Cuando Cubango | |
---|---|
Country | Angola |
Capital | Menongue |
Area | |
• Total | 199,049 km2 (76,853 sq mi) |
Population (2014 census) [1] | |
• Total | 534,002 |
• Density | 2.7/km2 (6.9/sq mi) |
ISO 3166 code | AO-CCU |
HDI (2018) | 0.498 [2] low · 16th |
Website | www |
Cuando Cubango (Umbundu: Kwando Kubango Volupale) was a former province of Angola. It was divided into the provinces of Cuando and Cubango in 2024. [3] [4]
Cuando Cubango had an area of 199,049km2 and a population of 534,002 in 2014. [1] Menongue was the capital of the province.
The name of the province derives from that of the Cuando and Cubango rivers, which flow through the eastern and western edges of the province, respectively.
Throughout much of the 1980s and 1990s, Cuando Cubango served as the location for the primary base camp of Angola's UNITA rebel movement, led by Jonas Savimbi. The rebel movement received support from the United States as part of the Cold War conflict against Angola's Marxist government, which was supported by the Soviet Union, Cuba and other communist states.
Savimbi and UNITA maintained a large and clandestine base camp in the Cubando Cubango town of Jamba. The camp was protected by anti-aircraft weapons and included an air strip, which was used for the delivery of military and other supplies, which typically arrived from neighboring Zaire. The Angolan Civil War ultimately became one of the most prominent conflicts of the Cold War, with both the United States and the Soviet Union depicting its outcome as important to the global balance of power.
Cuando Cubango was traversed by the northwesterly line of equal latitude and longitude. It was located in the extreme south-east of Angola. To the north and north-east it bordered Moxico Province, and in the west - the provinces of Huila and Cunene. In the south of Cuando Cubango it bordered Namibia, and to the east - Zambia.
The province of Cuando Cubango contained nine municipalities (Portuguese : municípios):
The province of Cuando Cubango contained the following communes (Portuguese : comunas); sorted by their respective municipalities:
Considerable natural habitat previously existed within the province, although much of these areas has been destroyed during the period 1965 to 1991 during the foreign intervention years of the Angolan Civil War. [5] [ page needed ] [6] [ page needed ] In particular, the area was previously suitable habitat for the endangered painted hunting dog, Lycaon pictus, which is now deemed extirpated in the local area. [7] [ page needed ]
Name [8] | Years in office |
---|---|
Mariano Garcia Puku | 1976–1979 |
Zacarias Pinto | 1979–1982 |
Manuel Francisco Tuta Batalha de Angola | 1982–1990 |
Domingos Hungo SKS | 1990–1995 |
Manuel Dala | 1995–1998 |
José Kativa | 1998–1999 |
Jorge Fernando Biwango | 1999–2002 |
João Baptista Chindandi | 2003–2008 |
Eusébio de Brito Teixeira | 2008–2012 |
Francisco Higino Lopes Carneiro [9] | 2012–2016 |
Pedro Mutindi | 2017–2019 |
Júlio Marcelino Vieira Bessa | 2019–2021 |
José Martins [10] [11] | 2021–2024 |
Up to 1991, the official name was Provincial Commissioner
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 70,314 square kilometres (27,148 sq mi) and a population of 1,455,255 in 2014. The current governor of Bié is José Amaro Tati.
Moxico or Moshiko is the largest province of Angola. It has an area of 223,023 square kilometres (86,110 sq mi), and covers 18% of the landmass of Angola. The province has a population of 758,568 and a population density of approximately 3.4 residents per km2, making it one of the most sparsely populated areas of Angola. The population of the province is in flux; displaced residents have slowly returned to Moxico since the end of the Angolan Civil War in 2002. The war left Moxico as one of the most landmine-contaminated places in the world. The governor of the province is Gonçalves Manuel Muandumba.
The Battle of Cuito Cuanavale was fought intermittently between 14 August 1987 and 23 March 1988, south and east of Cuito Cuanavale, Angola, by the People's Armed Forces for the Liberation of Angola (FAPLA) and Cuba against South Africa and the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) during the Angolan Civil War and South African Border War. The battle was the largest engagement of the Angolan conflict and the biggest conventional battle on the African continent since World War II. UNITA and its South African allies defeated a major FAPLA offensive towards Mavinga, preserving the former's control of southern Angola. They proceeded to launch a failed counteroffensive on FAPLA defensive positions around the Tumpo River east of Cuito Cuanavale.
