed in 1963.

Before the dam was built, Mariental was flooded in 1923 and 1934. However, whenever dam sluices have to be opened fully due to good rains in the Fish River's catchment area, Mariental is still prone to floods, with reed grasses growing in the riverbed of the Fish River slowing down the flow of water and aggravating the danger.

Floods occurred after the commissioning of the dam in 1972, 1974, 1976, 2000, and 2006. Since then, the dam's water level has been kept at a maximum of 70% of its capacity to prevent both an overflow and an uncontrolled outflow through fully opened sluices.

Demographics

Climate

Mariental has a hot desert climate (Köppen climate classification BWh), with extremely hot summers and very warm winters (with warm days and cold nights). The average annual precipitation is 194 mm. On 11 November 2021, a maximum temperature of 44.0 C was registered.

|20|35|37 |20|34|59 |18|32|44 |13|29|15 |8|26|2 |4|23|2 |3|23|0 |5|25|0 |9|29|1 |13|31|7 |16|34|13 |19|35|14 |float=right |source=World Climate Guide}}

Economy

The nearby Hardap Dam is the second largest reservoir in Namibia and provides water for irrigation, making it possible to cultivate animal fodder, as well as corn, fruits, and vegetables. The town is surrounded by flourishing commercial farms, which, due to the low annual rainfall in the area, focus on game farming as well as sheep and ostrich farming, which, along with cattle farming, remain popular in the region. Export grapes, cotton, lucerne, and dairy farming are also sustained by irrigation from the Hardap Dam.

The Hardap Correctional Facility in Mariental is one of Namibia's seven major prisons.

A local ostrich abattoir used to cater for this increasingly important industry, but recently went bankrupt. What survives of the karakul trade in the south is also centered around Mariental. Sitting astride the main route into the Kalahari and Namib Deserts, Mariental serves the needs of farmers in these areas. Mariental boasts some of the best safari and hunting experiences in Namibia at lodges like Lapa Lange and Anib Lodge. Available game includes springbuck, blesbuck, giraffe, ostrich, leopard, zebra, kudu, gemsbuck, hartebeest, eland, blue- and black wildebeest.

The German association “Fahrräder für Afrika e.V..” (Bicycles for Africa) has built a “Bicycle Empowerment Centre” in the town together with the Catholic Aids Action (CAA) and the Bicycling Empowerment Network (BEN) Namibia. Local people infected with HIV were trained to repair and build bikes, and also received training on how to run the workshop on their own. Second-hand Bicycles are being sold at low prices to the inhabitants of the region, allowing easy travel and transportation, while the income from the workshops is used to finance local aid projects. The project is supported by governmental agencies in Germany and Namibia.

Politics

Mariental is governed by a municipal council that has seven seats.

The 2015 local authority election was won by the SWAPO party, which gained six seats (1,325 votes). The remaining seat went to the Democratic Turnhalle Alliance (DTA, 139 votes). The 2020 local authority election was won by the newly formed Landless People's Movement (LPM), which scored well all over Hardap. LPM gained 1,726 votes and four seats in the city council, followed by SWAPO with two seats (906 votes). The new Independent Patriots for Change (IPC) obtained the remaining seat with 180 votes.

References

References

2. "Mariental | Namibia".
3. "Hardap Resort". [[Namibia Wildlife Ressorts]].
4. Cloete, Luqman. (21 February 2017). "NamWater opens Hardap Dam sluices". [[The Namibian]].
5. "4.2.2 Urban population by Census years (2001 and 2011)". [[Namibia Statistics Agency]].
6. "4.5 Population by town and census years (2011 and 2023)". [[Namibia Statistics Agency]].
7. . (27 January 2022). ["68212: Mariental (Namibia)"](https://www.ogimet.com/cgi-bin/gsynres?ind=68212&ano=2022&mes=1&day=28&hora=0&min=0&ndays=30). *OGIMET*.
8. Vatileni, Eino. (15 February 2022). "743 convicts in jail for rape". [[The Namibian]].
9. Bause, Tanja. (23 September 2011). "Bike container creates jobs". [[The Namibian]].
10. (2015). "Know Your Local Authority". Institute for Public Policy Research.
11. (28 November 2015). "Local elections results". [[Electoral Commission of Namibia]].
12. (29 November 2020). "2020 Local Authority Elections Results and Allocation of Seats". [[Electoral Commission of Namibia]].

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