Gobabis is the centre of this area and also its main business area, as it is linked with the capital of Namibia, Windhoek, by rail and the tarred B6 national road. This infrastructure serves as the main supply line for the region.
All the other population centres in the region are linked with Gobabis by road. Many other services are rendered from Gobabis to the region, such as the Police Divisional Headquarters, which is situated in Gobabis. Clinics in the region are served by medical practitioners based in Gobabis, and there are two hospitals and a clinic serving the region.
The agricultural patterns of this region is to a large extent homogenous. Most of the 900 commercial and 3,500 communal farmers in this area are cattle breeders. A regional office of the Ministry of Agriculture, serving the whole region, is based in Gobabis.
Hunting, including trophy hunting, is one of the major sources of income for the region. This takes place mainly in the winter months, from June to August. During these months, tourists from the northern hemisphere can be seen in the area, enjoying the mild and dry winter climate and collecting trophies.
In 2013 Omaheke had 42 government schools with a total of 18,365 pupils.[7]
In the 2015 regional elections SWAPO obtained 54% of the total votes (2010: 47%) and won four of the seven constituencies. NUDO obtained 23% of the total votes (2010: 26%)[6] and won Aminuis and Otjinene, while Otjombinde was won by an independent candidate.[11][12] Although SWAPO's support dropped to 44% of the total votes in the 2020 regional election, it won five of the seven constituencies, while NUDO (23% total) kept its strongholds Otjinene and Aminuis.[6]
Omaheke is traversed by the northwesterly line of equal latitude and longitude.[19]
A large part of this region is known as the Sandveld. The northeastern part of the region is still very much wilderness.[citation needed]
Anthropologically, almost the entire Ovambanderu and Gobabis-Juǀwa ethnic groups reside in the region. Furthermore, it is a rich cultural area for Herero, Damara-Nama, Tswana, Afrikaners and Germans.[citation needed]
One of its notable event is the annual Meat Festival.[citation needed]
On 11 August 1904, a German armed force with artillery and machine guns, which had encircled the Herero who had fled to the Waterberg in Namibia, attacked and forced the survivors to flee to the Omaheke desert, where large numbers died. Those who tried to emerge from the desert were killed by German patrols along the perimeter of the Omaheke.[20] This was the turning point in the Herero and Namaqua Genocide.
^Olusoga, David and Erichsen, Casper W (2010). The Kaiser's Holocaust. Germany's Forgotten Genocide and the Colonial Roots of Nazism. Faber and Faber. ISBN978-0-571-23141-6
