Cuando 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 ...

. It was created on 5 September 2024 from the eastern part of Cuando Cubango Province. Its capital is Mavinga.

Geography and climate

Cuando borders the Angolan provinces of Cubango to the west and Moxico to the north. It also borders

Zambia Zambia, officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa. It is typically referred to being in South-Central Africa or Southern Africa. It is bor ...

's Western Province to the east, and the

Namibia Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country on the west coast of Southern Africa. Its borders include the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south; in the no ...

n regions of

Zambezi The Zambezi (also spelled Zambeze and Zambesi) is the fourth-longest river in Africa, the longest east-flowing river in Africa and the largest flowing into the Indian Ocean from Africa. Its drainage basin covers , slightly less than half of t ...

and

Kavango East Kavango East is one of the fourteen regions of Namibia. Its capital is Rundu, its governor is Bonifatius Wakudumo. The region was created in 2013 when the Kavango Region was split into Kavango East and Kavango West. The only self-governing sett ...

to the southeast and south respectively. The province is drained by the Cubango and Cuando rivers. The Cubango forms part of the province's border with Namibia, and its tributary the Cuito River forms much of the province's border with Cubango Province. The Cuando River runs along or close to much of the province's borders with Moxico Province and Zambia. Luengue-Luiana National Park and Mavinga National Park are located in the province. Both parks are components of the Kavango–Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area, the world's largest land-based

transboundary protected area A transboundary protected area (TBPA) is an ecological protected area that spans boundaries of more than one country or sub-national entity. Such areas are also known as transfrontier conservation areas (TFCAs) or peace parks. TBPAs exist in ma ...

. The northern part of the province belongs to the dry miombo woodlands ecoregion, while the south falls in the Zambezian ''Baikiaea'' woodlands ecoregion. Cuando's climate varies from tropical in the north to semi-arid in the south. Annual rainfall ranges from in the north to in the south.

History

Since at least 2016, there have been proposals to divide Cuando Cubango, formerly Angola's second largest province by area, into two smaller provinces. On 14 August 2024, Angola's

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repr ...

approved a law to create three new provinces, including the division of Cuando Cubango into the provinces of Cuando and Cubango. This law went into effect with its publication in the official gazette of Angola on 5 September 2024.

Administration

Cuando is divided into the nine

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' ...

of Cuito Cuanavale, Dima, Dirico, Luengue, Luiana, Mavinga, Mucusso, Rivungo and Xipundo. Cuito Cuanavale is further subdivided into the communes of Cuito Cuanavale and Lupire; Dima is subdivided into the communes of Cunjamba and Cutuile; and Dirico is subdivided into the communes of Dirico and Xamavera. The first governor of Cuando is Lúcio Gonçalves Amaral, who was appointed in December 2024.

Demographics

The former communes that now make up the territory of Cuando reported a combined population of 98,419 in the 2014 Angolan census. A variety of languages are spoken in Cuando, with Nganguela being the most common.

Economy

The main economic activity in Cuando is cattle, goat and sheep farming. Roads in the province have been in poor condition since the end of the

Angolan Civil War The Angolan Civil War () was a civil war in Angola, beginning in 1975 and continuing, with interludes, until 2002. The war began immediately after Angola became independent from Portugal in November 1975. It was a power struggle between two for ...

, and the lack of transportation infrastructure impedes the economic development of the province.

References

{{Provinces of Angola Cuando Province Provinces of Angola States and territories established in 2024 2024 establishments in Angola