The Topnaar are a people living in- and outside of the Namib Naukluft National Park in the central Namib. The study, which aimed to characterize the Topnaar and update existing sources on them, collected data through socio-economic field surveys and interviews looking at aspects such as population structure, income status, sources of income and occupations. Keywords: Namibia, Namib Desert, Gobabeb, Kuiseb River, student education, student training, inservice training, scientific education.