304 Nasser, Gamal Abdel been increased to provide economic opportunities for blacks The unemployment rate of nearly 40 percent in 2000 primarily affected the black majority Namibia struggled to bring equality to its indigenous population Racially, in 2005, black Africans made up 87.5 percent of the population, with white Africans numbering percent and people of mixed race making up 6.5 percent By law, all indigenous groups participate equally in decisions affecting their lands, cultures, traditions, and allocations of natural resources However, Namibia’s indigenous citizens were unable to fully exercise these rights as a result of minimal access to education, limited economic opportunities under colonial rule, and their relative isolation Virtually all of the country’s minorities are represented in Parliament, in senior positions in the cabinet, and at other levels of government The San, also known as Bushmen, are particularly disadvantaged The government took numerous measures to end societal discrimination against the San However, many San children not attend school, making advancement difficult The future of Namibia remained in doubt at the start of the 21st century The spread of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) held the possibility of devastating the country Over 20 percent of Namibian adults were infected with HIV Additionally the presence of numerous refugees from nearby war-torn nations held the potential to drag down the economy and involve Namibians in cross-border conflicts Desertification, land degradation, and wildlife poaching were likely to remain issues of concern in the foreseeable future Further reading: CIDMAA (Centre d’information et de documentation sur le Mozambique et l’Afrique australe) Towards Namibian Independence: Prospects for Development and Cooperation Montreal: Canadian Council for International Cooperation, 1984; Jaster, Robert S South Africa in Namibia: The Botha Strategy Lanham, MD: University Press of America, 1985; Rotberg, Robert I Namibia: Political and Economic Prospects Lexington, MA: Lexington Books, 1983 Steven Dieter Nasser, Gamal Abdel (1918–1970) Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser led the 1952 Egyptian revolution that overthrew the corrupt and ineffective monar- Gamal Abdel Nasser (center left) led the 1952 Egyptian revolution that overthrew the corrupt monarchy of King Farouk chy of King Farouk Nasser was born into a workingclass family in Asyut province His father was a postal clerk Nasser graduated from the Royal Military Academy in Cairo and served in the Sudan He fought in the 1948 Arab-Israeli War at Falluja, where Egyptian forces held out against Israel until the war’s end After the 1948 war, Nasser and other junior officers blamed King Farouk for the war’s substandard weaponry and lack of military strategy Nasser was one of the founders of the secret Free Officers group that was determined to oust Farouk and set Egypt on a different path Although the older and better-known Brigadier-General Muhammad Naguib was put forward to the public as the head of the officers’ group, Nasser was in fact the acknowledged leader He was known for carefully listening to all viewpoints and then making decisions On July 22, 1952, the Free Officers overthrew the monarchy in a practically bloodless coup d’état A Revolutionary Command Council (RCC) was established with Naguib as its head Nasser and Naguib clashed over whether to keep a parliamentary system or to establish a one-party state with populist support, a course Nasser favored The majority of the officers favored Nasser, and a single party, the Liberation Rally, was established in 1953 After a failed assassination attempt on Nasser in 1954, the Muslim