NAMIBE

formerly (until 1982) Momedes, also spelled Mossamedes, city and port, southwestern Angola. Founded by Brazilians in the mid-19th century and located on an arid coastal strip from which rises the steep Hula escarpment, Momedes was cut off from the Angolan interior until construction of the Momedes Railway was begun in 1905 to Vila Serpa Pinto (now Menongue), 470 miles (755 km) east. Though the interior developed, the port, which was dependent on fishing, had little activity until the discovery of iron ore at Cassinga (Kassinga) and the completion of a 56-mile (90-kilometre) rail spur from Dongo to the mines in 1967; the port's harbour has subsequently been enlarged. Houses and administrative buildings in Namibe are crowded together along a low cliff running inland, with commercial buildings on the open bay shore below. Pop. (1987 est.) 77,000.