Dondo (Angola)
| Dondo | |||
|---|---|---|---|
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| Coordinates | 9 ° 41 ′ S , 14 ° 25 ′ E | ||
| Basic data | |||
| Country | Angola | ||
| Cuanza Norte | |||
| Município | Cambambe | ||
| ISO 3166-2 | AO-CNO | ||
| Comuna | Dondo | ||
| Residents | 55,000 (2011) | ||
 The new Dondo train station (2011)
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Dondo is a city in Angola . It is the capital of the district ( Município ) of Cambambe , in the province of Cuanza Norte . The Cuanza River flows through Dondo.
history
The history of the place goes back to the 14th century. The place was called Mbanza Kabaza ( Kimbundu for: royal seat) and in 1625 housed the largest market in the Ngola Empire . In the course of the advancing Portuguese colonization , this area also came under the control of the Portuguese in the further course of the 17th century. a. built the Fortaleza de Cambambe fortress and the Igreja de Nossa Senhora do Rosário (Church of Our Lady of the Rosary).
In 1771 the Portuguese Francisco Inocêncio Coutinho founded an iron foundry in Nova Oeira (today the municipality of Massangano ), which is considered to be the first metal factory in Africa. Dondo became the seat of its own district ( concelho ) in 1857 and had around 100 Portuguese among its inhabitants. The place continued to grow, in particular due to the influx of residents from Aldeia do Soba Kambambe, 17 km away. The circle was then named Cambambe. In 1870 Dondo was raised to the status of a small town ( Vila ) and gained further growth, particularly through agricultural production. In 1941 the railway line from Zenza do Itombe to Dondo was opened, a branch of the Luanda Railway . As a result of the improved transport routes, a number of businesses were established here (Ambriz cotton processing, building materials industry, Satec textile factory, Vinelo wine distributor), especially after the opening of the Cambambe Dam hydropower plant, which had been built in 1958, in 1960. On May 29, 1973, Dondo became a town ( Cidade ).
Attractions
The fortress and the church built in it from the 17th century are the oldest architectural monuments in Dondo. In connection with the construction of the power station and the dam from 1958, a number of new buildings were built, including the futuristic hostel Pousada do Complexo Hidro-Elétrico de Cambambe .
The Hotel Marginal , which was built in the 1950s and is now a listed building, stands near the river bank . In addition, trees on the river bank in the city center provide shade and invite you to linger by the river.
economy
The city administration has a 200 hectare industrial area for around 70 companies. It was created in 2013 as part of a state program to re-industrialize the Cambambe and Lucala counties . In earlier times in Dondo et al. a. Companies in the textile industry, wine trade, cotton processing and the building materials industry. The Cambambe hydropower station and the EKA brewery , both from colonial times, are still here today and were the only companies in the area to survive the Angolan civil war in full operation.
In 2013, Japanese investments in the establishment of two textile factories in Dondo became known. On the site of the former Satec textile factory (later Bula Matadi l), 1,500 new direct jobs are to be created by 2015. Two companies in the food industry of the agricultural company Génios Angola also want to settle here.
River fishing and agriculture are also of importance, the main crops of which are bananas, cassava, beans, sweet potatoes and citrus fruits.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ www.monumentos.pt , accessed on January 11, 2014
- ↑ ditto
- ↑ Article of May 25, 2011 by the state press agency Agência Angola Press , accessed on January 11, 2013
- ↑ www.monumentos.pt , accessed on January 11, 2014
- ↑ ditto
- ^ Joost De Raeymaeker: À Descoberta De Angola. 1st edition, Verlag LeYa , Alfragide 2012, p. 205 ( ISBN 978-989-741-009-3 )
- ↑ Article from July 12, 2013 on www.portaldeangola.com, accessed on January 11, 2014