Namibia gains star status, thanks to Jolie and Pitt

A month ago, Namibia was a little-known African nation.

But thanks to Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, the country now has some global attention that only is going to heat up as Jolie's due date draws closer.

The couple checked into a resort in Swakopmund amid speculation that Jolie may give birth to their child there. "Namibia's just a country we're very fond of," Pitt told The Associated Press. The nation "is a beautiful land and a place that we want to be for the time being."

Their presence is a "very good thing" for Namibia, says ambassador Hopelong Ipinge from the Embassy of the Republic of Namibia in Washington, D.C. The attention is as good for tourism as it is for "world cultural understanding," he says, and the couple probably are drawn to the country's history and culture as well as the "peaceful nature" of the people.

Jolie and Pitt would be free to get married in Namibia, because there is no waiting period, Ipinge says, and the union would "most assuredly" be legal in the United States. Marriages can be performed by ministers of justice or by a church pastor, and most Namibian weddings are a "suit and tie" event at a courthouse, he says.

Though their marriage is speculation, the couple's connection to Namibia and the continent of Africa goes back several years:

－Jolie, 30, first visited Namibia in 2002 when she was filming "Beyond Borders," which is set during Ethiopia's catastrophic famine in 1984. Jolie called reading the script a life-changing event that prompted her to become a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations.

－Another heart-tugging connection to Namibia: It's where Jolie became a mother. She was working on "Borders" when Cambodian-born son Maddox's adoption became final. He was 7 1/2 months old when Jolie picked him up at the Namibia airport.

－ Africa has been a key location for Pitt and Jolie's courtship. They were frolicking on a beach in Kenya in April 2005 when photographers captured the first photos of them as a couple. And they flew into Ethiopia in July when Jolie adopted daughter Zahara.