Namibe Province is a

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions out ...

Angola , national_anthem = "Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordinat ...

. Under Portuguese rule it was the Moçâmedes District. It has an area of 57,091 km² and had a 2014 census population of 495,326. The port and city of

Moçâmedes Moçâmedes is a city in southwestern Angola, capital of Namibe Province. The city's current population is 255,000 (2014 census). Founded in 1840 by the Portuguese colonial administration, the city was named Namibe between 1985 and 2016. Moç� ...

is the capital of the province with a population of 250,000 in 2014.

Iona National Park Iona National Park (Portuguese: ) is the largest national park in Angola. It is situated in the Southwestern corner of the country, in Namibe Province. It is roughly bound by the Atlantic Ocean to the West, an escarpment to the East that mark ...

lies within the province.

History

From its foundation by the Portuguese in 1840 and until 1985, the area was known as Moçâmedes (also spelled "Mossâmedes"). The current name of the province is derived from the

Namib Desert The Namib ( ; pt, Namibe) is a coastal desert in Southern Africa. The name is of Khoekhoegowab origin and means "vast place". According to the broadest definition, the Namib stretches for more than along the Atlantic coasts of Angola, Nami ...

, lying predominantly in Namibia; the northernmost part, however, extended into the province of Namibe. Extensive flooding in the province occurred on April 5, 2001, with the Bero and Giraul River severely affecting roads and people in Namibe, Huila and

Benguela Benguela (; Umbundu: Luombaka) is a city in western Angola, capital of Benguela Province. Benguela is one of Angola's most populous cities with a population of 555,124 in the city and 561,775 in the municipality, at the 2014 census. History P ...

provinces. A reported 20 people in Namibe Province lost their lives during the flood.

Geography and wildlife

Namibe Province covers an area of 57,091 km², much of which is desert. The capital of the province is the city of

, with the second city being Tômbua or Tómbwa (formerly Porto Alexandre). In the Namib Desert can be seen the rare ''

Welwitschia mirabilis ''Welwitschia'' is a monotypic gymnosperm genus, comprising solely the distinctive ''Welwitschia mirabilis'', endemic to the Namib desert within Namibia and Angola. ''Welwitschia'' is the only living genus of the family Welwitschiaceae and ord ...

'', "a strange plant with a giant root", and also the

. Lake Arco, a fresh-water oasis, is a stunning sight in the middle of the desert. Near the coast of the Bentiaba desert and in Iona National Park,

Late Cretaceous The Late Cretaceous (100.5–66 Ma) is the younger of two epochs into which the Cretaceous Period is divided in the geologic time scale. Rock strata from this epoch form the Upper Cretaceous Series. The Cretaceous is named after ''creta'', ...

fossils of

shark Sharks are a group of elasmobranch fish characterized by a cartilaginous skeleton, five to seven gill slits on the sides of the head, and pectoral fins that are not fused to the head. Modern sharks are classified within the clade Selachi ...

turtle Turtles are an order of reptiles known as Testudines, characterized by a special shell developed mainly from their ribs. Modern turtles are divided into two major groups, the Pleurodira (side necked turtles) and Cryptodira (hidden necked t ...

mosasaur Mosasaurs (from Latin ''Mosa'' meaning the 'Meuse', and Greek ' meaning 'lizard') comprise a group of extinct, large marine reptiles from the Late Cretaceous. Their first fossil remains were discovered in a limestone quarry at Maastricht on ...

plesiosaurs The Plesiosauria (; Greek: πλησίος, ''plesios'', meaning "near to" and ''sauros'', meaning "lizard") or plesiosaurs are an order or clade of extinct Mesozoic marine reptiles, belonging to the Sauropterygia. Plesiosaurs first appeared i ...

and

sauropods Sauropoda (), whose members are known as sauropods (; from '' sauro-'' + '' -pod'', 'lizard-footed'), is a clade of saurischian ('lizard-hipped') dinosaurs. Sauropods had very long necks, long tails, small heads (relative to the rest of their b ...

have been discovered.

Municipalities

The province of Namibe consists of five

municipalities A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the ...

( pt, municípios): *

Bibala Bibala (known as Vila Arriaga until 1975) is a town, with a population of 10,500 (2014), and a municipality in southern Angola. It lies in Namibe Province. The municipality of Bibala covers with a population of 64,504 (2014). It is bordered to ...

