Pointe-Noire

Pointe-Noire

(pwăNt-nwär), city (1984 pop. 294,203), SW Republic of the Congo, Africa, a port on the Atlantic Ocean. Offshore oil drilling and oil refining are the city's most important economic activities. The port exports oil, tropical timber, cotton, palm products, peanuts, and coffee. Plywood, aluminum ware, and soap are manufactured, and there are shipbuilding and food-processing industries. The city is also a noted center for sport fishing. Founded in 1883, it acquired importance only after the completion (1948) of the railroad to Brazzaville and the construction (1934–39) of an artificial harbor. From 1950 until 1958 it was the capital of the French Congo.

Pointe-Noire

 

a city in the western Congo. Population, 135,000 (1970, including suburbs). Pointe-Noire is an important port on the Atlantic Ocean (freight turnover 4 million tons in 1972), handling the Congo’s foreign trade and part of the trade of Gabon (manganese-ore export), the Central African Empire, and Chad. The city is linked by rail with Brazzaville and has an international airport. Major industries are food processing (brewery, vegetable-oil mill, fish cannery); sawmilling; the production of veneer, chemicals, and footwear; and metal-working. There are shipyards and a fishing industry. Pointe-Noire has a thermoelectric power plant. Oil is drilled (primarily on the shelf) in the vicinity of the city, and potash salt is extracted (in Holle-St. Paul).

Pointe-Noire

a port in S Congo-Brazzaville, on the Atlantic: the country's chief port and former capital (1950--58). Pop.: 638 000 (2005 est.)