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{{Infobox settlement | name = Matadi | official_name = ''Ville de Matadi'' | settlement_type = Provincial capital and [[Cities of the Democratic Republic of the Congo|city]] | nickname = The Stone City | image_skyline = Aerial view of Matadi.jpg | image_flag = | image_seal = | pushpin_map = Democratic Republic of the Congo | pushpin_label_position = bottom | pushpin_map_caption = Location in the Democratic Republic of the Congo | pushpin_mapsize = | | coordinates = {{coord|5|49|03|S|13|28|15|E|region:CD|display=inline}} | subdivision_type = Country | subdivision_name = {{flag|Democratic Republic of the Congo}} | subdivision_type1 = [[Provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo|Province]] | subdivision_name1 = [[Kongo Central]] | established_title = Founded | established_date = 1879 | leader_title = [[Mayor]] | leader_name = Dominique Nkodia<ref>{{cite news |title=Kongo Central : le nouveau maire s'engage à matérialiser la vision du Chef de l'État |url=https://acpcongo.com/index.php/2023/01/06/kongo-central-le-nouveau-maire-sengage-a-materialiser-la-vision-du-chef-de-letat/ |access-date=7 January 2023 |agency=L’Agence congolaise de presse (ACP) |date=6 January 2023 |language=fr}}</ref> | total_type = City | area_note = | area_total_km2 = 110 | area_land = | area_water = | population_as_of = 2015 | population_metro = | population_footnotes = <ref>{{Cite web| url=https://www.caid.cd/index.php/donnees-par-villes/ville-de-matadi/?domaine=fiche|title=caid.cd/index.php/donnees-par-villes/ville-de-matadi/?domaine=fiche| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201130224329/https://www.caid.cd/index.php/donnees-par-villes/ville-de-matadi/?domaine=fiche| archive-date=30 November 2020}}</ref> | population_total = 301644 | population_density_km2 = auto | population_urban_footnotes = <ref>{{Cite web|title=Matadi, Democratic Republic of the Congo Population (2024)|url=https://populationstat.com/democratic-republic-of-the-congo/matadi|access-date=15 January 2025|website=Population Stat}}</ref> | population_urban = 448,000 | timezone = [[West Africa Time]] | utc_offset = +1 | website = | footnotes = }} '''Matadi''' is the chief sea port of the [[Democratic Republic of the Congo]] and the capital of the [[Kongo Central]] province, adjacent to the [[Angola–Democratic Republic of the Congo border|border]] with [[Angola]]. It had a population of 245,862 (2004). Matadi is situated on the left bank of the [[Congo River]], {{convert|148|km|mi|abbr=on}} from the mouth and {{convert|8|km|mi|abbr=on}} below the last navigable point before the rapids that make the river impassable for a long stretch upriver. ==History== [[File:108 Matadi. - Le marche.jpg|thumb|left|The market, 1899]] Matadi was near the site of the state of [[Vungu]], which was first mentioned in 1535<ref>Afonso I to the Pope Paulo III, 21 February 1535 in Antonio Brasio, ed. ''Monumenta Missionaria Africana'' (15 vols, Lisbon 1952-88) 2: 38.</ref> 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]].<ref>History of architecture: city, architecture and colonial space in Matadi and Lubumbashi, Sofie Boonen, {{cite web |url=http://symposium.fea.ugent.be/sites/symposium.elis.ugent.be/files/phdsymposium/paper450abstract_42.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=2014-07-11 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714203329/http://symposium.fea.ugent.be/sites/symposium.elis.ugent.be/files/phdsymposium/paper450abstract_42.pdf |archive-date=2014-07-14 }}</ref> == Culture == The word ''Matadi'' means [[stone]] in the local [[Kongo language|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. == Climate == Matadi has a relatively dry [[tropical savanna climate]] ([[Köppen climate classification|Köppen]] ''Aw'') with a lengthy [[dry season]] from June to September due to the northerly extension of the cold, foggy [[Benguela Current]]. {{Weather box|width = 70% |location = Matadi |single line = Yes |metric first = Yes |temperature colour = pastel |Jan high F = 91 |Feb high F = 92 |Mar high F = 94 |Apr high F = 93 |May high F = 91 |Jun high F = 86 |Jul high F = 83 |Aug high F =84 |Sep high F = 86 |Oct high F = 90 |Nov high F =91 |Dec high F = 90 |year high F = 89 |Jan low F = 76 |Feb low F = 76 |Mar low F = 76 |Apr low F = 76 |May low F = 75 |Jun low F = 71 |Jul low F = 68 |Aug low F = 69 |Sep low F = 72 |Oct low F = 75 |Nov low F = 75 |Dec low F = 75 |year low F = 74 |Jan rain inch = 5 |Feb rain inch =4.3 |Mar rain inch = 6.6 |Apr rain inch = 7.4 |May rain inch = 2.4 |Jun rain inch = 0.1 |Jul rain inch = 0.1 |Aug rain inch = 0.1 |Sep rain inch = 0.3 |Oct rain inch = 1.1 |Nov rain inch = 6.7 |Dec rain inch = 5.8 |rain colour = green |source 1 = Weatherbase<ref name=Weatherbase> {{cite web |url =http://www.weatherbase.com/weather/weather.php3?s=70246&refer=wikipedia |title =Weatherbase: Historical Weather for Matadi, Democratic Republic of the Congo |publisher=Weatherbase |year=2011 }} Retrieved on November 24, 2011. </ref> |date=November 2011 }} == Infrastructure == [[File:Ancien Bâtiment du barrage Mpozo à Matadi.