Namibia, the most arid country in sub-Saharan Africa, is one of the most sparsely populated countries on earth, with land area of 824 292 km2 and population of just over 1.8 million. March 1990 saw the end of a century of colonial rule during which indigenous Namibians were dispossessed from rights to both land and resources. First German and then white South African settlers were encouraged to migrate to Namibia and establish commercial farms and related businesses. Finding the large tracts of land needed for this first wave of resettlement required expropriation of that land from blacks. Access to freehold tenure was reserved for white settlers and tenure security for indigenous Namibians largely disappeared. In non-white areas, rights were provided under indigenous tenure systems whose legal status was somewhat murky. Urban tenure was denied as blacks were not allowed ownership of residential land.