Moanda or Muanda is a town and
territory
A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, belonging or connected to a particular country, person, or animal.
In international politics, a territory is usually a geographic area which has not been granted the powers of self-government, ...
lying on the
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...
coast of the
Democratic Republic of the Congo
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), also known as the DR Congo, Congo-Kinshasa, or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Republic of the Congo), is a country in Central Africa. By land area, it is t ...
at the mouth of the
Congo River
The Congo River, formerly also known as the Zaire River, is the second-longest river in Africa, shorter only than the Nile, as well as the third-largest river in the world list of rivers by discharge, by discharge volume, following the Amazon Ri ...
.
[, United States National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency] It is situated in
Kongo Central Province, and has a population of 90,812 as of 2012. The town has an
airport
An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial Aviation, air transport. They usually consist of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surf ...
and is known for its beaches, and has a few limited tourist facilities, but tourism is incidental to the main economic activities of the town.
The town of Muanda is north-west of the small port of
Banana
A banana is an elongated, edible fruit – botanically a berry – produced by several kinds of large treelike herbaceous flowering plants in the genus '' Musa''. In some countries, cooking bananas are called plantains, distinguishing the ...
in the mouth of the Congo, and southeast of Point Kipundji.
The Moanda Oil Terminal, consisting of various platforms, pipelines and a permanent tanker, lies 10 miles southwest of Point Kipundji.
Some 100 km upstream from Muanda, on the north bank of the Congo River, lies the city of
Boma, DR Congo's second-largest port. The great width and depth of the Congo River allow seagoing vessels to reach Boma and the largest port,
Matadi, despite their distance from the coast.
Climate
The
Köppen-Geiger climate classification system classifies Moanda‘s climate as
tropical wet and dry (''Aw''), although it is only marginally wet enough to avoid being classed as a
hot semi-arid climate
A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below potential evapotranspiration, but not as low as a desert climate. There are different kinds of sem ...
(''BSh'').
See also
*
Mangroves National Park
References
External links
Description of Muanda (French)
Populated places in Kongo Central
Communities on the Congo River
{{DRCongo-geo-stub