- Lubango
Lubango is the capital city of the
Angola n province of Huíla. Its last known population was 100,757.Economy
Lubango's economy is based on
agriculture , especiallymeat products,cereal s,sisal ,tobacco ,fruit s andvegetable s produced in the surrounding fertile region. Food processing,leather tanning , and consumer goods industries dominate the industrial sector.History
Lubango (known as Sá da Bandeira during the Portuguese colonial period) was first settled when fertile land attracted fifty-five
Boer families (the Dorslandtrekkers) fromTransvaal in the early 1880s. These settlers developed the land and obtained Portuguese citizenship.When the Portuguese authorities refused to give them ownership of the land, forty-five of these families moved to
German South-West Africa , where they settled in the area ofGrootfontein .In 1882 approximately one thousand settlers came from the impoverished Portuguese island of
Madeira . These Portuguese farmers thrived and theirsubsistence farming consisting of mostlysweet potatoes was very successful. By 1910 there were over 1700 Madeirans living in the settlement that was referred to as Lubango.By 1923 the
Moçâmedes Railway had connected the settlement to the coast. The Portuguese government made it an official city and renamed it Sá da Bandeira.Because the local semi-nomadic
Nhaneka-Humbe people refused to live in the city, Sá da Bandeira was the only city in Angola with a white majority before Independence.After Angola's Independence the city was once again renamed Lubango.
During the
Angolan Civil War , Lubango served as a major base ofCuba n,SWAPO and government troops.In 2001, A chartered Sociedade de Aviacao Ligeira
Beechcraft 1900 crashed into a mountain while attempting to land at Lubango. All but one of the seventeen people on board perished.Transport
Lubango is the site of a major airport (
Lubango Airport IATA code:SDD) and headquarters for afighter bomber regiment of the Angolan Air Force.The town is served by the southern line of the
Benguela railway . It is the junction for the branch railway toChiange .Interesting facts
* Several
Basters (children of African andCape Colony Dutch descent) emigrated from Namibia to Angola and settled in Lubango, where they are known as the Ouivamo. Many of them were forced to return toNamibia between 1928 and 1930 by white South Africans.
*Marco Abreu , of theAngola national football team was born in Lubango in 1974.References
* [http://www.fallingrain.com/world/AO/9/Lubango.html FallingRain Map - elevation = 1718m]
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