Luanda

Luanda

Luanda is the capital and largest city of Angola. It is Angola's main port and its most important industrial, cultural and urban centre. Located on the Atlantic coast, Luanda is the administrative centre of Angola, its main seaport and the capital of the province of Luanda. Luanda and its metropolitan area are the world's most populous Portuguese-speaking capital and the most populous Portuguese-speaking city outside Brazil, with more than 8.3 million inhabitants in 2020. One of Africa's oldest colonial cities, it was founded in January 1576. The city served as a centre for the slave trade to Brazil before it was banned. At the start of the 1975 Angolan civil war, most white Portuguese left the city as refugees, mainly for Portugal. Luanda is considered one of the most expensive cities in the world for foreigners. The city of Luanda is divided into six districts: Ingombota, Angola Quiluanje, Maianga, Rangel, Samba and Sambizanga. Samba and Sambizanga have several high-rise buildings. The capital, Luanda, continues to grow - increasingly beyond the official city limits and even beyond the provincial borders. Luanda is the seat of the Roman Catholic Archbishop. It is also home to most of Angola's educational institutions, including the Angola Catholic University of Higher Education and the public Agostinho Neto University, and to the colonial governor's palace and the Estádio da Cidadela.