Kribi is a

beach resort A seaside resort is a town, village, or hotel that serves as a vacation resort and is located on a coast. Sometimes the concept includes an aspect of official accreditation based on the satisfaction of certain requirements, such as in the German ' ...

and

sea port A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Ham ...

Cameroon Cameroon (; french: Cameroun, ff, Kamerun), officially the Republic of Cameroon (french: République du Cameroun, links=no), is a country in west-central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; the C ...

Location

The coastal town of Kribi lies on the

Gulf of Guinea The Gulf of Guinea is the northeasternmost part of the tropical Atlantic Ocean from Cape Lopez in Gabon, north and west to Cape Palmas in Liberia. The intersection of the Equator and Prime Meridian (zero degrees latitude and longitude) is in the ...

, in Océan Department, South Province, at the mouth of the Kienké River. This location, lies approximately , by road, south of

Douala Douala is the largest city in Cameroon and its economic capital. It is also the capital of Cameroon's Littoral Region (Cameroon), Littoral Region. Home to Central Africa's largest port and its major international airport, Douala International Ai ...

, the largest city in Cameroon and the busiest seaport in the country. The coordinates of Kribi are: 2° 56' 6.00"N, 9° 54' 36.00"E (Latitude: 2.9350; Longitude: 9.9100)

Overview

It has an estimated population of 55,401. It services sea traffic in the Gulf of Guinea and also lies near the terminus of the Chad-Cameroon pipeline. The Lobé Waterfalls are nearby and there is a road inland, through the Littoral Evergreen Forest, as far as

Bipindi Bipindi is a town and commune in Cameroon. Gallery File:ASC Leiden - van Achterberg Collection - 1 - 016 - Marché à Bipindi - Bipindi, Cameroun - 6-12 février 1997.tif, Market, Bipindi, 1997 File:ASC Leiden - van Achterberg Collection - 1 - 0 ...

and

Lolodorf Lolodorf is a small town-centred region in the south province of the Republic of Cameroon, near the western coast of Africa. It is between Ngoumou and Bipindi, in a zone of the Atlantic Littoral Evergreen Forest. It is notable for being the ho ...

where native communities of

Pygmies In anthropology, pygmy peoples are ethnic groups whose average height is unusually short. The term pygmyism is used to describe the phenotype of endemic short stature (as opposed to disproportionate dwarfism occurring in isolated cases in a pop ...

are found.

Kribi Power Station

Kribi Power Development Company (KPDC) has built a

natural gas Natural gas (also called fossil gas or simply gas) is a naturally occurring mixture of gaseous hydrocarbons consisting primarily of methane in addition to various smaller amounts of other higher alkanes. Low levels of trace gases like carbo ...

-powered electricity generating plant,

Kribi Power Station Kribi Power Station is a 216 MW natural gas-fired thermal power plant in Cameroon. Location The power station is located in the community of Mpolongwe, approximately , by road, north of the coastal town of Kribi (est. pop. 60,000 in 2007), ...

, in the community of Mpolongwe, approximately , north of the Kribi

central business district A central business district (CBD) is the commercial and business centre of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides with the "city ...

. The 216 MW plant that cost US$390 million (CFA:176.3 billion) to build, came on line in 2013. It is now owned by Globeleq A second phase expansion is planned.

Port

The vicinity of Kribi is a possible location of a port for the export of

iron ore Iron ores are rocks and minerals from which metallic iron can be economically extracted. The ores are usually rich in iron oxides and vary in color from dark grey, bright yellow, or deep purple to rusty red. The iron is usually found in the fo ...

from about away. Specifically, the port could be at

Lolabé Lolabé is a small coastal town in Cameroon. It lies on the Atlantic Ocean, about halfway between Kribi and the border with Equatorial Guinea. Port The town has been chosen as the site for a port serving an iron ore railway (or slurry pipeli ...

about halfway between Kribi and the border with

Equatorial Guinea Equatorial Guinea ( es, Guinea Ecuatorial; french: Guinée équatoriale; pt, Guiné Equatorial), officially the Republic of Equatorial Guinea ( es, link=no, República de Guinea Ecuatorial, french: link=no, République de Guinée équatoria ...

, which is , by road, to the south of Kribi. Since there is no

natural harbour A harbor (American English), harbour (British English; see spelling differences), or haven is a sheltered body of water where ships, boats, and barges can be docked. The term ''harbor'' is often used interchangeably with ''port'', which is a ...

at Kribi, the port itself would be several kilometres offshore where deepwater of at least is suitable for large

Capesize Capesize ships are the largest dry cargo ships with ball mark dimension: about 170,000 DWT (deadweight tonnage) capacity, 290 m long, 45 m beam (wide), 18m draught (under water depth). They are too large to transit the Suez Canal ( Suezmax limi ...

ships. It is also the location for the Kribi Lighthouse. Cameroon Map

Update 2017. The port development has proceeded at Kribi See. Update 2020. The port is being developed by Louis Berger. The port would be served by railways of two different gauges, 1435mm and 1000mm. There would be a new 130km rail link between the port and the existing metre gauge network. Dual gauge sleepers would be installed so that the lines are compatible with the proposed

African Integrated High Speed Rail Network African or Africans may refer to: * Anything from or pertaining to the continent of Africa: ** People who are native to Africa, descendants of natives of Africa, or individuals who trace their ancestry to indigenous inhabitants of Africa *** Ethn ...