Operation Wallpaper was a military operation by the South African Defence Force (SADF) during the Angolan Civil War and South African Border War.
Operation Alpha Centauri was a South African military operation during the Angolan Civil War and South African Border War to halt an offensive launched by the People's Armed Forces of Liberation of Angola (FAPLA) towards Angola's Cuando Cubango Province. Its objective was to prevent FAPLA forces from reaching Jamba, a strategic town which functioned as the de facto headquarters of the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) and its armed wing.
Cuito Cuanavale, occasionally spelt Kuito Kuanavale or Kwito Kwanavale, is a town and municipality in Cuando Cubango (Kuando-Kubango) province in Angola.
In the 1980s in Angola, fighting spread outward from the southeast, where most of the fighting had taken place in the 1970s, as the African National Congress (ANC) and SWAPO increased their activity. The South African government responded by sending troops back into Angola, intervening in the war from 1981 to 1987, prompting the Soviet Union to deliver massive amounts of military aid from 1981 to 1986. The USSR gave the Angolan government over US$2 billion in aid in 1984. In 1981, newly elected United States President Ronald Reagan's U.S. assistant secretary of state for African affairs, Chester Crocker, developed a linkage policy, tying Namibian independence to Cuban withdrawal and peace in Angola.
Relations between Angola and South Africa in the post-apartheid era are quite strong as the ruling parties in both states, the African National Congress in South Africa and the MPLA in Angola, fought together during the Angolan Civil War and South African Border War. They fought against UNITA rebels, based in Angola, and the apartheid-era government in South Africa which supported them. Nelson Mandela mediated between the MPLA and UNITA during the final years of the Angolan Civil War. Although South Africa was preponderant in terms of relative capabilities during the late twentieth century, the recent growth of Angola has led to a more balanced relation.
Calai is a town and municipality in Cuando Cubango Province in Angola.
Cuangar is a city and municipality of the Cuando-Cubango province in Angola.
Dirico is a town and municipality in Cuando Cubango Province in Angola. The municipality was estimated to have had a population of 19,191 in 2020.
Longa is a town and commune in the municipality of Cuito Cuanavale, province of Cuando Cubango, Angola. As of 2014, the commune had a population of 15,104 people over an area of 14,000 square kilometres (5,400 sq mi).
Mavinga is a town and municipality in Cuando Cubango Province in Angola. It is one of the three municipalities in Angola whose inhabitants are predominantly Mbunda. The municipality had a population of 27,196 in 2014. It comprises the communes of Mavinga, Cunjamba/Dime, Cutuile and Luengue.
The 1985 Aeroflot Antonov An-12 shoot down occurred on November 25, 1985, in Angola during the Angolan Civil War and South African Border War. An Aeroflot Antonov An-12BP cargo aircraft operated by the Soviet Air Force flying from Cuito Cuanavale to Luanda was shot down, allegedly by South African Special Forces, and crashed approximately 43 kilometres (27 mi) east of Menongue in Angola's Cuando Cubango province.
Operation Cerebus was a South African Defence Force (SADF) special forces operation conducted in Angola during October 1985 during the South African Border War and Angolan Civil War.
Operation Abrasion was a South African special forces military operation in December 1985 by the South African Defence Force (SADF) during the Angolan Civil War and South African Border War.
Luísa Baptista is an Angolan model and beauty pageant titleholder who won the title of Miss Angola 2016 after qualifying as Miss Cuando Cubango; the first time someone from that region had won the Miss Angola title. She represented Angola at Miss Universe 2016.
Baixo Longa is a city and commune of Angola, located in the province of Cuando Cubango.
Cuando is a province of Angola. It was created on 5 September 2024 from the eastern part of Cuando Cubango Province. Its capital is Mavinga.
Cubango is a province of Angola. It was created on 5 September 2024 from the western part of Cuando Cubango Province. Its capital is Menongue.