Ongwediva

Ongwediva is a town in the Oshana Region in the north of Namibia. It is the district capital of the Ongwediva electoral constituency. it had 27,000 inhabitants and covered 4,102 hectares of land. Ongwediva has seven churches, two private schools and 13 government-run schools. Most of the inhabitants speak Oshiwambo.HistoryThe settlement of Ongwediva was established in the 1960s while Namibia was under South African occupation, in the area of headman Mr Nandjebo Mengela. Its purpose was to serve as a residential area for people employed by businesses and government in Oshakati and Ondangwa. All main educational institutions in the north of Namibia (at that time called the Ovamboland) were situated here.Economy and developmentOngwediva hosts an annual trade fair, the Ongwediva Annual Trade Fair since 2000, after one initial trade fair, the Northern Namibia Trade Fair, was held in 1995. Opposite of the open market, there is a shopping mall .Ongwediva is an urban area that experiences rapid growth. It had less than 11,000 inhabitants in 2001.Ongwediva is the second largest entertainment town in Namibia just behind the capital Windhoek. Ongwediva is a fast-growing town in terms of development and status as a second most livable town in Namibia. It also features one of the few private hospitals in Namibia.