Sperrgebiet

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The Sperrgebiet is a diamond mining area in southwestern Namibia, in the Namib Desert. It spans the Atlantic Ocean-facing coast from Oranjemund on the border with South Africa, to around 45mi north of Lüderitz, a distance of 320km north. The Sperrgebiet extends to around 100km inland, and its total area of 26000km2, makes up three percent of Namibia's land mass. However, mining only takes place in five percent of the Sperrgebiet, with most of the area acting as a buffer zone. Members of the public are banned from entering most of the area, despite the creation of a national park there in 2004.HistoryIn September 1908, the German government created the Sperrgebiet in its colony of German South West Africa, giving sole rights for mining to the Deutsche Diamantengesellschaft ("German Diamond Company"). In 1915, during World War I, South African forces led by General Jan Smuts and Louis Botha, the South African Prime Minister, invaded the country. The South Africans defeated the Germans, taking control of modern-day Namibia, including the Sperrgebiet. The owner of the mine, De Beers (see The Case of the Disappearing Diamonds 1987 TV documentary), had total control of the area until the 1990s, when the Namibian government purchased a fifty percent stake. They formed a joint partnership called the Namdeb Diamond Corporation.

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