Ndola | |
|---|---|
 Downtown Ndola | |
| Nickname: NoliNoli | |
  Ndola Location in Zambia Show map of Zambia Ndola Ndola (Africa) Show map of Africa | |
| Coordinates:12°58′08″S28°37′57″E / 12.96889°S 28.63250°E /-12.96889; 28.63250 | |
| Country |  Zambia |
| Province | Copperbelt Province |
| District | Ndola District |
| Inception | 1904 |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Samuel Munthali |
| Elevation | 1,300 m (4,300 ft) |
| Population (2022) | |
• Total | 627,503 |
| Demonym | Zimandola |
| Time zone | UTC+2 (CAT) |
| Climate | Cwa |
| Website | www |
Ndola is the third largest city inZambia in terms of size and population, with a population of 627,503 (2022 census),[1] after the capital,Lusaka, andKitwe, and the second largest in terms of infrastructure development after Lusaka. It is theindustrial andcommercial center of theCopperbelt, Zambia'scopper-mining region, and capital ofCopperbelt Province. It lies just 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) from the border withDR Congo. It is also home to Zambia's first modern stadium, theLevy Mwanawasa Stadium.
What is now Ndola was first inhabited by theLamba people led by Senior Chief Chiwala, the Lamba people migrated from the Luba-Lunda kingdom around 1600 and the town of Ndola was under Chief Mushili for some time but now it is under Chief Chiwala who came to the Lambaland during the slave trade from Malawi. The name Ndola is derived from the river, which originates in the Kaloko Hills and drains in theKafubu River.[2]
The town of Ndola was founded in 1904 byJohn Edward "Chiripula" Stephenson.[citation needed] It was started as aboma andtrading post, which laid its foundations as an administrative and trading centre today.
TheRhodesia Railways main line reached the town in 1907, providing passenger services as far south asBulawayo, with connections toCape Town.[3]The line was extended intoDR Congo and from there eventually linked to theBenguela Railway to theAtlanticport ofLobito (which took some of Zambia's copperexports for many years with recent interruptions by closures; the rail line is now back in service). The Ndola railhead was responsible for the town becoming the country's centre of distribution. Before the road network was built up in the 1930s, a track from Ndola to Kapalala on theLuapula River, andboat transport from there to theChambeshi River was the principal trade route for theNorthern Province, which consequently formed part of Ndola'shinterland.
In 1961, an aeroplane carrying keyUnited Nations figures, including the organisation's second Secretary GeneralDag Hammarskjöld,crashed on the outskirts of Ndola.
Ndola has a moderatehumid subtropical climate (Köppen Cwa).
| Climate data for Ndola (1991–2020, extremes 1961–present) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 34.2 (93.6) | 33.1 (91.6) | 32.0 (89.6) | 32.4 (90.3) | 32.0 (89.6) | 30.7 (87.3) | 31.1 (88.0) | 34.1 (93.4) | 39.6 (103.3) | 37.4 (99.3) | 38.5 (101.3) | 34.5 (94.1) | 39.6 (103.3) |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 27.6 (81.7) | 27.8 (82.0) | 28.3 (82.9) | 28.3 (82.9) | 27.7 (81.9) | 26.1 (79.0) | 25.8 (78.4) | 28.6 (83.5) | 31.6 (88.9) | 32.7 (90.9) | 30.7 (87.3) | 28.3 (82.9) | 28.6 (83.5) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 22.5 (72.5) | 22.5 (72.5) | 22.3 (72.1) | 20.8 (69.4) | 18.4 (65.1) | 16.4 (61.5) | 16.0 (60.8) | 18.8 (65.8) | 22.2 (72.0) | 24.5 (76.1) | 24.1 (75.4) | 22.9 (73.2) | 20.9 (69.6) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 17.3 (63.1) | 17.1 (62.8) | 16.3 (61.3) | 13.2 (55.8) | 9.1 (48.4) | 6.6 (43.9) | 6.1 (43.0) | 8.9 (48.0) | 12.8 (55.0) | 16.2 (61.2) | 17.5 (63.5) | 17.5 (63.5) | 13.2 (55.8) |
| Record low °C (°F) | 11.0 (51.8) | 10.6 (51.1) | 7.5 (45.5) | 6.2 (43.2) | 0.5 (32.9) | −0.9 (30.4) | 0.2 (32.4) | 0.8 (33.4) | 4.0 (39.2) | 6.5 (43.7) | 10.2 (50.4) | 11.2 (52.2) | −0.9 (30.4) |