( AIHSRN).

Iron mine

The iron ore will come from mines near Mbalam. The mine would have an output of approximately 35 million tonnes per year, with a 30-year or so lifespan. An alternate site for this port is at

. This line would be an extension of existing metre gauge lines (1000mm). In 2021, a contract was let to build the rail line to Mbalam.

Bauxite mine

It is proposed to connect the port of Kribi to a new

bauxite Bauxite is a sedimentary rock with a relatively high aluminium content. It is the world's main source of aluminium and gallium. Bauxite consists mostly of the aluminium minerals gibbsite (Al(OH)3), boehmite (γ-AlO(OH)) and diaspore (α-AlO(O ...

mine in the north of Cameroon at

Minim, Martap Minim (or Minim II, or Menim) is a village in the commune of Martap, in the department of Vina, in the Adamawa Region, Cameroon. The village contains Cameroon's main source of bauxite. Population In 1967, Minim contained 90 inhabitants, mostly ...

with a metre gauge (1000mm) railway. A link line junctions from the

Camrail Camrail is a company operating passenger and freight traffic between the two largest cities in Cameroon and several smaller cities. The company was formed in 1999 and granted a 20-year concession to operate the Cameroon National Railway. The compa ...

line at

Edéa Edéa is a city located along the Sanaga River in Cameroon's Littoral Region (Cameroon), Littoral Region. It lies on the Cameroon National Railways Authority, Douala–Yaoundé railway line. Its population was estimated at 122,300 in 2001. Th ...

and proceeds 130km to Kribi.

International relations

Twin towns – Sister cities

Kribi is twinned with: *

Ouistreham Ouistreham () is a commune in the Calvados department in Normandy region in northwestern France. Ouistreham is a small port with fishing boats, leisure craft and a ferry harbour. It serves as the port of the city of Caen. The town borders the mo ...

, France *

St-Nazaire Saint-Nazaire (; ; Gallo: ''Saint-Nazère/Saint-Nazaer'') is a commune in the Loire-Atlantique department in western France, in traditional Brittany. The town has a major harbour on the right bank of the Loire estuary, near the Atlantic Ocean. T ...

, FranceKribi, twinned with Saint Nazaire in France

Climate

Kribi has a

tropical monsoon climate An area of tropical monsoon climate (occasionally known as a sub-equatorial, tropical wet climate or a tropical monsoon and trade-wind littoral climate) is a tropical climate sub-type that corresponds to the Köppen climate classification category ...

(

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...

''Am''). Due to its equatorial position, Kribi sees a short, fairly dry season and a long, very wet season. The hottest month, February, has an average high temperature of 32 C (89.6 F), and an average low of 25 C (77 F). The wettest month, September, sees of rain. 27 of the 30 days in September see rain. The driest month, December, sees of rain. The coldest month is August, with an average high of 28 C (82.4 F), and a low of 23 C (73.4 F). Humidity remains high year-round.

Great things to do

Kribi is renowned for its popular beach locations in Ngo'e and near the Lobé Waterfalls. Kribi is equally very popular for its roasted fish. Fishermen typically come in from the sea on week-ends and sell fresh fishes that tourists can then buy and have roasted in many restaurants around the beach. The nightlife especially in places in like Big-BEN is also among some of the exciting things to do in Kribi.

Gallery

File:ASC Leiden - van Achterberg Collection - 1 - 011 - Stockage du bois dans le port - Kribi, Cameroun - 6-12 février 1997.tif, Storage of wood in the port, Kribi 1997 File:ASC Leiden - van Achterberg Collection - 1 - 013 - Magasin dans la rue principale - Kribi, Cameroun - 6-12 février 1997.tiff, Shop on main street, Kribi 1997 File:ASC Leiden - van Achterberg Collection - 1 - 005 - Le jardin de l'hôtel De l'Océan - Kribi, Cameroun - 6-12 février 1997.tiff, The garden of Hotel De l'Océan, Kribi 1997 File:Lighthouse in Kribi - panoramio.jpg, Lighthouse in Kribi, 2007 File:Des pêcheurs au travail à Kribi 4.jpg, Fishermen at work, 2010 File:Des pêcheurs vendant du poisson à Kribi 4.jpg, Fishermen selling fish, 2010 File:Lobe.jpg, Lobé River, 2016 File:Plage Kribi32.jpg, Kribi water waves, 2017 File:Plage Kribi24.jpg, Kribi Beach, 2017

References

External links

* * {{Authority control Populated places in South Region (Cameroon)