Fertility, mortality, and migration in subsaharan Africa : the case of Ovamboland in north Namibia, 1925-90

In north Namibia the availability of continuous series of parish record data since the 1920s offer excellent possibilities to study population development on a regional level by primary sources. In this study fertility, mortality and internal migration in north Namibia among the Christian population since the mid-1920s to the 1990s is analyzed. Scanty evidence has been the major obstacle for studying historical demography in Sub-Saharan Africa. Our most certain knowledge of the development of nineteenth-century and early twentieth-century populations is based on a retrospective view of the post-Second World War censuses. In north Namibia the availability of continuous parish records dating from the 1920s, offers excellent possibilities to study population development at a regional level using primary sources. The study focuses on analyzing the development of fertility, mortality and internal migration in north Namibia among the Christian population since the mid-1920s to the 1990s, and tries to understand cultural, social, economic and political factors affecting population development Front Matter....Pages i-xiii Introduction....Pages 1-6 Ovamboland: Ecology, History, Economy, and Culture....Pages 7-16 Population Development in Namibia....Pages 17-25 Christianization in Ovamboland....Pages 26-30 Research Area....Pages 31-39 Materials and Methods....Pages 40-58 Quality of Data....Pages 59-67 Fertility....Pages 68-87 Mortality....Pages 88-111 Migration....Pages 112-163 Summary....Pages 164-170 Back Matter....Pages 171-188