Ruacana is a town in

Omusati Region Omusati ( ng, Mopane, after the dominant tree in the area) is one of the fourteen regions of Namibia, its capital is Outapi. The towns of Okahao, Oshikuku and Ruacana as well as the self-governed village Tsandi are situated in this region. , Om ...

, northern

Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and e ...

and the district capital of the Ruacana electoral constituency. It is located on the border with

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

on the river Kunene. The town is known for the picturesque

Ruacana Falls Ruacana Falls is a waterfalls located in Ruacana, Omusati on the Kunene River The Cunene (Portuguese spelling) or Kunene (common Namibian spelling) is a river in Southern Africa. It flows from the Angola highlands south to the border with ...

nearby, and for the

Ruacana Power Station The Ruacana Hydroelectric Power Station is a hydroelectric power plant near Ruacana in northwest Namibia, close to the Angolan border. Commissioned in 1978, it is by far the largest power station in Namibia. Its operator is NamPower, the Namibi ...

. The place normally receives an annual average rainfall of , although in the 2010/2011 rainy season were measured. The farm ''Etunda'' is situated near Ruacana. It is run as a government supported irrigation scheme and has been established in 1993. Half of the farm is commercial irrigation land, the other half is allocated to 82 small-scale farmers. ''Etunda'' cultivates maize, wheat, watermelons, bananas, and other produce.

History

Ruacana was developed around the

Ruacana Hydroelectric Power Station The Ruacana Hydroelectric Power Station is a hydroelectric power plant near Ruacana in northwest Namibia, close to the Angolan border. Commissioned in 1978, it is by far the largest power station in Namibia. Its operator is NamPower, the Namibi ...

, a major underground

hydroelectric plant Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined and ...

linked to the nearby dam across the border in Angola at

Calueque Calueque is a town next to a dam and pumping station of the same name on the Kunene River in the Kunene Province of southern Angola. The water project is linked to Ruacana, away in Namibia, where the Ruacana Power Station is. This dam is one of ...

. The dam and pumping station were bombed in a Cuban airstrike in 1988, during the

Angolan Civil War The Angolan Civil War ( pt, Guerra Civil Angolana) was a civil war in Angola, beginning in 1975 and continuing, with interludes, until 2002. The war immediately began after Angola became independent from Portugal in November 1975. The war wa ...

. The facility was partially repaired and today NamPower operates three

turbine A turbine ( or ) (from the Greek , ''tyrbē'', or Latin ''turbo'', meaning vortex) is a rotary mechanical device that extracts energy from a fluid flow and converts it into useful work. The work produced by a turbine can be used for generating ...

s producing a maximum of 240

megawatts The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantify the rate of energy transfer. The watt is named after James ...

. Ovazemba and

Ovahimba people The Himba (singular: OmuHimba, plural: OvaHimba) are an indigenous people with an estimated population of about 50,000 people living in northern Namibia, in the Kunene Region (formerly Kaokoland) and on the other side of the Kunene River in sou ...

are native to the area. The name ''Ruacana'' originated from one of the first settlers in Ruacana called Ruhakana. The town was therefore named after a Mr Ruhakana, although it is currently written as "Ruacana".

Politics

Ruacana's settlement status was upgraded to village in 2005, and to town in 2010. It is now governed by a town council that has seven seats. The 2015 local authority election was won by

SWAPO The South West Africa People's Organisation (, SWAPO; af, Suidwes-Afrikaanse Volks Organisasie, SWAVO; german: Südwestafrikanische Volksorganisation, SWAVO), officially known as the SWAPO Party of Namibia, is a political party and former ind ...

which gained six seats and 826 votes. The remaining seat went to the National Unity Democratic Organisation (NUDO) which gained 53 votes. SWAPO also won the 2020 local authority election. It obtained 603 votes and gained five seats. The

Independent Patriots for Change The Independent Patriots for Change (IPC) is a political party in Namibia. It was founded by Panduleni Itula in August 2020. As an independent presidential candidate in the November 2019 election, Itula won the best result of a losing candida ...

(IPC), an opposition party formed in August 2020, obtained 192 votes and gained the remaining two seats.

Education

Ruacana Vocitional High School is located in Ruacana. There are several other primary schools and secondary school such as Ombuumbu Secondary School, Tjihozu Primary School.

References

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External links

Ruacana Hydro's technical specs at Namibia Power's website
Towns in Namibia Populated places in the Omusati Region Angola–Namibia border crossings