DOC/OS(XXXIII)/324c/I 5 commercial farms of around 7,000 hectares each cover an area of 44% of the country, whilst communal agricultural farms, on which 70% of the population depend for their livelihood, occupy 43% of the area. In the middle and the south of the country, white Namibians carry out intensive livestock farming of cattle and astrakhan sheep for export. This accounts for 80% of the agricultural production of the country. This situation stirs up the tensions created by the unresolved problem of redistribution of land, which had been promised at independence in 1990. Social and cultural characteristics The capital, Windhoek, attracts more and more young people looking for work. It is the most populated region apart from the north of the country. It is inhabited mostly by white people. As in the apartheid era, most black people leave in the evening to go home to Katutura, the suburb where they were forced to live during the 1960s. English, which became the official language, is used mainly in business circles, however, only 10% of Namibians speak it fluently. Four main languages are spoken in the country: Oshivambo and its dialects are spoken in the four central northern regions and by most black inhabitants in the southern urban centres. Nama, is a language spoken by the Khosan as well as by the Damara people, whilst 9% of the population speak Herero and Rukavango. To the west, the people of Caprivi speak Lozi. Speaking Afrikaans helps to make oneself understood nearly everywhere in the country and the South African language is used by 10% of Namibians, including people of mixed race, the Rehoboth Basters and most of the 80,000 white inhabitants. The remainder speak German. Decentralisation is expected to greatly improve access to health services. The lack of infrastructure is pushing the government to build units in rural areas. But the main goal is to combat the HIV/AIDS pandemic, which is an important threat and presently one of the major causes of death in the country. Namibia also suffers from problems relating to the disparity between levels of income. 65% of the total revenue is concentrated in the hands of 10% of the richest people in society. Life expectancy, the level of literacy and revenue vary from region to region. Namibia is seeking to develop initiatives to alleviate poverty and allocates around 30% of its annual budget to education, which is regarded as a priority. History and general political structure The country was under German colonial administration from 1890 up to the end of the First World War, when its mandate was handed over to Great Britain within the framework of the League of Nations. The powers of the mandate were delegated to the South African Union in 1920 and a system of apartheid was imposed shortly after. South Africa did not abandon its mandate, despite repeated requests from the United Nations. In 1959, the South West African People's Organisation (SWAPO) was set up in Namibia as an organisation of opposition to South Africa. As South Africa still refused to give Namibia its independence, SWAPO created an armed wing, the People's Liberation Army of Namibia (PLAN) to fight for freedom. The first armed conflict broke out in 1966 and continued until SWAPO and South Africa signed a cease-fire agreement through the mediation of the United Nations in 1989. Elections were organised in 1989 and SWAPO won most of the seats. A Constituent Assembly was set up to draft a new constitution. Namibia gained independence in 1990 and adopted its Constitution in the same year. Namibia is a unitarian and secular State with a multiparty government system. It is divided into thirteen administrative regions. Each region has an elected regional