LUANDA

also spelled Loanda, formerly So Paulo De Luanda, city, northern Angola, on the Atlantic coast. The capital of Angola, it is the country's largest city and second busiest seaport. Founded in 1576 by Paulo Dias de Novais, it became the administrative centre of the colony in 1627 and was a major outlet for slave traffic to Brazil. The old fortress of So Miguel overlooks Luanda Island beyond the port. Luanda has a warm, equable climate. It has an international airport, is the seat of a Roman Catholic archdiocese and of the state-controlled University of Luanda (founded 1962), and is linked by rail inland to Malange (378 miles east). Coffee, cotton, diamonds, iron, and salt are the chief exports. Skyscrapers and wide avenues give the city a modern appearance. Many Mbundu live in the city, and a sizable Cuban community, including both soldiers and civilians, has largely replaced the Portuguese population who left en masse prior to independence in 1975. The higher part of the city consisting of the outlying districts is generally poverty-ridden, and the lower is commercial and industrial. Petroleum was discovered nearby in 1955, and there is a refinery (damaged by guerrillas and subsequently repaired, both in 1981) at the north end of Luanda Bay. The surrounding region fronts a tropical coastal plain that gives way to a tableland dissected and drained by the Kwanza River and other coastal streams. Cambambe Dam (1963) on the Kwanza supplies power to the city of Luanda, 110 miles (177 km) northwest. Coffee, cotton, sugarcane, oilseeds, and palm oil and kernels are produced in the region; cattle raising is locally important. Pop. (1987 est.) 1,134,000.