The Republic of Namibia, once the German colonial territory of German South West Africa, is situated on the Atlantic coast of southern Africa, bounded on the north by Angola, on the east by Botswana, and on the south by South Africa. It has an area of 318,261 sq. mi. (824,290 sq. km.) and a population of 1.73 million. Capital: Windhoek. Diamonds, copper, lead, zinc and cattle are exported. South Africa undertook the administration of South West Africa under the terms of a League of Nations mandate on December 17, 1920. When the League of Nations was dissolved in 1946, its supervisory authority for South West Africa was inherited by the United Nations. In 1946, the UN denied South Africa?s request to annex South West Africa. South Africa responded by refusing to place the territory under a UN trusteeship. In 1950 the International Court of Justice rules that South Africa could not unilaterally modify the international status of South West Africa. A 1966 UN resolution declaring the mandate terminated was rejected by South Africa and the status of the area remained in dispute. In June 1968 the UN General Assembly voted to rename the territory Namibia. In 1971 the International Court of Justice ruled that South Africa?s presence in Namibia was illegal. In December 1973 the UN appointed a UN Commissioner and a multi-racial Advisory Council was also appointed. An interim government was formed in 1977 and independence was to be declared by December 31, 1978. This resolution was rejected by major UN powers. In April 1978 South Africa accepted a plan for UN-supervised elections which led to political abstention by the South West Africa People?s Organization (SWAPO) party. The result was the dissolution of the Minister?s Council and National Assembly in January 1983. A Multi-Party Conference (MPC) was formed in May 1984 which held talks with SWAPO. The MPC petitioned South Africa for Namibian self-government and on June 17, 1984 the Transitional Government of National Unity was installed. Negotiations were held in 1988 between Angola, Cuba and South Africa reaching a peaceful settlement on August 5 1988. By April 1, 1989, Cuban troops were to withdraw from Angola and South African troops from Namibia. The Transitional Government resigned on February 28, 1988 for the upcoming elections of the constituent assembly in November 1989. Independence was finally achieved on March 21, 1990, within the Commonwealth of Nations. The President is Head of State; the prime Minister is Head of Government. MONETARY SYSTEM: 1 Namibia Dollar = 100 Cents