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

, the capital of Angola.'' Lunda Sul ("South Lunda") 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 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 Provinces of Angola, province of Angola. It used to have an area of , which corresponded to 18% of the landmass of Angola. The province has a population of 758,568 accordin ...

and southwest by Bié Province, and to the west by

Malanje Province Malanje is a Provinces of Angola, 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 ...

. The main road from Luanda to

Lubumbashi Lubumbashi ( , ; former ; former ) is the second-largest Cities of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, city in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, located in the country's southeasternmost part, along the border with Zambia. The capital ...

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) biome and ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach th ...

land; only in the

Kasai River The Kasai River (, ; called Cassai in Angola) is a left bank tributary 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 Republ ...

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 (; ; ) 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 River basin ha ...

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 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' ...

(): * Cacolo * Dala * Muconda * Saurimo

Communes

The province of Lunda Sul contains the following communes (); 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), goober pea, 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 by small and large ...

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

maize Maize (; ''Zea mays''), also known as corn in North American English, is a tall stout grass that produces cereal grain. It was domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 9,000 years ago from wild teosinte. Native American ...

production is major contributing factor. Other agricultural products include

rice Rice is a cereal grain and in its Domestication, domesticated form is the staple food of over half of the world's population, particularly in Asia and Africa. Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice)—or, much l ...

cassava ''Manihot esculenta'', common name, commonly called cassava, manioc, or yuca (among numerous regional names), is a woody shrub of the spurge family, Euphorbiaceae, native to South America, from Brazil, Paraguay and parts of the Andes. Although ...

and

cereal A cereal is a grass cultivated for its edible grain. Cereals are the world's largest crops, and are therefore staple foods. They include rice, wheat, rye, oats, barley, millet, and maize ( Corn). Edible grains from other plant families, ...

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 (, abbr. UNITA) is the second-largest political party in Angola. Founded in 1966, UNITA fought alongside the People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) and the National Liberat ...

, 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, or landmine, is an explosive weapon often concealed under or camouflaged on the ground, and designed to destroy or disable enemy targets as they pass over or near it. Land mines are divided into two types: anti-tank mines, whic ...

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 non-governmental organizations (NGOs), focusing on the alleviation of global poverty, founded in 1942 and led by Oxfam International. It began as the Oxford Committee for Famine Relief ...

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 language, English: ''New Lisbon''), is the third-most populous List of cities and towns in Angola, city in Angola, after the capital city Luanda and Lubango, with a population of 595,304 in the city and a pop ...

and Cuando Cubango provinces.

Demographics

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