Namibia

Credit: MODIS team; NASA, Posted on: Tuesday, 15 February 2005, 08:02 CST Download full size image

From the Etosha Pan in the north,along the Namib Desert in the west, to the Kalahari Desert in the east, and the Orange River in the south, Namibia presents a stunning palette of landscapes covering 823,620 square kilometers (over 318,000 sq mi). Sparse rainfall year round over the majority of the country keep agriculture mostly limited to areas near the major rivers - the Orange River along the southern border, and the Kunene, Cubango, and Zambesi rivers along the northern and eastern borders. Everywhere else, vegetation blends into the natural geological features of the country.

One of Namibia's most spectacular sites are the huge dunes along the coastal desert. Fed and formed by strong onshore winds, the dunes get as high as 300-350 meters (1000 to 1167 feet), and stretch for kilometers along the coast. The dunes are so large that they are discernable in each resolution of this true-color Terra MODIS image, acquired on February 6, 2005.

Another spectacular and prominent feature is the Etosha Pan, near the country's northern border in Etosha National Park. It is a salt pan roughly 130 km long by 50 km wide, and when dry appears bright white in color, as above.

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