Walvis Bay

22°59S 14°31E, pop (2000e) 35 000. Seaport in WC Namibia; on the Atlantic Ocean coast, 275 km/171 mi WSW of Windhoek; Walvis Bay enclave (area 1124 km²/434 sq mi) formerly administered by South Africa as part of Cape Province; annexed by the Dutch, 1792; taken by Britain, 1878; incorporated into Cape Colony, 1884; a South African enclave after Namibian independence; transferred to Namibia, 1994; airfield; railway terminus; handles most of Namibia's trade; fishing.

Walvis Bay, Namibia

Walvis Bay, (Dutch/Afrikaans Walvisbaai, German Walfischbucht or Walfischbai, meaning "Whale Bay"), is a port in Namibia and the bay on which it lies.

Nothing much was done with Walvis Bay until 1840, when in the scramble for Africa, Britain, the dominant seafaring nation at the time, annexed Walvis Bay and a small area surrounding the territory both to forestall German ambitions in the region and to ensure safe passage of British ships around the Cape.

The enclave was overrun by the Germans early in World War I, but South African Forces eventually ousted the Germans in 1915 and Walvis Bay was quickly integrated into the new martial law regime established in South-West Africa. Civilian rule was restored in South-West Africa in 1921 and Walvis Bay became an integral part of South-West Africa. Anticipating an imminent ceding of its control over South-West Africa, South Africa transferred power over Walvis Bay back to its Cape Province in 1971.

In an attempt to avoid losing control of Walvis Bay in 1977 to a possibly hostile SWAPO-led government, the then South African Government reimposed direct rule and reasserted its claim of sovereignty based on the original annexation. In 1978, the United Nations Security Council provided for bilateral negotiations between South Africa and a future Namibia to resolve the political status of Walvis Bay.