Namibia (, ), officially the
Republic of Namibia (
German: ; ), and formerly
German South-West Africa and then
South West Africa, is a country in
southern Africa whose western border is the
Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with
Zambia and
Angola to the north,
Botswana to the east and
South Africa to the south and east. Although it does not border
Zimbabwe, less than 200 metres of the
Zambezi River (essentially a small bulge in Botswana to achieve a Botswana/Zambia micro-border) separates them at their closest points. It gained independence from South Africa on 21 March 1990, following the
Namibian War of Independence. Its capital and largest city is
Windhoek. Namibia is a member state of the
United Nations (UN), the
Southern African Development Community (SADC), the
African Union (AU), and the
Commonwealth of Nations.