Bengo is a

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

Angola Angola, officially the Republic of Angola, is a country on the west-Central Africa, central coast of Southern Africa. It is the second-largest Portuguese-speaking world, Portuguese-speaking (Lusophone) country in both total area and List of c ...

. Its capital is Caxito. It has an area of 31,371 square kilometres, and its population as of the 2014 Census was 356,641. The province was created in 1980 by dividing the original province of

Luanda Luanda ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Angola, largest city of Angola. It is Angola's primary port, and its major industrial, cultural and urban centre. Located on Angola's northern Atlantic coast, Luanda is Ang ...

into Bengo and a new smaller province of Luanda.

Geography

The province is bordered by the provinces of

Zaire Zaire, officially the Republic of Zaire, was the name of the Democratic Republic of the Congo from 1971 to 18 May 1997. Located in Central Africa, it was, by area, the third-largest country in Africa after Sudan and Algeria, and the 11th-la ...

to the North, Uige to the Northeast, Cuanza Norte to the East, and Cuanza Sul to the South. It has two western coastal stretches along the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...

, and forms an enclave around the national capital's province of

. The Kissama National Park and the Kibinda Forest Reserve are here. The province also has a number of lakes, most of them are in the municipalities of Dande and Icolo and Bengo. There are lagoons at Panguila and Ibendoa, Cabiri and Ulua do Sungui.

Municipalities

Since the territorial reform of July 2011

The Angolan National Assembly approved a law on July 27, 2011 reorganizing the territorial subdivisions of Luanda and Bengo Provinces . While the law had been voted on July 27, 2011, its effective date is 60 days after publication in the Official Journal, which happened on September 1, 2011. The law moved the Icolo e Bengo and

Quiçama Quiçama (Portuguese spelling), Quissama or Kisama (Bantu spelling) is a municipality in the province of Icolo e Bengo in Angola. Prior to the creation of Icolo e Bengo in 2024, it had been one of the nine municipalities that made up the provinc ...

municipalities from Bengo Province to Luanda Province and created new municipalities in both provinces. Now, Bengo Province is divided into six (6) municipalities:

Before the territorial reform of 2011

The province of Bengo contained five (5)

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

(municípios): Since 2011, Icolo e Bengo and

have been moved to

Luanda Province Luanda is a province of Angola. It used to cover an area of 18,835 km2, and had a population of 6,945,386 at the Census of 16 May 2014. The city of Luanda is the capital of the province and Angola. It serves as the country's primary port, cultur ...

. Some sources show the following municipalities in Bengo Province: Bula-Atumba, Dembos and Pango-Aluquém; while others list those three in Cuanza Norte (Kwanza Norte) province.

Communes

The province of Bengo contains the following

communes A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to: Administrative-territorial entities * Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township ** Communes of ...

(''comunas''); sorted by their respective municipalities: * Ambriz Municipality:–

Ambriz Ambriz is a village and municipality in Bengo Province, Angola. It is located 127 km from the town of Caxito. It borders the municipality of N'zeto, Zaire Province, to the north and the municipality of Dande to the south. Demographics T ...

, Bela Vista,

Tabi are traditional Japanese socks worn with thonged footwear such as zori, dating back to the 15th century. History Japanese are usually understood today to be a kind of split-toed sock that is not meant to be worn alone outdoors, much like re ...

* Bula-Atumba Municipality: – Bula Atumba, Quiage (Kiage) * Dande Municipality: –

Barra do Dande Barra do Dande is a town, with a population of 75,000 (2014), and a commune in the municipality of Dande, province of Bengo, Angola. It is located at the mouth of the Dande River. The government plans to build a deep-water port at Barra do Dan ...

, Caxito, Mabubas, Quicabo (Kikabo), Úcua * Dembos Municipality: – Paredes, Piri, Quibaxe (Kibaxe), São José das Matas * Nambuangongo Municipality: –

Cage A cage is an enclosure often made of mesh, bars, or wires, used to confine, contain or protect something or someone. A cage can serve many purposes, including keeping an animal or person in captivity, capturing an animal or person, and displayi ...

(Kage), Canacassala (Kanacassala), Gombe, Muxaluando (Muxiluando), Quicunzo (Kicunzo), Quixico (Kixico), Zala * Pango-Aluquém Municipality: – Cazuangongo (Kazuangongo), Pango-Aluquém * Ícolo e Bengo Municipality: – Bom Jesus do Cuanza, Cabiri (Kabiri), Caculo Cahango, Calomboloca (seat: Cassoneca), Catete * Quiçama Municipality: –

Cabo Ledo Cabo Ledo is a Municipalities of Angola, municipality in the province of Icolo e Bengo Province, Icolo e Bengo in Angola. Prior to the creation of Icolo e Bengo Province in 2024, it had been a Communes of Angola, commune in the municipality of Quic ...

, Demba Chio, Mumbondo,

Muxima Muxima is a town and commune in the municipality of Quiçama, Icolo e Bengo Province, Angola. The village, located by Kwanza river, was occupied in 1589 by the Portuguese who erected a church and a fortress in 1599. Muxima means "heart" in Ki ...

, Quixinje (Kixinje)

Natural resources and geology

Bengo is known for its abundant fish, with fishing communities along the coast.

Late Cretaceous The Late Cretaceous (100.5–66 Ma) is the more recent of two epochs into which the Cretaceous Period is divided in the geologic time scale. Rock strata from this epoch form the Upper Cretaceous Series. The Cretaceous is named after ''cre ...

fossils are known from this region, including unique turtles (''

Angolachelys ''Angolachelys'' is an extinct genus of African marine turtle which existed in Angola during the Turonian stage of the Late Cretaceous. The type species is ''Angolachelys mbaxi''. The type MGUAN-PA includes skull, jaw, and postcranial fragments f ...

'') and the first dinosaur fossil skeleton from Angola: the ''

Angolatitan ''Angolatitan'' (meaning "Angolan giant") is a genus of titanosauriform sauropod dinosaur from the Upper Cretaceous. It is also the first non-avian dinosaur discovered in Angola. The genus contains a single species, ''Angolatitan adamastor'', kn ...

''.

List of governors of Bengo

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''
*

* from Info-Angola {{Authority control Provinces of Angola