| Averageprecipitation mm (inches) | 301.4 (11.87) | 236.0 (9.29) | 169.6 (6.68) | 26.0 (1.02) | 3.3 (0.13) | 0.1 (0.00) | 0.3 (0.01) | 0.0 (0.0) | 1.6 (0.06) | 18.5 (0.73) | 107.8 (4.24) | 262.9 (10.35) | 1,127.5 (44.39) |
| Averagerelative humidity (%) | 82.5 | 83.0 | 79.7 | 73.4 | 65.9 | 61.1 | 54.6 | 46.6 | 40.9 | 47.3 | 64.9 | 80.4 | 65.0 |
| Mean monthlysunshine hours | 151.9 | 142.8 | 192.2 | 243.0 | 279.0 | 276.0 | 297.6 | 297.6 | 279.0 | 269.7 | 207.0 | 158.1 | 2,793.9 |
| Source:NOAA (humidity and sun 1961–1990)[4][5] | |||||||||||||
| Census | Population[1] |
|---|---|
| 1990 | 329,228 |
| 2000 | 374,757 |
| 2010 | 451,246 |
| 2022 | 627,503 |
Once the largest industrial centre of Zambia, boasting, among many high-powered sites, company facilities including a Land Rover vehicle assembly plant, Dunlop Tire manufacture, Johnson & Johnson, and Unilever, Ndola's economy shrank significantly between 1980 and 2000. Many closed factories and plants lie unoccupied in the town. A number of former industries such as clothing and vehicle assembly have disappeared completely.[6] Even though the term 'ghost town' can no longer apply to it, Ndola is yet to regain its economic glory of pre-1980 days.
There are nomines in Ndola itself, but theBwana Mkubwa open-cast mine is only 10 km south-east of the city centre. Until their closure,copper andprecious metals used to be brought from elsewhere in the Copperbelt for processing at the Ndola CopperRefinery and Precious Metals Refinery. Copper exports provide 70–80% of Zambia's export earnings, making the city very important to the country's economy.
The Indeni Oil Refinery in Ndola supplies the whole country with refined petroleum. It was repaired in 2001 after being severely damaged by fire in 1999. GL Africa Energy, through its subsidiary Ndola Energy Company Limited, provides 105MW of power to the National Grid of Zambia. Power is generated fromheavy fuel oil supplied by the Indeni Petroleum refinery.[7][8]
Ndola is home to one of the country's national newspapers, theTimes of Zambia, as well as its printer, Printpak. These run as one company calledTimesPrintpak. Catholic church run printing press,Mission Press, is also located in Ndola. Mission Press operates as a commercial entity.
Ndola has hugelimestone reserves which are believed to be among the most homogeneous of their kind in the world[citation needed]. Limestone has therefore become to Ndola's economy what copper is to the rest of the country, providing much of the wealth and employment (Lime is a major component in the production of cement; a cement plant getting its lime from limestone and manufacturing a limestone cement will consume well over 80 kg limestone per 100 kg of cement produced).
Between 1974 and 2009, Ndola supplied over 50% of Zambia's cement from a plant located some 5 km south-east of the heart of the city. This plant was called Chilanga Cement, Ndola Works. The parent company then was Chilanga Cement plc. Chilanga Cement ran two plants in Zambia: one built in 1949 at Chilanga (hence the parent company name) and the other built in 1969 at Ndola. In 2008, the new holding company, Lafarge Cement Zambia, completed construction of a brand new plant at Chilanga which would produce about double the volume of Ndola Works. By mid-2009, the new plant was still gathering momentum toward full production capacity, leaving Ndola still a significant player in the region's cement industry. Nonetheless, the combination of huge limestone deposits and existing transport infrastructure passing through Ndola has kept the city a very attractive destination for investment into cement production and related activities.
A secondcement works is under construction in 2008.[9] In June 2009, countrywide advertisements were published to finalise staffing for this new cement plant.
