Today, the Namib desert stretches north and south over 1,180 miles (1,900 km), from the lower reaches of the Oliphants River in the western Cape to near Mocamedes in Angola.

Even with this great length, the desert is rather narrow, with a width of only 50-87 miles (80-140 km) and bordered by the Great Escarpment to the east. The desert narrows to the north, with a width of 46 miles (75 km) near the Kunene River, and a width of only seven miles (11 km) near its northernmost limit in Angola. From the sea level of the Atlantic, the desert rises more than 3,280 feet (1000 meters).

The Namib's sand sea covers a total area of 13,125 square miles (34,000 square km), and consists mainly of south-north oriented, linear dunes. The dunes, all sharp-crested, are spaced about 1-1.5 miles (1.5-2.5 km) apart, are up to 30 miles (50 km) long, and are on average 525 feet (160 meters) high. Some of the highest Namib dunes, such as the Sossus Vlei, are over 1,280 feet (390 meters) high, and are visible from space. The colors of the dunes range from light yellow-brown on the coast to deep brown further inland to a brick-red in the eastern Namib. These color differences convey the age of the sand grains: coastal sand particles are younger, and inland particles build up a layer of reddish iron oxide due to oxidation. Grains are composed 90% of quartz, with other minerals such as feldspar, monazite and garnet making up the remainder.

The same wind that drives the icy Benguella Current shapes the dunes of the Namib into the following various formations:

Mega-Ripples or Draa contain regularly-spaced ripples that are approximately half a meter high on the slopes of larger dunes.

Barchans form where sand is relatively scarce and wind blows in one direction. On these dunes, grains blow more easily over the low sides of the dune than over its higher center. Hence, downward-pointing spurs develop, leading to the typical crescent shape. In the Namib, they are found on the coastal flats, where the southwesterly winds prevail, and between Torra and Terrace Bay, where many have linked up to form an intricate pattern. The Barchans are the most mobile of all the dunes: they move from 6-50 feet (2-15 meters) per year.

Shrub-Coppice dunes accumulate on the downward sides of bushes or tufts of grass and are generally very short but can extend up to one mile (1.5 km) in length.

Star dunes are shaped by multi-directional winds, and are therefore found further inland where the coastal winds are weaker.

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