Khoekhoe language in the context of "Namaqualand"

Nama (in older sources also called Namaqua) are an African ethnic group who reside in South Africa, Namibia, and Botswana. They traditionally speak the Nama language of the Khoe-Kwadi language family, although many Nama also speak Afrikaans. The Nama people (or Nama-Khoe people) are the largest group of the Khoekhoe people, many of whom have disappeared as a group. Many of the Nama clans live in Central Namibia and the other smaller groups live in Namaqualand, which today straddles the Namibian border with South Africa.

The Damara, plural Damaran (Khoekhoegowab: ǂNūkhoen, Black people, German: Bergdamara, referring to their extended stay in hilly and mountainous sites, also called at various times the Daman or the Damaqua) are an ethnic group who make up 8.5% of Namibia's population. They speak the Khoekhoe language (like the Nama people) and the majority live in the northwestern regions of Namibia, however, they are also found widely across the rest of the country.

Genetic studies have found that Damara are closely related to neighbouring Himba and Herero people, consistent with an origin from Bantu speakers who shifted to a different language and culture.

Table Mountain (Khoekhoe: Huriǂoaxa, lit. 'sea-emerging'; Afrikaans: Tafelberg) is a flat-topped mountain forming a prominent landmark overlooking the city of Cape Town in South Africa.

It is a significant tourist attraction, with many visitors either using the cableway or hiking to the top. The mountain has 8,200 plant species, of which around 80% are fynbos (Afrikaans for 'fine bush'). Table Mountain National Park is the most visited national park in South Africa, attracting 4.2 million people every year for various activities. It forms part of the lands formerly inhabited by Khoe-speaking clans, such as the !Uriǁʼaes (the "High Clan").

The Hoba (/ˈhoʊbə/ HOH-bə) meteorite is named after the farm Hoba West, where it lies, not far from Grootfontein, in the Otjozondjupa Region of Namibia. It has been uncovered, but because of its large mass, has never been moved from where it fell. The main mass (some parts have apparently been chopped off) is estimated at more than 60 tonnes. It is the largest known intact meteorite (as a single piece) and about twice as massive as the largest fragment of either the Cape York meteorite's 31-tonne Ahnighito kept in the American Museum of Natural History or the Campo del Cielo's 31-tonne Gancedo in Argentina. It is also the most massive naturally occurring piece of iron (specifically ferronickel) known on Earth's surface. The name Hoba comes from a Khoekhoegowab word meaning 'gift'. Following its donation to the government in 1987, a visitor centre was constructed with a circular stone access and seating area.

The Khoe or Khoi (/ˈkweɪ/ KWAY) languages are the largest of the non-Bantu language families indigenous to Southern Africa. They were once considered to be a branch of a Khoisan language family, and were known as Central Khoisan in that scenario. Though Khoisan is now rejected as a family, the name is retained as a term of convenience.

The most numerous and only well-known Khoe language is Khoekhoe (Nama/Damara) of Namibia. The rest of the family is found predominantly in the Kalahari Desert of Botswana. The languages are similar enough that a fair degree of communication is possible between Khoekhoe and the languages of Botswana.

The Northern Cape (Afrikaans: Noord-Kaap [ˈnuərtkɑːp]; Tswana: Kapa Bokone; Xhosa: eMntla-Kapa; Khoekhoe: Nama!hub) is the largest and most sparsely populated province of South Africa. It was created in 1994 when the Cape Province was split up. Its capital is Kimberley. It includes the Kalahari Gemsbok National Park, part of the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park and an international park shared with Botswana. It also includes the Augrabies Falls and the diamond mining regions in Kimberley and Alexander Bay.

The Namaqualand region in the west is famous for its Namaqualand daisies. The southern towns of De Aar and Colesberg found within the Great Karoo are major transport nodes between Johannesburg, Cape Town and Gqeberha. Kuruman can be found in the north-east and is known as a mission station. It is also well known for its artesian spring and Eye of Kuruman. The Orange River flows through the province, forming the borders with the Free State in the southeast and with Namibia to the northwest. The river is also used to irrigate the many vineyards in the arid region near Upington.

Namaland was a Bantustan and then later a non-geographic ethnic-based second-tier authority, the Representative Authority of the Namas, the in South West Africa (present-day Namibia), intended by the apartheid government to be a self-governing homeland for the Nama people. Namaland comprised an area of 2,156 km (832 sq mi) and was to accommodate the estimated 34,806 southern Namas of the South West African territory.

The term Namaland also covers a much broader region of southern Namibia which is the traditional home of the northern Nama people. Their language, Nama, is the only surviving dialect of the Khoekhoe language. The suffix -qua means “people” and can be added to the names of most Khoekhoe groups. The region of the Northern Cape south of the Orange River is called Namaqualand.

Nǁng ([ᵑǁŋ]) or Nǁŋǃke is a almost extinct Tuu language spoken in South Africa. It is commonly known by the ambiguous name of its only spoken dialect Nǀuu (Nǀhuki); the ǀʼAuni name for the Nǀuu, ǂKhomani, is used by the South African government. Nǁng had been thought extinct and was no longer spoken on a daily basis when rediscovered, as the two dozen elderly speakers lived in different villages and the younger generations had shifted to the Khoekhoe language. As of October 2025, only one speaker of the Nǀuu dialect remains, the rest of the population having shifted to Khoekhoe and Afrikaans.