Another important processing plant that is based on limestone in the area is Ndola Lime. It is Zambia's sole producer of Lime[citation needed]. Ndola Lime is located near the two cement manufacturing facilities. It supplies the mining industry as well as farmers who require agricultural lime. Ndola Lime company is wholly owned by ZCCM Investment Holdings, a parastatal holdings company via which Zambia's government maintains its active interest in the country's mining and closely related heavy industry.
The four processing plants (the cement plants, the lime plant andBwana Mkubwa) have mining rights on land located very close to the traditional Chiefdom of Chiwala. Chief Chiwala is therefore a significant interested party to Ndola industry and economics.[citation needed]
Egyptian companyElsewedy Electric joined a consortium of local companies led by ZESCO Ltd (Zambia's electricity supply authority), and established a transformer manufacturing plant and an electrical meter manufacturing plant in Zambia in 2008. Both these facilities are located about 5 km south of Ndola city centre.
The city is served by the operating sections of theCape to Cairo Railway. The railway operatorZambia Railways maintains a railway station in Ndola, with passenger and freight services to the city ofKitwe to the north-west and the cities ofKabwe,Lusaka andLivingstone to the south.[10] Freight rail lines run to other Copperbelt towns and from Ndola toLubumbashi inDR Congo viaSakania.[11][10]
Ndola is on theT3 road, which connects toKitwe in the north-west (as a dual carriageway) and toKapiri Mposhi andLusaka in the south.[12][10] TheM4 road connects Ndola toMufulira (and theCongo Pedicle) in the north.[12]
Simon Mwansa Kapwepwe International Airport, currently located 15 km west of the city centre (adjacent to theDag Hammarskjöld Crash Site Memorial),[13] has scheduled domestic services to Lusaka and international services toAddis Ababa,Johannesburg andNairobi. It is one of the country's four international airports, others beingLivingstone,Lusaka andMfuwe.
TheTazama Pipeline fromDar es Salaam terminates at theIndeni Petroleum Refinery in the town.
As with many towns on the Copperbelt, Ndola's sports and recreation life was heavily supported by the now disbundled mining conglomerate, Zambia Consolidated Copper Mines Ltd (ZCCM). With the demise of ZCCM, many facilities deteriorated fast. Nevertheless, significant sports places are Ndola Tennis Club (membership), Ndola Swimming Pool (public), the Kanini area (about 3 km from city centre and home to several sports clubs and playing fields like Ndola Wanderers Football Club, a rugby club, and others). About 10 km north-west of the city centre, there is a motor racing track popular with weekend motorbike enthusiasts.[14] The city has several recreational green parks which enjoy a very basic level of maintenance and are open to the public. Of particular significance is theDag Hammarskjöld Crash Site Memorial located some 10 km west-north-west of Ndola city centre.Dag Hammarskjöld Stadium, which was located on the banks of theKafubu River south of the city, was razed in the 1980s. Its replacement, in the north-west of the city, is theLevy Mwanawasa Stadium with a seating capacity of 50,000. Ndola is home toZesco United, a top-flight team in the Zambia Premier League. Zesco FC is nicknamed "team ya ziko", or the national team in theNyanja language.
TheNorthrise University was founded in 2003.
The following are some of the education institutions found in Ndola:
TheCopperbelt Museum, with a collection of gems and minerals from the Copperbelt.
Small reservoirs formed by dams on the Kafubu and Itawa streams flowing through the south-east of the city are used for boating and recreation.
The thermal power station which dominates the skyline near the railway station, built to power the mines and refineries, ceased operation in the 1960s when theKariba Dam power station came on line.
Among theplaces of worship, they are predominantlyChristian churches and temples :Roman Catholic Diocese of Ndola (Catholic Church),United Church in Zambia (World Communion of Reformed Churches),Reformed Church in Zambia (World Communion of Reformed Churches),Baptist Fellowship of Zambia (Baptist World Alliance),Assemblies of God.[20] There are alsoMuslim mosques.
Aldershot,England,United Kingdom
Blantyre,Malawi
Bentol,Liberia
Porto,Portugal
Regina,Saskatchewan,Canada
Makhachkala,Russia
Harbin,Heilongjiang,China
Lubumbashi,Democratic Republic of the Congo
Walvis Bay,Namibia
Ndola travel guide from WikivoyageLargest cities or towns in Zambia According to the 2010 Census[1] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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