When Namibia was administered by South Africa, Afrikaans, German, and English enjoyed an equal status as official languages.

Upon Namibian independence in 1990, English was enshrined as the nation's sole official language in the constitution of Namibia.

German and Afrikaans were stigmatised as relics of the colonial past,[1] while the rising of Mandela's Youth League and the 1951 Defiance Campaign spread English among the masses as the language of the campaign against apartheid.

[2] The most widely indigenous spoken languages are Oshiwambo dialects by 49% of the population; Khoekhoegowab by 11%; Afrikaans by 10%; RuKwangali by 9%; Otjiherero by 9%, and Silozi by 4.71%.

As of 2014 Portuguese was spoken by 4–5% of the total population, made up mostly of the Angolan community.