Namibe

Namibe, city in south-western Angola, capital of Namibe Province. It is located south-west of the capital Luanda and lies on the Atlantic Ocean coast, 150 km (94 mi) west of Lubango and 225 km (140 mi) north of the border with Namibia. Because of the cold Benguela Current offshore, Namibe has a cool, dry climate and desert vegetation. The city is a major fishing port, providing two thirds of the Angolan catch, 90 per cent of which consists of sardines and mackerel. The industrial sector is dominated by fish-processing and other maritime trades such as boat repair and salt extraction. There is cattle ranching and irrigated fruit and vegetable production in the surrounding region. Firewood harvesting near the city has caused severe desertification. Namibe has a domestic airport and rail connections by way of Lubango to Menongue, Chiange, and the Cassinga iron mines.

Namibe, called Moçâmedes during the 19th- and early 20th-century Portuguese colonial era (see Portuguese Empire), was founded in 1840 by Portuguese merchants and heavily populated in 1849 by settlers from Pernambuco (now Recife), Brazil. After independence in 1975, fishing and fish-processing declined significantly, following the exodus of most Portuguese entrepreneurs with their boats and equipment. The Cassinga mines were partially destroyed in 1975 in Angola’s protracted civil war and have remained closed due to fighting and the low price of iron ore on the world market. As a result, shipments through the port of Namibe have been reduced to less than 5 per cent of their pre-1975 tonnage. Population 100,000 (1981 estimate).