Introduction
Luanda is the capital and largest city in Angola, a country situated along the Atlantic coast in southwestern Africa. For centuries Luanda was a major center for transporting slaves to the Americas. Since the mid-1970s the city has suffered as a result of Angola's long-running civil war.
Places of interest
Tall buildings and wide avenues give Luanda a modern appearance. The city is home to several educational facilities. They include the Angola Medical Research Institute and the Agostinho Neto University. Among Luanda's museums is a museum of slavery. One of the city's notable historic structures is the old fortress of São Miguel, which has overlooked the port since the 17th century.
Economy
Luanda is a busy seaport that ships and receives goods. Petroleum is the most important product that Angola sells outside the country. An oil refinery was built near the city to process the oil, but this refinery was damaged in the 1980s. Other products exported are coffee, cotton, diamonds, iron ore, and salt. The city also boasts some manufacturing. Luanda is home to an international airport and rail lines. Angola's civil war has prevented the country from taking full advantage of its wealth of natural resources.
History
Luanda was founded in 1576 by Paulo Dias de Novais, who had been sent by the king of Portugal on a mission to conquer African lands. Portugal went on to hold the city for about 400 years, except for a brief period of Dutch rule in the 1640s. In 1627 Luanda became the administrative center of the colony of Angola. From the start, Luanda was a base for slave traders. It was also a port for the transportation of newly captured slaves across the Atlantic to the Portuguese colony of Brazil. Luanda's economy was based on the slave trade until the middle of the 19th century, when the trade was gradually shut down.
During the 1920s, Portuguese leaders transformed part of Luanda into a European-style business center. The Portuguese prospered, but the city's African people remained poor. In the second half of the 20th century, as other European powers gave up their African colonies, Portugal tried to hold on to Angola. The Africans succeeded in driving the Portuguese out in 1975. However, the revolutionary group that held Luanda was challenged immediately by groups based elsewhere, plunging the newly independent nation into civil war. The fighting, which continued off and on for more than 20 years, caused much death and destruction. In the 1970s and 1980s, the government called in soldiers from Cuba to help fight the war. Cubans now form a community in Luanda. Population (1999 estimate), 2,555,000.