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Former building of M'pozo dam in Matadi.]] [[File:Matadi train station (21236934082).jpg|thumb|right|Matadi train station, September 2015]] The port of 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.{{Citation needed|date=December 2014}} 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.{{Citation needed|date=December 2014}} A power station on the [[M'pozo River]] supplies power to Matadi.{{Citation needed|date=December 2014}} == Port == [[File:Album Congo - Cover of trading cards from the Congo.jpg|thumb|Port of Matadi, on the cover of trading cards from the Congo]] The maximum draft of the port is 8.2m.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.e-ships.net/ports/Congo%20(Democratic%20Republic)/1148.htm | title=E-ships.net }}</ref> 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 [[Banana, Democratic Republic of the Congo|Port Banana]] was begun in 2022.<ref name="s&p">{{cite news |title=Construction of Banana Port begins in Congo |url=https://shipsandports.com.ng/construction-of-banana-port-begins-in-congo/ |publisher=Ships & Ports}}</ref> == Media == ''[[La Cité africaine de Matadi]]'' is a newspaper published in French in Matadi.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www-sul.stanford.edu/depts/ssrg/africa/congok/congoknews.html |title=Africa: Countries: Democratic Republic of the Congo: News |publisher=Stanford University Libraries & Academic Information Resources |access-date=28 April 2014 |language=en |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131213055112/http://www-sul.stanford.edu/depts/ssrg/africa/congok/congoknews.html |archive-date=13 December 2013}}</ref> In Belgium, a small [[Garden city movement|garden city]] in the [[Heverlee]] suburb of [[Leuven]] was named after Matadi in the 1920s.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Verbinnen |first1=Liam |title=Matadi Leuven: historische tuinwijk met bruisende gemeenschap – 21bis |url=https://21bis.be/2021/04/matadi-leuven-historische-tuinwijk-met-bruisende-gemeenschap/ |access-date=27 March 2023 |publisher=21bis |date=15 April 2021}}</ref> ==Gallery== <gallery class="center" > File:106 Matadi.jpg|Matadi, 1899 File:109 Le marché de Matadi.jpg|The market, 1899 File:110 Un coin de marché à Matadi.jpg|A corner market in Matadi, 1899 File:111 Les élégantes au marché. - Matadi.jpg|Women at the market in Matadi, 1899 File:112 Au marché de Matadi.jpg|The market, 1899 File:113 Les hauteurs de Matadi.jpg|The houses of Matadi, 1899 File:114 Aux environs de Matadi.jpg|The surroundings of Matadi, 1899 File:Matadi port.jpg|Matadi port, circa 1942 Image:Matadi.jpg|Full Congo River at Matadi and the first rapids Image:Matadi05.jpg|Arrival at Matadi station Image:Vivi-matadi.jpg|Map of Matadi and Vivi around 1890 File:Matadi in 1930s.JPG|Matadi in 1930s </gallery> == See also== * [[Lake Chad replenishment project]] * [[Waterway]] == References == {{Reflist}} ==Further reading== *{{cite book |last1=Lagae |first1=J. |editor1-last=Vanderlinden |editor1-first=J. |title=The Belgian Congo between the Two World Wars |date=2019 |publisher=Royal Academy of Overseas Sciences |location=Brussels |pages=129–158 |chapter="Pour Matadi la question [de la ségrégation] est encore plus grave qu’ailleurs": The Making and Shaping of a Congolese Port City during the Interwar Years|isbn=9789075652628}} == External links == * [https://web.archive.org/web/20050103000736/http://www.congo2000.net/matadi.htm Description of Matadi] {{Sister bar|auto=y}} {{New DRC provincial capitals}} {{Kongo Central}} {{Authority control}} {{Coord|05|49|00|S| 13|29|00|E|display=title}} [[Category:Matadi| ]] [[Category:Populated places in Kongo Central]] [[Category:Populated places established in 1879]] [[Category:Library of Congress Africa Collection related]] [[Category:1879 establishments in Africa]] [[Category:Cities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo]]
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