Camacuio Camacuio is a municipality in Namibe Province, Angola. The municipality occupies 7452 square kilometers and has 50,349 inhabitants as of the 2014 census. It is bordered to the north by the municipalities Baía Farta Baía Farta is a town and m ...

(Namibe until 2016) * Tômbua *

Virei Virei is a town and municipality of Namibe Province Namibe Province is a province of Angola. Under Portuguese rule it was the Moçâmedes District. It has an area of 57,091 km2 and had a 2014 census population of 495,326. The port and cit ...

Communes

The province of Namibe contains the following

communes An intentional community is a voluntary residential community which is designed to have a high degree of social cohesion and teamwork from the start. The members of an intentional community typically hold a common social, political, relig ...

( pt, comunas); sorted by their respective municipalities: * Bibala Municipality: –

Caitou Caitou is a commune of Angola, located in the province of Namibe. See also * Communes of Angola The Communes of Angola ( pt, comunas) are administrative units in Angola after municipalities. The 163 municipalities of Angola are divided int ...

, Capangombe (Kapagombe),

Lola Lola may refer to: Places * Lolá, a or subdistrict of Panama * Lola Township, Cherokee County, Kansas, United States * Lola Prefecture, Guinea * Lola, Guinea, a town in Lola Prefecture * Lola Island, in the Solomon Islands People * Lola ...

* Camacuio Municipality: –

, Chingo, Mamué * Moçâmedes Municipality: – Bentiaba, Lucira,

(Namibe) (which is subdivided into 4 zones) * Tômbua Municipality: –

Iona Iona (; gd, Ì Chaluim Chille (IPA: �iːˈxaɫ̪ɯimˈçiʎə, sometimes simply ''Ì''; sco, Iona) is a small island in the Inner Hebrides, off the Ross of Mull on the western coast of Scotland. It is mainly known for Iona Abbey, though ther ...

(Yona), São Martinho dos Tigres ( en, Saint Martin of the Tigers), Tômbua * Virei Municipality: – Cainde,

Demographics

Namibe Province had a population of 495,326 according to the 2014 census. The desert is sparsely inhabited, but is inhabited by

Herero Herero may refer to: * Herero people The Herero ( hz, Ovaherero) are a Bantu ethnic group inhabiting parts of Southern Africa. There were an estimated 250,000 Herero people in Namibia in 2013. They speak Otjiherero, a Bantu language. Though t ...

groups (vaKuval, Ova-Himba) and small

Khoisan Khoisan , or (), according to the contemporary Khoekhoegowab orthography, is a catch-all term for those indigenous peoples of Southern Africa who do not speak one of the Bantu languages, combining the (formerly "Khoikhoi") and the or ( in ...

groups (Kwisi, Kwepe).

Economy

Agriculture is the main source of income in Namibe Province, the principal crops being

citrus fruit ''Citrus'' is a genus of flowering trees and shrubs in the rue family, Rutaceae. Plants in the genus produce citrus fruits, including important crops such as oranges, lemons, grapefruits, pomelos, and limes. The genus ''Citrus'' is native to ...

olive The olive, botanical name ''Olea europaea'', meaning 'European olive' in Latin, is a species of small tree or shrub in the family Oleaceae, found traditionally in the Mediterranean Basin. When in shrub form, it is known as ''Olea europaea'' ' ...

guava Guava () is a common tropical fruit cultivated in many tropical and subtropical regions. The common guava ''Psidium guajava'' (lemon guava, apple guava) is a small tree in the myrtle family ( Myrtaceae), native to Mexico, Central America, t ...

millet Millets () are a highly varied group of small-seeded grasses, widely grown around the world as cereal crops or grains for fodder and human food. Most species generally referred to as millets belong to the tribe Paniceae, but some millets a ...

, and livestock, including the rearing of sheep and goats. Fishing is another means of livelihood for the people of Namibe Province, Tômbua being the main market. The province has significant reserves of

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile ...

copper Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pink ...

manganese Manganese is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Mn and atomic number 25. It is a hard, brittle, silvery metal, often found in minerals in combination with iron. Manganese is a transition metal with a multifaceted array of ...

chromium Chromium is a chemical element with the symbol Cr and atomic number 24. It is the first element in group 6. It is a steely-grey, lustrous, hard, and brittle transition metal. Chromium metal is valued for its high corrosion resistance and hard ...

