Luanda - History, Transportation, Sister Cities

8°50S 13°15E, pop (2000e) 2 460 000. Seaport capital of Angola, on Bay of Bengo, SW Africa; on the R Cuanza estuary 530 km/329 mi SSW of Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo; founded in 1575; the centre of Portuguese administration from 1627; a major slave trading centre with Brazil in 17th–18th-c; university (1962); airport; railway; oil refining, export of minerals and agricultural produce; cathedral, governor's palace, São Miguel fortress.

Luanda (formerly called Loanda) is the largest city and capital of Angola. It has a population of approximately 4.5 million (UN 2004 estimates), and is the capital city of Luanda Province. Petroleum, found nearby, is refined in the city although this facility has been repeatedly damaged during the civil war.

Luanda is divided into two parts, the baixa (old city) and the cidade alta (new part).

History

Luanda was founded in 1575 by the Portuguese explorer Paulo Dias Novais as São Paulo de Luanda. The city has been the administrative centre of Angola since 1627 (except for 1640–1648 when it was occupied by the Dutch and named Fort Aardenburgh), and from c.1550 to c.1850 it was the center of a large slave trade to Brazil. In 1889 the basis for a major growth of Luanda was laid as Governor Brito Capelo opened the gates of an aqueduct which supplied the city with water, a formerly scarce resource. After this a good deal of unexpected growth increased dramatically towards 1975, with high-points such as an 1972 report which called Luanda the "Paris of Africa" for the growth that the city had shown.

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, with very few Africans permitted to live there. 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 were able to make a valuable contribution to restoring and maintaining essential services in the city.

Luanda is the seat of a Roman Catholic archbishop.

Transportation

Luanda is the starting point of a railway that goes due east to Malanje, without reaching the DRC.

The city is home to Quatro de Fevereiro Airport (February 4th Airport), the largest in the country.

Sister Cities

Belo Horizonte, Brazil, (1968) Houston, USA (2003)