The name of the country is derived from the Namib Desert, the oldest desert in the world. The name ''Namib'' itself is of Nama origin and means "vast place". That word for the country was chosen by Mburumba Kerina who originally proposed the name the "Republic of Namib". Before its independence in 1990, the area was known first as German South-West Africa (''Deutsch-Südwestafrika''), then as South-West Africa, reflecting the colonial occupation by the Germans and the South Africans.