Kadoma is a city in Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe is a landlocked country located in the southern part of the African continent, between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers. It is bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the southwest, Zambia and a tip of Namibia to the northwest and Mozambique to the east. Zimbabwe has three...

 in the Mashonaland West

Mashonaland West

Mashonaland West is a province of Zimbabwe. It has an area of 57,441 km² and a population of approximately 1.2 million . Chinhoyi is the capital of the province.Mashonaland West is divided into 6 districts:* Chegutu* Hurungwe* Kadoma* Kariba...

 province, 140 km south-west of Harare

Harare

Harare before 1982 known as Salisbury) is the largest city and capital of Zimbabwe. It has an estimated population of 1,600,000, with 2,800,000 in its metropolitan area . Administratively, Harare is an independent city equivalent to a province. It is Zimbabwe's largest city and its...

 on the main road to Bulawayo

Bulawayo

Bulawayo is the second largest city in Zimbabwe after the capital Harare, with an estimated population in 2010 of 2,000,000. It is located in Matabeleland, 439 km southwest of Harare, and is now treated as a separate provincial area from Matabeleland...

. It was known as Gatooma until 1982.

Gatooma was founded in the 1890s as a mining camp, and constituted under a village management board in 1907. In 1917 the Gatooma municipality was created. The settlement was named after the nearby kraal

Kraal

Kraal is an Afrikaans and Dutch word for an enclosure for cattle or other livestock, located within an African settlement or village surrounded by a palisade, mud wall, or other fencing, roughly circular in form.In the Dutch language a kraal is a term derived from the Portuguese word , cognate...

 of Chief Katuma, who is represented on the town's coat of arms by the mountain bearing his name and the chief's badge of office.

The Specks Hotel was opened in 1907, and Jameson High School started the same year when Mrs Amelia Fitt, wife of the first mayor of Kadoma started to give classes to the town children in her house. A public electricity supply was introduced in Kadoma in 1922. The Grand Hotel opened in 1925 and had a sprung floor

Sprung floor

A sprung floor is a floor that absorbs shocks, giving it a softer feel. Such floors are considered the best available for dance and indoor sports and physical education....

 for dancing, the first such floor in Zimbabwe.

The city is at the centre of a mining area, which provides gold

Gold

Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a...

, copper

Copper

Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu and atomic number 29. It is a ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. Pure copper is soft and malleable; an exposed surface has a reddish-orange tarnish...

, nickel

Nickel

Nickel is a chemical element with the chemical symbol Ni and atomic number 28. It is a silvery-white lustrous metal with a slight golden tinge. Nickel belongs to the transition metals and is hard and ductile...

.The most significant mine of the region is the Cam and Motor Mine, which is in Eiffel Flats

Eiffel Flats

Eiffel Flats is a village in the province of Mashonaland West, Zimbabwe. It is located about 7 km east of Kadoma. The village began in 1905 as a residential township for the Cam and Motor gold mines. The two original mines are now closed but gold is still mined in the area and there is a...

 7 km outside Kadoma. Under the present regime, Cam and Motor is owned by Rio Tinto Zimbabwe. Cam and Motor is the largest gold producer in Rhodesia-Zimbabwe's history.

Cotton is raised in the area and there was some development of related industries before 1990. The David Whithead textile manufacturing company was opened in 1952.

Kadoma is at an elevation of 1162 m (3,812 ft). Its population is 81,000 (2007 est.)

Kadoma is twinned with Stevenage

Stevenage

Stevenage is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England. It is situated to the east of junctions 7 and 8 of the A1, and is between Letchworth Garden City to the north, and Welwyn Garden City to the south....

 in the UK.

Sister City

City	Country	Year
Stevenage Stevenage Stevenage is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England. It is situated to the east of junctions 7 and 8 of the A1, and is between Letchworth Garden City to the north, and Welwyn Garden City to the south....	United Kingdom	1989