- published: 05 Nov 2013
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Caprivi, sometimes called the Caprivi Strip (in German: Caprivizipfel), Caprivi Panhandle or the Okavango Strip and formally known as Itenge, is a narrow protrusion of Namibia eastwards from the Okavango Region about 450 km (280 mi), between Botswana to the south, and Angola and Zambia to the north. Caprivi is bordered by the Okavango, Kwando, Chobe and Zambezi rivers. Its largest settlement is the town of Katima Mulilo. It went through a civil war from 1994–1999 and remains unstable today. The strip is administratively divided between the eastern Caprivi Region and the western Okavango Region.
Inhabitants of the Caprivi Strip speak a number of African languages: most are in the Bantu family, although there is also at least one language in the northwest of the strip (on the Namibia/Angola border) which is a Khoisan language: Hukwe. The Bantu languages include Yeyi (or 'Yei' or 'Yeeyi'),Mbukushu, Gciriku (or 'Dciriku'), Fwe, Totela, and Subiya. Perhaps a majority in the Caprivi Strip, especially in the capital town of Katima Mulilo, speak Lozi as a lingua franca. Many also speak some English and Afrikaans.