The territory hitherto known as German South West Africa covers an area of nearly 323,000 square miles, and has a coastline of 930 miles from the mouth of the Orange River, which separates it from the Cape Colony in the south, to the mouth of the Cunene River, which divides the territory from Portuguese Angola in the north. The southern boundary runs along the Orange River into the interior for some 300 miles.
The German population is stated to be about 15,000, and the natives are estimated at 200,000; but this latter is probably a high calculation, in view of the number who have fled into Bechuanaland and Cape Colony to escape from German tyranny.
One of the first acts of the German Government after their annexation of Damaraland and Great Namaqualand was to declare the claims of British concessionaires invalid.
The "rights" of Herr Luderitz were taken over by a chartered company, incorporated by the Government, which set itself to investigate the resources of the country.
The islands off the coast remained British, and there the huge deposits of guano have been worked for years.
A form of military government was established, who proceeded to impress the natives with the might of Germany; but the Hereros who occupied Damaraland never acknowledged even a German suzerainty, and in 1904 a "rebellion" broke out.
Utterly unaccustomed as they were to warfare of the description they were now called upon to undertake, the Germans found great difficulty in dealing with the "Hottentots," as the natives were termed; and the German effort to destroy the whole tribe involved the employment of 9,000 regular troops and an expenditure of £ 20,000,000.