Twenty four kilometres west of Grootfontein lies the huge Hoba meteorite.

The Otavi and Grootfontein districts, and to a lesser extent also Otjiwarongo, are the granary of Namibia.

The region also has a great potential to establish industries connected with such farming activities and by-products of it.

In the 2004 regional election for the National Assembly of Namibia, the South West Africa People's Organization (SWAPO) won in six of the seven constituencies, Okakarara was won by National Unity Democratic Organisation (NUDO).

The upstart Independent Patriots for Change (IPC), an opposition party formed in August 2020, obtained 12.9% overall, and the Popular Democratic Movement (PDM) got 11.9%, but both did not get close to winning any single constituency.