Which peoples lived in Namibia before European colonization?

Before European colonization, Namibia was inhabited by several distinct groups with diverse social and economic structures:

• San: The earliest inhabitants were nomadic hunter-gatherers with small, rarely federated clans.12
• Nama: A pastoral people with a larger clan system and interclan alliances who were the first conquerors in the south.12
• Damara (Bergdama): A people whose culture combined pastoralism, hunting, and copper smelting; they were often linked to the Nama in a dependent role.12
• Herero: Pastoralists from central Africa who built interlocked clan systems headed by a paramount chief.12
• Ovambo: Inhabitants of the north who developed several kingdoms, practiced mixed farming, and worked with copper.12
• Kavango: Related peoples in the east with a state system similar to, though weaker than, that of the Ovambo.12
• Marginal groups: Various populations on the eastern and southern fringes were spillovers from neighboring regions, including the Barotse from Zambia and Tswana from Botswana.12

By the 19th century, the Oorlam-Nama and Rehoboth Basters also migrated into the region, bringing Europeanized military and social structures.12