Humbe is a town and

commune A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to: Administrative-territorial entities * Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township ** Communes of ...

in the municipality of

Ombadja Ombadja (known as Santa Clara until 1975) is municipality in Cunene Province, Angola. Its seat is the village of Xangongo (known in ancient times as Roçadas). It occupies 12,264 square kilometers and has about 304,964 inhabitants . It is bordere ...

, province of Cunene, Angola. It also used to be the location of a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

mission station A Christian mission is an organized effort for the propagation of the Christian faith. Missions involve sending individuals and groups across boundaries, most commonly geographical boundaries, to carry on evangelism or other activities, such as ...

in southern

Angola , national_anthem = " Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordina ...

, located ca. 10 km to the north-east of

Xangongo Xangongo (pre-1975: ''Vila Roçadas'') is a town, with a population of 35,000 (2014), and a commune in the municipality of Ombadja, province of Cunene, Angola. It is also the seat of that municipality and is located at around . It was also the ...

, in the tribal area of the

tribe of the

Ovambo Ovambo may refer to: *Ovambo language *Ovambo people * Ovamboland *Ovambo sparrowhawk The Ovambo or Ovampo sparrowhawk, also known as Hilgert's sparrowhawk, (''Accipiter ovampensis'') is a species of sub-Saharan African bird of prey in the famil ...

s. It was located on a

tributary A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or main stem (or parent) river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries and the main stem river drain the surrounding drainage ...

of the

Kunene River The Cunene (Portuguese spelling) or Kunene (common Namibian spelling) is a river in Southern Africa. It flows from the Angola highlands south to the border with Namibia. It then flows west along the border until it reaches the Atlantic Ocean. It ...

, flowing into this river from the north. Humbe was established in ca. 1882, after the Catholics had made a failed attempt to establish themselves near the

Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

mission station of

Olukonda Nangolo Mbumba, Olukonda is a settlement in the Oshikoto Region in the north of Namibia. It is the district capital of the Olukonda Constituency, Olukonda electoral constituency. During colonial time of German South West Africa the missionary sta ...

Ondonga Ondonga is a traditional kingdom of the Ovambo people in what is today northern Namibia. Its capital is Ondangwa, and the kingdom's palace is at Onambango. Its people call themselves ''Aandonga''. They speak the Ndonga dialect. The Ondonga kingdom ...

Ovamboland Ovamboland, also referred to as Owamboland, was a Bantustan in South West Africa (present-day Namibia), intended by the apartheid government to be a self-governing homeland for the Ovambo people. The term originally referred to the parts of ...

, in 1879, and in then in Omaruru,

Hereroland Hereroland was the first bantustan in South West Africa (present day Namibia), intended by the apartheid government to be a self-governing homeland for the Herero people. It was set up in 1968. Hereroland, like other homelands in South Wes ...

, further south in

South West Africa South West Africa ( af, Suidwes-Afrika; german: Südwestafrika; nl, Zuidwest-Afrika) was a territory under South African administration from 1915 to 1990, after which it became modern-day Namibia. It bordered Angola (Portuguese colony before 1 ...

in 1882. The attempts of the

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

to subjugate the Ovambos of Ombadja and

Oukwanyama Oukwanyama (''Uukwanyama'' in the neighbouring Oshindonga dialect) is a traditional kingdom of the Ovambo people in what is today northern Namibia and southern Angola. Its capital is Ehole. List of rulers The Oukwanyama Kingdom and King Mandume M ...

were initially unsuccessful, and 1904 they suffered a massive defeat at the Cunene river. In response, the Portuguese established

Forte Roçadas Forte or Forté may refer to: Music *Forte (music), a musical dynamic meaning "loudly" or "strong" *Forte number, an ordering given to every pitch class set *Forte (notation program), a suite of musical score notation programs *Forte (vocal gro ...

in 1906 in what is now

, not far from Humbe.Peltola 1958, p. 136.

References

Sources

* Populated places in Cunene Province Communes in Cunene Province Catholic mission stations in Ombadja {{Angola-geo-stub