, tin,

lignite Lignite, often referred to as brown coal, is a soft, brown, combustible, sedimentary rock formed from naturally compressed peat. It has a carbon content around 25–35%, and is considered the lowest rank of coal due to its relatively low heat ...

and

marble Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or dolomite. Marble is typically not foliated (layered), although there are exceptions. In geology, the term ''marble'' refers to metamorphose ...

. The

Yuri Gagarin Airport Welwitschia Mirabilis International Airport ( pt, Aeroporto Internacional Welwitschia Mirabilis) is an airport serving the Atlantic port city of Moçâmedes, the capital of Namibe Province in Angola. The runway is south of the city. Airlines ...

and the Commercial Port of Moçâmedes, are the two main centres for transport for the import and export of products.

List of governors of Namibe

Pre-independence period

* 1849–1851 António Sérgio de Sousa * 1851–1852 José Herculano Ferreira da Horta * 1852–1854 Carlos Botelho de Vasconcelos * 1854–1854 António do Canto e Castro * 1854–1859 Fernando da Costa Leal * 1859–1861 António Joaquim de Castro * 1861–1863 João Jacinto Tavares * 1863–1866 Fernando da Costa Leal * 1866–1866 Alexandre de Sousa Alvim Pereira * 1866–1870 Joaquim José da Graça * 1870–1871 Estanislau de Assunção e Almeida * 1871–1876 Lúcio Albino Pereira Crespo * 1876–1876 Francisco Teixeira da Silva * 1876–1876 José Joaquim Teixeira Beltrão * 1877–1878 Francisco Augusto da Costa Cabral * 1878–1878 Sebastião Nunes da Mata * 1878–1879 Francisco Ferreira do Amaral * 1879–1880 Sebastião Nunes da Mata * 1880–1880 José Bento Ferreira de Almeida * 1880–1886 Sebastião Nunes da Mata * 1886–1889 Álvaro António da Costa Ferreira * 1889–1889 Ventura Duarte Barros da Fonseca * 1889–1892 Luís Bernardino Leitão Xavier * 1892–1893 Martinho de Queirós Montenegro * 1893–1895 Júlio José Marques da Costa * 1895–1896 João de Canto e Castro Antunes * 1896–1897 João Manuel Mendonça e Gaivão * 1897–1897 João Manuel Pereira da Silva * 1897–1899 Francisco Diogo de Sá * 1899–1902 José Maria d'Aguiar * 1902–1902 Sebastião Corrêa de Oliveira * 1902–1903 João Augusto Vieira da Fonseca * 1903–1904 Viriato Zeferino Passaláqua * 1904–1905 José Alfredo Ferreira Margarido * 1905–1907 José Rafael da Cunha * 1907–1908 António Maria da Silva * 1908–1910 Alberto Carolino Ferreira da Costa * 1910–1910 António Brandão de Mello Mimoso * 1910–1912 Caetano Carvalhal Corrêa Henriques * 1912–1914 Henrique Monteiro Corrêa da Silva * 1914 Jose Monteiro de Macedo * 1914–1916 Alfredo de Albuquerque Felner * 1916–1918 José Inácio da Silva * 1918–1919 António Dias * 1919–1922 José Manuel da Costa * 1922–1924 Alberto Nunes Freire Quaresma * 1924–1926 Artur Silva * 1926–1928 António Augusto de Sequeira Braga * 1928–1929 Francisco Martins de Oliveira Santos; * 1929 Alcino José Pereira de Vasconcelos * 1929–1930 António Augusto de Sequeira Braga * 1930–1930 José Maria de Seita Machado * 1930–1935 José Pereira Sabrosa * 1956–1960 Vasco Falcão Nunes da Ponte * 1960–1969 José Luís Henriques de Brito * 1969–1970 Rogério de Abreu Amoreira Martins * 1970–1971 Agostinho Gomes Pereira * 1971–1975 Amândio José Rogado

Post-independence period

References

External links

Official website of province governor

Information on this province at the Angolan ministry for territorial administration

Information on this province at ''Info Angola''

Province geographical info at geoview.info
{{Authority control Provinces of Angola 1840 establishments in the Portuguese Empire