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Luanda

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Luanda (formerly called Loanda) is the capital and largest city of Angola. Located on Angola's coast with the Atlantic Ocean, Luanda is both Angola's chief seaport and administrative center. It is the world's most expensive city for expatriates to live in and, with a population of approximately 4.5 million (UN 2004 estimates), is the capital city of Luanda Province. Luanda is located at 8°50'18" South, 13°14'4" East (-8.83833, 13.23444).

History

Portuguese explorer Paulo Dias de Novais founded Luanda in 1575 as "São Paulo de Loanda". In 1618 the Portuguese built Fortaleza São Pedro da Barra fortress and in 1634 they built Fortaleza de São Miguel fortress. The Angolan government has used the city as the state's administrative center since 1627 with one exception. The Dutch ruled Luanda from 1640 to 1648 as Fort Aardenburgh. The city served as the center of a large slave trade to Brazil from c.1550 to 1836. Slave trade was mostly with the Portuguese colony of Brazil; Brazilian ships were the most numerous in the ports of Luanda and Benguela. By this time, Angola, a Portuguese colony, was in fact like a colony of Brazil, paradoxically another Portuguese colony. A strong Brazilian influence was noted in Luanda until the Independence of Brazil in 1822. In the 19th century, still under Portuguese rule, Luanda experienced a major economic revolution. The slave trade was abolished in 1836, and in 1844 Angola's ports were opened to foreign shipping. By 1850, Luanda was one of the greatest and most developed Portuguese cities in the vast Portuguese Empire outside Mainland Portugal, full of trading companies, exporting (together with Benguela) palm and peanut oil, wax, copal, timber, ivory, cotton, coffee, and cocoa, among many other products. Maize, tobacco, dried meat and cassava flour also began to be produced locally. The Angolan bourgeoisie was born by this time. In 1889 Governor Brito Capelo opened the gates of an aqueduct which supplied the city with water, a formerly scarce resource, laying the foundation for major growth. Like most of Angola, the city of Luanda was not affected by the Portuguese Colonial War (1961-1974), economic growth and development in the entire region reached record highs during this period. In 1972 a report called Luanda the "Paris of Africa".

By the time of Angolan independence in 1975, Luanda was a modern city and the majority of the city's population was of Portuguese origin. After independence, most of the Portuguese left, most of them to Portugal and many traveling overland to South Africa. There was an immediate crisis because the local African population lacked the skills and knowledge needed to run the city and maintain its infrastructure. The large numbers of skilled technicians among the force of Cuban soldiers sent in to support the MPLA government in the Angolan Civil War (1975 – 2002) were able to make a valuable contribution to restoring and maintaining basic services in the city.

Geography

Luanda is divided into two parts, the baixa de luanda (lower Luanda, the old city) and the cidade alta (upper city or the new part). The baixa de luanda is situated next to the port and has narrow streets and old colonial buildings.

Luanda is the seat of a Roman Catholic archbishop. It is also the location of most of Angola's educational institutions, including the private Catholic University of Angola and the public University of Agostinho Neto. It is also the home of the colonial Governor's Palace and Estádio da Cidadela, Angola's main stadium, with a total seating capacity of 60,000.

Luanda is in the tropical climate zone. The annual average temperature amounts to 24.4 degrees Celsius, the annual amount of precipitation of 368 millimeters on the average.

The warmest months are February until April with on the average 26.7 to 27.0 degrees Celsius, coldest are July and August with 20.2 to 20.4 degrees Celsius on the average.

Most precipitation falls in the months March and April with on the average 97 to 124 millimeters, little between June and Octobers with zero to seven millimeters on the average.

Demographics

The inhabitants of Luanda are primarily members of African ethnic groups, including the Ovimbundu, Kimbundu and Bakongo tribes. The official and the most spoken language is Portuguese, although many Bantu-related indigenous languages are spoken. There is a small population of European origin.

  • 1815 18,000
  • 1880 16,000
  • 1900 20,000
  • 1909 16,000
  • 1921 20,000
  • 1927 20,000
  • 1934 17,900
  • 1940 61,208
  • 1950 137,000
  • 1954 159,000
  • 1960 189,500
  • 1964 224,540
  • 1970 475,328
  • 1974 600,000
  • 1983 898,000
  • 1987 1,136,000
  • 1991 2,000,000
  • 1995 2,080,000
  • 1999 2,200,000
  • 2000 2,571,600
  • 2005 2,776,125

Economy

Manufacturing includes processed foods, beverages, textiles, cement and other construction materials, plastic products, metalware, cigarettes, and shoes. Petroleum, found nearby, is refined in the city although this facility was repeatedly damaged during the Angolan Civil War (1975 – 2002). Luanda has an excellent natural harbour, and the chief exports are coffee, cotton, sugar, diamonds, iron, and salt. There are also a notable construction activity in the capital as an effect of the nationwide economic boom experienced since 2002 when political stability arise with the end of the civil war. The economic growth is largely supported by oil extraction activities. The city is the most developed and the only large economic center worth mentioning in the country, however, slums called musseques, stretch for miles beyond Luanda's former city limits as a result of the decades-long civil war and the rise of deep social inequalites due to large-scale migration of civil war's refugees and widespread political corruption.

Transportation

Luanda is the starting point of the Luanda railway that goes due east to Malanje, without reaching the Congo-Kinshasa. The civil war left the railway non-functional, but a Chinese firm has been contracted to rebuild it.

The city is home to Quatro de Fevereiro Airport (February 4th Airport), the largest in the country. The Luanda port also serves as a link to the rest of the world.

Notable Residents

Sister cities

Gallery

References

External links



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Last updated on Friday March 07, 2008 at 18:58:26 PST (GMT -0800)
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