Lüderitz Bay
Lüderitz Bay | |
---|---|
Lüderitzbaai ( Afrikaans) | |
Coordinates | 26°37′S 15°9′E / 26.617°S 15.150°E |
Etymology | Adolf Lüderitz |
Ocean/sea sources | Atlantic Ocean |
Basin countries | Namibia |
Max. length | 7.5 km (4.7 mi) |
Max. width | 5 km (3.1 mi) |
Islands | Penguin Island and Seal Island |
Settlements | Lüderitz[1] |
Lüderitz Bay or Lüderitzbaai (German: Lüderitzbucht), also known as Angra Pequena (Portuguese: [ˈɐ̃ɡɾɐ pɨˈkenɐ], "small cove"), is a bay in the coast of Namibia, Africa. The city of Lüderitz is located at the edge of the bay.[2]
Geography
The bay is indented and complex in structure. It opens to the Atlantic Ocean in the west. Lüderitz town is located in the southern shore of the inner eastern bay, which is known as Angra Pequena in Portuguese and opens towards the north. Further west Griffith Bay, a deep inlet, stretches southwards in the southern part.
The bay west of 'Angra Point' is known as Shearwater Bay, the location of a proposed port for the export of amongst other things, coal from Botswana. This requires the construction of the 1600 km Trans Kalahari Railway.[3]
There are two islands facing Agate Beach in the northeastern part of the bay, Penguin Island and Seal Island.[2]
In the southern part of the bay, a course has been created to hold the Lüderitz Speed Challenge, an annual speed sailing event.
History
The easternmost bay was named Angra Pequena when first mapped in 1487 by
Renamed Lüderitzbucht (Lüderitz Bay) by the Germans, the location then became a naval base for German South West Africa, modern day Namibia.
The two islands off Agate Beach, rich in guano deposits, were annexed by Great Britain in 1867 and added to Cape Colony in 1874 as part of the offshore territory known as Penguin Islands.[5][6]
See also
- Walvis Bay
- Shark Island Concentration Camp
References
- GoogleEarth
- ^ a b "Lüderitzbaai". Mapcarta. Retrieved 14 October 2016.
- ^ Railways Africa - Trans Kalahari Railway
- ^ Chilvers, Hedley Arthur (1929). The seven wonders of southern Africa. Internet Archive. Johannesburg.
- ^ a b Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 2 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 42.
- ^ Hertslet, Edward (1894). The map of Africa by treaty. Vol. 1. pp. 345–46.