Sambizanga is one of the six urban districts that make up the municipality of Luanda, in the province of Luanda, Angola.

Overview

Sambizanga has a 14.5 km² area and about 244,000 inhabitants. Limited to the west by 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 ...

, on the north by the municipality of

Cacuaco Cacuaco is a city and one of the nine municipalities that make up the Luanda Province, province of Luanda. A suburb of the capital, Luanda, it has a population of 1,279,488 (2019). Administrative divisions The Municipality of Cacuaco is made up ...

, in the East by the municipality of

Cazenga Cazenga is a city and the most densely populated of the nine municipalities that make up the province of Luanda, Angola. It has a population of 892,401 (2014 census), with an estimated 1,045,722 in 2019, covering an area of 37 km2. Administrati ...

and south by the municipalities of

Ingombota Ingombota is one of the six urban districts that make up the municipality of Luanda, in the province of Luanda, the capital city of Angola. Ingombota is home to the central business district of Luanda, Angola. The economic, political and symboli ...

and Rangel. It comprises the municipalities of Sambizanga, Bairro Operário and Ngola Kiluanje. Sambizanga is home to the Progresso Associação do Sambizanga football club of the

Girabola Girabola, or ''Campeonato Nacional de Futebol de Séniores Masculinos'', is the top division of Angolan association football, football. It is organized by the Angolan Football Federation. The term "Girabola" () is a creation of the nationalist, ...

and the residential area Avenida Comandante Valódia. Mercado Roque Santeiro and Mercado do São Paulo are the largest open-air markets in Africa located in the district. The first is no longer existent but the second one still exists.

More about Sambizanga

Sambizanga is a district in the North 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 ...

. Its name comes from the words samba and zanga from the

Kimbundu Kimbundu, a Bantu language which has sometimes been called Mbundu or North Mbundu (to distinguish it from Umbundu, sometimes called South Mbundu), is the second-most-widely-spoken Bantu language in Angola. Its speakers are concentrated in the n ...

language that can also be traced backed to a dance similar to

capoeira Capoeira () is an Afro-Brazilian martial art and game that includes elements of dance, acrobatics, capoeira music, music, and spirituality. It likely originated from enslaved Mbundu people, of the Kingdom of Ndongo, in present-day Angola. The ...

called where people would fight and compete a lot hence its name. If not the most important, Sambizanga was one of the most important and iconic neighborhoods in Luanda. It matched the importance of

Soweto Soweto () is a Township (South Africa), township of the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality in Gauteng, South Africa, bordering the city's mining belt in the south. Its name is an English syllabic abbreviation for ''South Western T ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

Harare Harare ( ), formerly Salisbury, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Zimbabwe. The city proper has an area of , a population of 1,849,600 as of the 2022 Zimbabwe census, 2022 census and an estimated 2,487,209 people in its metrop ...

Zimbabwe file:Zimbabwe, relief map.jpg, upright=1.22, Zimbabwe, relief map Zimbabwe, officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Bots ...

and lots of other historic places like the neighborhoods in

Accra Accra (; or ''Gaga''; ; Ewe: Gɛ; ) is the capital and largest city of Ghana, located on the southern coast at the Gulf of Guinea, which is part of the Atlantic Ocean. As of 2021 census, the Accra Metropolitan District, , had a population of ...

Ghana Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to t ...

. Sambizanga was not only important in a cultural way but also in a strategic way for the revolutionary movements who wanted to fight against colonialism. It was in Sambizanga that they all started seen as it could harbour, transition and mobilize everything and everybody to create its own dynamic. It was also in Sambizanga where the first Cape-Verdean, São-Tomé and Congolese immigrants arrived. It was regarded as a "Bairro" that had a little bit of everything, and that was brought by its youth who was dedicated to sports, studies and music. It was in Sambizanga where emblematic figures like

José Eduardo dos Santos José Eduardo Van-Dúnem dos Santos (; 28 August 1942 – 8 July 2022) was an Angolan politician and military officer who served as the second president of Angola from 1979 to 2017. As president, dos Santos was also the commander-in-chief of th ...

were born and grew up to become some of the most important Angolans in history.

2007 shooting

In December 2007, film director Radical Ribeiro began shooting a film in Sambizanga. On 18 December, police mistook actors in Ribeiro's film, who were carrying unloaded firearms, as actual criminals and opened fire on them, killing two. Interior Minister Roberto Leal Monteiro said "We won't rest until police at all levels realise they are public servants."

References

Municipalities in Luanda Populated places in Luanda Province {{Angola-geo-stub

Overview

More about Sambizanga

2007 shooting

See also

References