Ondjiva
| Ondjiva | |||
|---|---|---|---|
|
|||
| Coordinates | 17 ° 4 ′ S , 15 ° 44 ′ E | ||
| Basic data | |||
| Country | Angola | ||
| Cunene | |||
| Município | Cuanhama | ||
| ISO 3166-2 | AO-CNN | ||
| local community | Ondjiva | ||
| Residents | 121,537 (2014) | ||
Ondjiva (also written N'jiva and Onjiva ; in colonial times Pereira d'Eça) is a large city in southwest Angola . The city is located about 950 km south of Luanda and about 50 km north of the border with Namibia . The closest major city is Lubango , about 200 km away. The city of Ondjiva is small and clear for a provincial capital.
Ondjiva is the seat of the Ondjiva diocese .
history
Until 1917, Ondjiva was the residence of the UuKwanyama kings . In the course of the German-Portuguese conflict on the edge of the First World War , the Portuguese colonial administration increased its presence in the area. The Portuguese colonial administration then elevated the place to a small town ( Vila ) and named it Vila Pereira d'Eça. The name should remember the general and colonial administrator António Júlio da Costa Pereira d'Eça (1852-1917), who was Minister of War of the young Republic of Portugal from 1914 to 1915 . He then became governor and commander-in-chief of Angola. In this position he officially took note of the surrender of the German troops in the border area to German South West Africa on July 12, 1915 . After Angola's independence in 1975, the Portuguese place name was replaced by the current name.
Administration and population
Ondjiva is the capital of the province of Cunene . The city is also a municipality (Comuna) in the district ( Município ) of Cuanhama , of which it is also the capital. The 2014 national census showed a population of 121,537, making it one of the smaller provincial capitals of Angola.
The population in the city and the surrounding region mainly belongs to the Ovambo people , mostly their subgroup the Kwanyama.
Transport and economy
The city has an airport which is served by Air Namibia , among others .
Due to the sometimes very poor road connections to the north beyond Lubango, the economy is strongly oriented towards nearby Namibia. A road leads there that was in a passable condition by Angolan standards in 2004 and is currently being expanded. The construction of a railway line from Namibia via Ondjiva to Lubango is planned for the future. On the Namibian side, the rail link to the Oshikango border crossing has already been completed.
In addition to various non-governmental organizations , the provincial government and some trading and transport companies are based there.
sons and daughters of the town
- Marcelina Vahekeni (* 1990), Miss Angola 2012, representative of Angola in the Miss Universe elections
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ History of the Portuguese Africa possessions during World War I (port.), Accessed on April 12, 2014
- ↑ Article on Vahekeni's election on www.timesofbeauty.com, accessed on April 12, 2014