Matadi, Kongo Central Province, Democratic Republic of the Congo

History | Culture | Infrastructure | Transport : Port | Media

🇨🇩 Matadi is the chief sea port of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the capital of the Kongo Central province, adjacent to the border with Angola. Matadi is situated on the left bank of the Congo River, 148 km (92 mi) from the mouth and 8 km (5.0 mi) below the last navigable point before the rapids that make the river impassable for a long stretch upriver.

History Matadi was near the site of the state of Vungu, which was first mentioned in 1535 and was said to be destroyed in 1624. Matadi itself was founded by Sir Henry Morton Stanley in 1879. It was strategically important because it was the last navigable port going upstream on the Congo River; it became the furthest inland port in the Congo Free State. The construction of the Matadi–Kinshasa Railway (built between 1890 and 1898) made it possible to transport goods from deeper within Congo's interior to the port of Matadi, stimulating the city to become an important trading center. Portuguese and French West-African commercial interests influenced the city's architecture and urban design, which borrowed from the neighboring colonies in Angola and the Congo-Brazzaville.

Culture The word Matadi means stone in the local Kikongo language. The town is built on steep hills. A local saying is that to live in Matadi, you must know the verbs "to go up", "to go down", and "to sweat". Upstream is a series of caves known as the "rock of Diogo Cão", after graffiti carved by the Portuguese explorer in 1485 marking the limit of his travels up the Congo River.

Yelala Rapids lies near the city.

Infrastructure The mouth of the Congo forms one of Africa's largest harbours. In addition to Matadi, which is the furthest upriver, three ports are located within it, the others being Boma and Banana in DR Congo and Soyo in Angola. Matadi serves as a major import and export point for the whole nation. Chief exports are coffee and timber. The state fishing company "Pemarza" uses the port to supply fish to Kinshasa. Tshimpi Airport is nearby but is reportedly inactive because of continued warfare.

Matadi Bridge, a suspension bridge 722 m- long with a main span of 520 m, built in 1983, crosses the river just south of Matadi, carrying the main road linking Kinshasa to the coast. After passing through Matadi and over the bridge, it continues to Boma, Muanda and Banana. Although built as a mixed rail and road bridge, no rail line is now operating over the bridge. Matadi is the port railhead for the 366 km long Matadi-Kinshasa Railway, constructed to bypass the rapids on the river upstream. A monument to the builders of the railway stands on a nearby hill.

A power station on the M'pozo River supplies power to Matadi.

Transport: Port The maximum draft of the port is 8.2m. The Navy of the Democratic Republic of the Congo maintains one operational command at the port.

Currently, larger ships are required to transfer cargo to smaller vessels in the Republic of Congo's Pointe-Noire port. For this reason, the development of a deep-sea port at Port Banana was begun in 2022.

Media La Cité africaine de Matadi is a newspaper published in French in Matadi.

In Belgium, a small garden city in the Heverlee suburb of Leuven was named after Matadi in the 1920s.

Africa/Kinshasa/Province_du_Kongo_Central 
<b>Africa/Kinshasa/Province_du_Kongo_Central</b>
Image: Irene2005

Matadi has a population of over 301,644 people. Matadi also forms the centre of the wider Kongo Central Province which has a population of over 5,575,000 people.

To set up a UBI Lab for Matadi see: https://www.ubilabnetwork.org Twitter: https://twitter.com/UBILabNetwork

Text Atribution: Wikipedia Text under CC-BY-SA license

Antipodal to Matadi is: -166.533,5.817

Locations Near: Matadi 13.4667,-5.81667

🇨🇩 Mbanza-Ngungu 14.867,-5.25 d: 167.3  

🇨🇬 Pointe-Noire 11.846,-4.795 d: 212.4  

🇨🇩 Selembao 15.283,-4.367 d: 257.8  

🇨🇩 Kalamu 15.317,-4.333 d: 263  

🇨🇩 Kinshasa 15.317,-4.317 d: 264.2  

🇨🇬 Brazzaville 15.285,-4.259 d: 265.6  

🇦🇴 Cacuaco 13.483,-8.667 d: 316.9  

🇦🇴 Luanda 13.247,-8.818 d: 334.6  

🇦🇴 Ambaca 15.367,-8.183 d: 336.5  

🇦🇴 Viana 13.367,-8.9 d: 343  

Antipodal to: Matadi -166.533,5.817

🇺🇸 Līhuʻe -159.35,21.967 d: 18060.3  

🇺🇸 Lihue -159.35,21.967 d: 18060.3  

🇺🇸 Honolulu -157.85,21.3 d: 18055.8  

🇺🇸 Pearl City -157.969,21.394 d: 18052.8  

🇺🇸 Kapa'a -159.333,22.083 d: 18047.7  

🇺🇸 Maui -156.446,20.72 d: 18032.6  

🇺🇸 Hilo -155.089,19.725 d: 18034.4  

🇺🇸 Maui County -156.617,20.868 d: 18029.1  

🇺🇸 Wailuku -156.505,20.894 d: 18020.2  

🇺🇸 Kahului -156.466,20.891 d: 18018.1  

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