Ndola

Ndola, city, northern Zambia, capital of Copperbelt Province, near the border with the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC, formerly Zaire). It is an important industrial center of the Copperbelt region and has long been an African crossroads. Rail spurs radiate to surrounding mines. Chemicals, brick and tile, wood products, pipes, tires, soap, sugar, and mineral water are produced here, and the city is a leading center of copper and cobalt processing. A campus of the University of Zambia (1965) is located in Ndola. Known as a slave-trading town until the end of the 19th century, Ndola became an administrative center in 1904. The township was established in 1924 and the city in 1932. Population (2000) 374,757.