:''Lunda Sul Province is not to be confused with Luanda Sul, a satellite city of

Luanda Luanda () is the capital and largest city in Angola. It is Angola's primary port, and its major industrial, cultural and urban centre. Located on Angola's northern Atlantic coast, Luanda is Angola's administrative centre, its chief seapo ...

, the capital of Angola.'' Lunda Sul ("South Lunda") is a

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions out ...

Angola , national_anthem = "Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordinat ...

. It has an area of 77,637 km² and a 2014 census population of 537,587. Saurimo is the provincial capital.

Geography and climate

The Lunda Sul province is located in the extreme east of Angola, the capital of Saurimo located by road east of the capital

. It is bordered to the north by Lunda Norte Province, to the east by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south by

Moxico Province Moxico (Portuguese spelling) or Moshiko (Bantu spelling) is the largest province of Angola. It has an area of , and covers 18% of the landmass of Angola. The province has a population of 758,568 (2014 census) and a population density of approxim ...

and southwest by

Bié Province Bié is a province of Angola located on the Bié Plateau in central part of country. Its capital is Kuito, which was called Silva Porto until independence from Portugal in 1975. The province has an area of and a population of 1,455,255 in 2014 ...

, and to the west by

Malanje Province Malanje is a province of Angola. It has an area of 97,602 km² and a 2014 census population of 986,363. Malanje is the provincial capital. Geography The Malanje Province is located in the north of Angola, the provincial capital and larges ...

. The main road from Luanda to

Lubumbashi Lubumbashi (former names: (French), ( Dutch)) is the second-largest city in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, located in the country's southeasternmost part, along the border with Zambia. The capital and principal city of the Haut-Katan ...

traverses the province from west to east. The province is dominated by dry

savannah A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach the ground to ...

land; only in the

Kasai River The Kasai River ( ; called Cassai in Angola) is a tributary (left side) of the Congo River, located in Central Africa. The river begins in central Angola and flows to the east until it reaches the border between Angola and the Democratic Repub ...

valley are there remnants of tropical rainforest. The Kasai forms the eastern and southern frontier of Lunda Sul and is the main river of the province. The

Kwango River The Cuango or Kwango ( pt, Rio Cuango) is a transboundary river of Angola and Democratic Republic of Congo. It is the largest left bank tributary of the Kasai River in the Congo River basin. It flows through Malanje in Angola. The Kwango Riv ...

is also a major river of the province. The climate of the province is predominantly tropical.

Municipalities

The province of Lunda Sul contains four

municipalities A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the ...

( pt, municípios): * Cacolo * Dala * Muconda * Saurimo

Communes

The province of Lunda Sul contains the following

communes An intentional community is a voluntary residential community which is designed to have a high degree of social cohesion and teamwork from the start. The members of an intentional community typically hold a common social, political, relig ...

( pt, comunas); sorted by their respective municipalities: * Cacolo Municipality: – Alto-Chicapa (Alto-Chikapa), Cacolo, Cucumbi (Kukumbi), Xassengue * Dala Municipality: – Cazage (Cazeje), Dala, Luma Cassai * Muconda Municipality: – Cassai Sul (Kassai Sul), Chiluage, Muconda, Muriege (Murieje) * 'Saurimo Municipality: – Mona-Quimbundo (Mona-Kimbundo), Saurimo, Sombo

Economy and social issues

Economically the province is dominated by

peanut The peanut (''Arachis hypogaea''), also known as the groundnut, goober (US), pindar (US) or monkey nut (UK), is a legume crop grown mainly for its edible seeds. It is widely grown in the tropics and subtropics, important to both small an ...

cultivation, which is operated primarily in the Saurimo area. In the south of the province

maize Maize ( ; ''Zea mays'' subsp. ''mays'', from es, maíz after tnq, mahiz), also known as corn (North American English, North American and Australian English), is a cereal grain first domesticated by indigenous peoples of Mexico, indigenous ...

production is major contributing factor. Other agricultural products include

rice Rice is the seed of the grass species '' Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice) or less commonly ''Oryza glaberrima'' (African rice). The name wild rice is usually used for species of the genera '' Zizania'' and '' Porteresia'', both wild and domesticat ...

cassava ''Manihot esculenta'', commonly called cassava (), manioc, or yuca (among numerous regional names), is a woody shrub of the spurge family, Euphorbiaceae, native to South America. Although a perennial plant, cassava is extensively cultivated ...

and

cereal A cereal is any grass cultivated for the edible components of its grain (botanically, a type of fruit called a caryopsis), composed of the endosperm, germ, and bran. Cereal grain crops are grown in greater quantities and provide more food ...

s. This region is rich with diamonds, manganese and iron which are exploited; Catoca mine in Lunda Sul Province is the fourth largest diamond mine in the world. Due to warfare in the region, at times mining has been disrupted by attacks form the

UNITA The National Union for the Total Independence of Angola ( pt, União Nacional para a Independência Total de Angola, abbr. UNITA) is the second-largest political party in Angola. Founded in 1966, UNITA fought alongside the Popular Movement for ...

, especially in 1999-2000. In spring 1999, UNITA destroyed the bridge on the Kasai River at Biula, affecting transport communications in the region between Lunda Sul and Moxico. Like in many other areas of Angola,

landmines A land mine is an explosive device concealed under or on the ground and designed to destroy or disable enemy targets, ranging from combatants to vehicles and tanks, as they pass over or near it. Such a device is typically detonated automati ...

are a serious problem, and it is described as being "severely mined". As of 1995, some 30 major or strategic bridges and 58 secondary bridges had been destroyed in the province according to

Oxfam Oxfam is a British-founded confederation of 21 independent charitable organizations focusing on the alleviation of global poverty, founded in 1942 and led by Oxfam International. History Founded at 17 Broad Street, Oxford, as the Oxford Co ...

reports. "Forced return and restrictions to freedom of movement" by people has been noted in the province, and the

Huambo Huambo, formerly Nova Lisboa (English: ''New Lisbon''), is the third-most populous city in Angola, after the capital city Luanda and Lubango, with a population of 595,304 in the city and a population of 713,134 in the municipality of Huambo (Cens ...

and

Cuando Cubango Cuando Cubango (Umbundu: Kwando Kubango Volupale) is a province of Angola and it has an area of 199,049km2 and a population of 534,002 in 2014. Menongue is the capital of the province. The governor of the province is José Martins, who was appoi ...

provinces.

Demographics

The origin of the province's population belongs to the ethnic groups of the Lunda and

Chokwe Chokwe may refer to: *Chokwe people, a Central African ethnic group ** Chokwe language, a Bantu language * Chokwe or Tshokwe, Botswana, a village * Chokwe, Malawi * Chókwè District, Mozambique **Chokwe, Mozambique Chokwé, and earlier known a ...

people, which are closely connected historically. They are mainly involved in agriculture. There are also many immigrants from other parts of the country, working for the Endiama or as independent diamond miners. The struggle between the Lunda and Chokwe to obtain wealth from the diamond industry has increased tension in the province.

List of governors of Lunda Sul

References

External links

Official website of province governor

Information on this province at the Angolan ministry for territorial administration

Information on this province at ''Info Angola''

Province geographical info at geoview.info
{{Coord, 10, 19, S, 20, 49, E, type:adm1st_source:kolossus-cawiki, display=title Provinces of Angola