Namib

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Namib

desert, Africa

Also known as: Namibe

Written by Richard F. Logan

Fact-checked by The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

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Portuguese:: Namibe

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Namib, a cool coastal desert extending for 1,200 miles (1,900 km) along the Atlantic coast of Africa from Namibe (formerly Moçâmedes) in Angola southward across Namibia to the Olifants River in the Western Cape province of South Africa. It reaches inland 80 to 100 miles (130 to 160 km) to the foot of the Great Escarpment. The southern portion merges with the Kalahari on the plateau atop the escarpment. Its name is derived from the Nama language, implying “an area where there is nothing.” The Namib is arid and is almost totally uninhabited, except for a small number of scattered ...(100 of 1856 words)

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