Namibe Province

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Namibe
Namibia Sambia Republik Kongo Demokratische Republik Kongo Botswana Provinz Cabinda Provinz Zaire Provinz Luanda Provinz Uíge Provinz Bengo Provinz Cuanza Norte Provinz Cuanza Sul Provinz Malanje Provinz Lunda Norte Provinz Lunda Sul Provinz Moxico Provinz Huambo Provinz Benguela Provinz Bié Provinz Namibe Provinz Huíla Provinz Cunene Provinz Cuando Cubangolocation
About this picture
Basic data
Country Angola
Capital Moçâmedes
surface 58,137 km²
Residents 588,400 (2019)
density 10 inhabitants per km²
ISO 3166-2 AO-NAM
Website www.namibe.gov.ao ( Portuguese )
politics
Governador Carlos da Rocha Cruz

Coordinates: 15 ° 8 ′  S , 12 ° 21 ′  E

Namibe is a province of the African state of Angola . Under Portuguese colonial administration, their Portuguese name was Moçâmedes (also spelled Mossâmedes ).

The current name of the province is derived from the Namib desert , which is predominantly located in Namibia , but whose northernmost part extends into the Namibe province. The province is known for the Welwitschia ( Welwitschia mirabilis ), which can often be found there, as well as for the rock art of Tchitundo-Hulo.

The Namibebahn crosses the province. Tiger Island is just ten kilometers west of the coast .

administration

The province of Namibe has an area of ​​58,137 km². The capital of the province is the city of the same name Moçâmedes . Another important city is Tômbua or Tómbwa (formerly Porto Alexandre).

The province is divided into five districts ( Municípios ), which are further divided into 21 municipalities (Comunas).

Namibe Province counties:

population

Village in Namibe Province.

The 2014 census showed a population of 495,326, the estimate for 2019 is 588,400. The desert, albeit sparsely, is inhabited by Herero groups (vaKuval, Ova-Himba ) and small Khoisan groups (Kwisi, Kwepe).

economy

Petroleum deposits are suspected off the coast. In 2019, the US company ExxonMobil began exploring these submarine deposits. There are deposits of copper, manganese, chromium and tin ores in mineral raw materials. There is agriculture and livestock farming.

Tchitundo-Hulo

The prehistoric rock carvings and petroglyphs of Tchitundo-Hulo are part of Angola's most important cultural heritage. The complex, comprising several thousand drawings, is located on the edge of the desert near Capolopopo (Município Virei ), 137 km east of Moçamedes. They are estimated to be between 2000 and 4000 years old and were created by the Cuissis people who lived here before the arrival of the Bantu . They cover the two granite hills Tchitundo-Hulo Mulume and Tchitundo-Hulo Mucai , which are one kilometer apart. More can be found on the rocks of Pedra da Lagoa and Pedra das Zebras . They caught the attention of scientists in the middle of the 20th century. The Portuguese geologist Camarate França began his work on site in 1952, and two years later the German ethnologist Hermann Baumann cataloged the rock engravings and images of Tchitundo-Hulo Mulume and discovered Tchitundo-Hulo Mucai. The approximately 2000 engravings by Tchitundo-hulo Mulume consist of geometric designs, straight lines and concentric circles that are supposed to represent stars. Only six recognizable images of animals were discovered, three antelopes , a jackal and two snakes. No anthropomorphic representations have yet been found.

Web links

Commons : Namibe Province  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Population statistics citypopulation.de , accessed on June 20, 2019.
  2. ↑ ExxonMobil vai prospectar petróleo no mar da província angolana do Namibe noticias.sapo.ao , December 16, 2019, accessed on June 20, 2019.
  3. ↑ Namibe - Economia angolaconsulate-ca.org , accessed on June 20 of 2019.
  4. ↑ Dario Melo: The mysterious rock carvings of Tchitundo-hulo buala.org , August 9, 2010, accessed on October 9, 2019 (English)
  5. ↑ Pedro Cardoso: Tchitundo-Hulo. O complexo rupestre de Tchitundo-Hulo, em Capolopopo, é um dos tesouros culturais mais valiosos de Angola . April 21, 2016, accessed October 9, 2019 (Portuguese)