Namibe, city in southwestern Angola, capital of Namibe Province, located on the Atlantic Ocean, 150 km (94 mi) southwest of Lubango and 225 km (140 mi) north of the Namibian border. Because of the cold Benguela Current offshore, Namibe has a cool, dry climate and desert vegetation. Namibe is a major fishing port, with two-thirds of the Angolan catch, 90 percent of which consists of sardines and mackerel. The industrial sector is dominated by fish processing and other seaside trades such as boat repair and salt extraction. There is cattle ranching and irrigated fruit and vegetable production in the surrounding region. Firewood harvesting near the city has caused severe desertification. Namibe has rail connections by way of Lubango to Menongue, Chiange, and the Cassinga iron mines. It has an airport with scheduled domestic flights.
Namibe, called Moçâmedes during the 19th and early 20th-century Portuguese colonial era, was founded in 1840 by Portuguese merchants and heavily populated in 1849 by settlers from Pernambuco, Brazil. After independence in 1975, fishing and fish processing declined significantly, following the exodus of most Portuguese entrepreneurs with their boats and equipment. The Cassinga mines were partially destroyed in 1975 in Angola's protracted civil war and have remained closed due to the war and the low world price of iron ore. As a result, shipments through the port of Namibe have been reduced to less than 5 percent of their pre-1975 tonnage. Population (1981 estimate) 100,000.
