Douala

Douala
/doo ah"lah/, n.
a seaport in W Cameroon. 340,000.
Also, Duala.

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City (pop., 1992 est.: 1,200,000), chief port of Cameroon, on the Bight of Biafra.

It was the capital of German Kamerun and later of French Cameroun and was taken from the Germans in 1914. Cameroon's largest city, it is one of Central Africa's major industrial centres, and its deepwater port handles most of the country's overseas trade. It is home to a variety of commercial, agricultural, and industrial schools; a museum and handicraft centre encourage the production and preservation of Cameroonian art.

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      city and chief port of Cameroon. It is situated on the southeastern shore of the Wouri River estuary, on the Atlantic coast about 130 miles (210 km) west of Yaoundé. The Wouri Bridge, 5,900 feet (1,800 metres) long, joins Douala to the port of Bonabéri and carries both road and rail traffic to western Cameroon. The city is connected by road to all major towns in Cameroon, has rail links to Kumba, Nkongsamba, Yaoundé, and Ngaoundéré, and is served by an international airport.

      Douala served as the capital of the German Kamerun protectorate from 1901 to 1916. It again served as the capital of Cameroon in 1940–46. With its mixture of traditional, colonial, and modern architecture, Douala has grown rapidly since World War II and is the most populous city in the republic. Western-style residential areas alternate with neighbourhoods inhabited by unskilled migrants from rural Cameroon and other African countries.

      One of the major industrial centres of central Africa, Douala houses breweries, textile factories, and palm-oil, soap, and food-processing plants. It also produces building materials, metalwork, plastics, glass, paper, bicycles, and timber products. Other activities include boat and ship repairing, railway engineering, and radio assembly. Offshore reserves of natural gas had not been exploited by the early 2000s. Douala's deepwater port handles most of the country's overseas trade. It has special installations for handling timber products, bananas, gasoline, and bauxite, as well as fishing facilities.

      Douala houses a branch (economics) of the University of Yaoundé; a variety of commercial, agricultural, and industrial schools; and research institutes for health, forestry, textiles, oilseed derivatives, and meteorology. A museum and a handicraft centre encourage the production and preservation of Cameroonian art. Pop. (2004 est.) 1,532,800.

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Universalium. 2010.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • Douala — Douala …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • DOUALA — Ville du Cameroun, capitale de la province du Littoral, Douala connut, à partir de 1884, un essor rapide lorsque l’Allemagne obtint des rois Bell et Akwa la souveraineté sur leurs domaines. Capitale du Cameroun de 1885 à 1909, elle dut sa fortune …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • Douala — (izg. Duȁla) ž grad i riječna luka u Z Kamerunu …   Veliki rječnik hrvatskoga jezika

  • Douala — (izg. duȁla) ž DEFINICIJA grad i riječna luka u Z Kamerunu, 1.116.900 stan …   Hrvatski jezični portal

  • Douala — [do͞o ä′lə] seaport in Cameroon, on the Bight of Biafra: pop. 810,000 …   English World dictionary

  • Douala — Pour les articles homonymes, voir Douala (homonymie). Erreur avec l appel de {{coord}}. Douala Administration …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Douala — For other uses, see Duala. Douala Douala …   Wikipedia

  • Douala — I Douala   [du ], Duala,Bantuvolk an der Küste von Kamerun, in und um die Hafenstadt Douala, etwa 100 000 Menschen. Die Douala waren einst Fischer und Bauern; sie stellten, vermutlich nur bis zum Anfang des 20. Jahrhunderts, kunstvolle… …   Universal-Lexikon

  • Douala — Original name in latin Douala Name in other language DLA, Douala, Doula, Duala, Dualao, Dala, Gorad Duala, Ntouala, dau ala, doDoualauara, du a la, du xa la, dualla, dwala, Горад Дуала, Дуала State code CM Continent/City Africa/Douala longitude 4 …   Cities with a population over 1000 database

  • Douala (ville) — Douala Pour les articles homonymes, voir Douala (homonymie). Douala Pays …   Wikipédia en Français

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