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 . It had a population of 245,862 (2004). 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.
17-755: 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
34-457: 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
51-541: Is hot and humid, especially during the rainy season when the humidity is near to 100%. This feeling of constant humidity is further increased by the condensation of the vapors of the trade winds that cool the cliffs of the Coastal Range. Flora vary from dense forest to savannah dotted with forest trees. The forests of Mayumbe are old. Some of the trees are valuable, especially the Limba . Palm trees are plentiful in
68-750: Is located in the west of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It lies on the right bank of the Congo River (the world's second largest) just before it empties into the Atlantic Ocean at Banana . It extends north from Boma into the Angolan enclave of Cabinda to the west and extends north to the Republic of Congo and Gabon. Mayumbe is watered by many rivers with swift currents in its hilly and mountainous regions. The three largest are
85-705: The Congo River in the south to the Kouilou-Niari River to the north. The area includes parts of the Democratic Republic of the Congo , Angola ( Cabinda Province ), the Republic of the Congo and Gabon . In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mayombe is part of the north-western province of Kongo Central on the right bank of the River Congo, and contains the cities and towns of Lukula , Seke Banza , Kangu and Tshela . Mayumbe
102-613: The Kongo people , are the most numerous. The Mayombe Railway linked Boma to Tshela, with a planned extension to the Republic of Congo. It was dismantled under President Mobutu Sese Seko and the tracks were reused near Gbadolite . The Mayombe in Congo is covered by the Congo-Ocean Railway . Mayombe is famous in Senegal because it is an important stage in the exile of the founder of mouridism , Cheikh Ahmadou Bamba , during
119-874: The Shiloango River and two of its main tributaries, the Lukula River and the Lubuzi River . The main peaks are: Mayumbe is south of the equator in the equatorial zone with oceanic influence and has two main seasons. The long dry season from June to September in the Mayumbe is not as intense as in the rest of the Lower Congo because of the altitude and the influence of the forest. Temperatures range from 17 to 22, but can drop to 8 ° at night. Nights can be quite cool. The long rainy season lasts from October to May, with temperatures of 28-33°. The climate
136-519: The Elais Mayumbe and are found in forests and in the savanna. They form one of the great resources of this region for its inhabitants. The area's forests were estimated in 1950 to cover 500,000 hectares (1,200,000 acres). More recently they have declined to 80,000 hectares (200,000 acres), of which Limba account for over 40%. Among the ethnic groups that inhabit this region the Yombe , a subset of
153-522: The cold, foggy Benguela Current . 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
170-596: The development of a deep-sea port at Port Banana was begun in 2022. 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. 05°49′00″S 13°29′00″E / 5.81667°S 13.48333°E / -5.81667; 13.48333 Vungu The kingdom or polity of Vungu or Bungu
187-406: The place had been overrun and destroyed by Jagas , the generic term in documents of the period for rootless militant bands reputed to be cannibals . Mayombe 4°15′14″S 13°29′44″E / 4.2538°S 13.4955°E / -4.2538; 13.4955 Mayombe (or Mayumbe) is a geographic area on the western coast of Africa occupied by low mountains extending from the mouth of
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#1732772467152204-498: 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 . 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
221-477: The port to supply fish to Kinshasa. Tshimpi Airport is nearby but is reportedly inactive because of continued warfare. In Matadi there is the famous Matadi Bridge , the only one along the entire lower and middle reaches of the huge Congo River . Therefore, the main transcontinental flow of cars from the vast northwestern part of Africa to the south of the African continent passes through Matadi. Matadi Bridge,
238-446: 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. 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,
255-484: 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. Matadi has a relatively dry tropical savanna climate ( Köppen Aw ) with a lengthy dry season from June to September due to the northerly extension of
272-517: Was a historic state located in Mayombe (between the present-day Republic of Congo and the present-day Democratic Republic of Congo ). In the 13th century it led a confederation of itself, Ngoyo , and Kakongo . It neighboured the confederations of Mpemba and Seven Kingdoms of Kongo dia Nlaza . It is thought to be the origin of the Kingdom of Kongo . It is not known for sure how old Vungu
289-585: Was or when it was founded. The first documentary mention of it comes in a letter written by Afonso I ,the king of Kongo in 1535, in which he lists "JBungu" among other places over which he ruled as king. Traditions collected in the Kongo court and written up by the Jesuit priest Mateus Cardoso in 1624 cite "Bungu" as the place where the first king of Kongo ruled before crossing the Congo River to conquer Kongo. That same year, King Pedro II of Kongo mentioned that
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