Outapi, also known as Uutapi and Ombalantu, is a town in northern Namibia

Namibia

Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia , is a country in southern Africa whose western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and east. It gained independence from South Africa on 21 March...

 near the border with Angola

Angola

Angola, officially the Republic of Angola , is a country in south-central Africa bordered by Namibia on the south, the Democratic Republic of the Congo on the north, and Zambia on the east; its west coast is on the Atlantic Ocean with Luanda as its capital city...

 situated 90km northwest of Oshakati

Oshakati

Oshakati is a town of 30,000 inhabitants in the Oshana Region of Namibia. It is the regional capital and was officially founded in July 1966. The city was used as a base of operations by the South African Defence Force during the South African Border War and Namibian War of Independence...

. It is the capital of Omusati region and the district capital of the Outapi electoral constituency

Outapi Constituency

Outapi Constituency is an electoral constituency in the Omusati Region of Namibia on the border to Angola. It has 30,313 inhabitants, its district capital is the town of Outapi....

. The town normally receives an annual average rainfall of 440 millimetres (17.3 in), although in the 2010/2011 rainy season 723 millimetres (28.5 in) were measured.

Within the former South African Army

South African Army

The South African Army is the army of South Africa, first formed after the Union of South Africa was created in 1910.The South African military evolved within the tradition of frontier warfare fought by commando forces, reinforced by the Afrikaners' historical distrust of large standing armies...

 base is the famous Omukwa Ombalantu baobab tree

Ombalantu baobab tree

The Ombalantu baobab tree, known also as a Tree of Life or Omukwa waaMbalantu, is a giant Baobab tree, an Adansonia species, situated in the town of Outapi in the north of Namibia. It is tall and estimated to be 800 years old....

, a Baobab

Adansonia

Adansonia is a genus of eight species of tree, six native to Madagascar, one native to mainland Africa and the Arabian Peninsula and one to Australia. The mainland African species also occurs on Madagascar, but it is not a native of that island....

 whose huge hollow trunk has been used in the past as a post office, a chapel and a coffee shop, and is now a craft shop.

In 2001, Outapi was the smallest town of Namibia with a population of just over 2,600. However, it is developing rapidly. There is a large number of newly constructed government buildings and shops in the south of the town. The language spoken there is Oshiwambo. Outapi is one of the hottest place in the northern Namibia with temperatures ranging between 26 and 30 degrees Celsius.

Outapi features several schools, a community hall, a hospital and a police station. There are two open markets, one at the baobab tree and one at Ontimbu location. There is also a tourist lodge.