Etosha National Park

Etosha National Park is one of the largest national parks in Africa, in northwestern Namibia. It covers about 22,270 square kilometres and is named after the Etosha Pan, a huge flat basin that fills almost 23 per cent of the park.

The word Etosha is said to mean "Great White Place", for the pale salt and clay of the pan. The park is home to hundreds of species of mammals, birds and reptiles, including the endangered black rhinoceros. Wildlife gathers at waterholes around the pan, especially in the dry season. The park is a major place to protect the black rhinoceros.

History

Etosha was proclaimed a game reserve in 1907 by the governor of German South West Africa. It became a national park in 1967. Before that the area was home to Hai//om, Ovambo and Herero peoples.

Europeans Charles John Andersson and Francis Galton recorded the pan in 1851. The Hai//om people were forcibly removed from the park in 1954, and Namibia's government now recognises it as their home and has resettled some families on nearby farms.

Wildlife and the pan

The pan covers about 4,760 square kilometres. The animals gather at waterholes, so visitors can watch many species at one place.

Rhinos here are threatened by poaching: in 2022, 61 black rhinos were killed in Namibia, and 46 of them in Etosha. A wildfire burned about a third of the park in September 2025. Rain is uncommon, so animals depend on springs and waterholes at the edge of the pan instead of on the pan itself.

On the globe

Find it on the globe in northern Namibia and zoom in to open its card.