Namibia's capital, Windhoek, with its population of approximately 200 000 people is situated in an airy basin in the central highlands, flanked by the Auas Mountains to the south-east, the Eros Mountains to the north-east and the rolling hills of the Khomas Hochland to the west. It is a city of many contrasts. Modern skyscrapers blend with historic buildings dating from the turn of the century; African drums and wood carvings from the north displayed on pavements vie with elegant shops offering sophisticated Swakara garments and Namibian gemstones set in individually-designed pieces of jewellery. Jan Jonker Afrikaner, gave the town the name it carries today. In the early 1840's he settled where the most powerful spring reached the surface. It is thought that in a moment of nostalgia, he named the place after Winterhoek, the farm in the Cape where he was born. During the German colonial administration it was know as Windhuk, which later became Windhoek. The main street is Independence Avenue, referred to before independence as Kaiser Street.