Matadi

File:108 Matadi. - Le marche.jpg

Matadi was near the site of the state of Vungu, which was first mentioned in 1535Afonso I to the Pope Paulo III, 21 February 1535 in Antonio Brasio, ed. Monumenta Missionaria Africana (15 vols, Lisbon 1952-88) 2: 38. 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.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 }}

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.

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 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

{{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.

|date=November 2011

}}

File:Ancien Bâtiment du barrage Mpozo à Matadi.jpg

File:Matadi train station (21236934082).jpg

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}}

File:Album Congo - Cover of trading cards from the Congo.jpg

The maximum draft of the port is 8.2m.{{cite web | url=http://www.e-ships.net/ports/Congo%20(Democratic%20Republic)/1148.htm | title=E-ships.net }} 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.{{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}}

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

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

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

• Lake Chad replenishment project
• Waterway

{{Reflist}}

• {{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}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20050103000736/http://www.congo2000.net/matadi.htm Description of Matadi]

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{{New DRC provincial capitals}}

{{Kongo Central}}

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{{Coord|05|49|00|S| 13|29|00|E|display=title}}

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