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Luanda, Angola, Angola

Helen Quincy

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capital of Angola, a port on the Atlantic Ocean. It is Angola's largest city, its chief port, and its administrative center. Manufactures include processed foods, beverages, textiles, cement and other construction materials, plastic products, metalware, cigarettes, and shoes. Petroleum, found nearby, is refined in the city. Luanda has a natural harbor, with a fine port. The chief exports are coffee, cotton, sugar, diamonds, iron, and salt. Founded in 1575 by the Portuguese as Săo Paulo de Luanda, the city has been the administrative center of Angola since 1627 (except for 1640-48). From c.1550 to c.1850 it was the center of a large slave trade to Brazil. After Angolan independence (1975), much of the city's large Portuguese population left and was replaced by large numbers of Cubans, many of them soldiers. In the early 1980s, the city's oil refinery was damaged during civil war. It is the seat of a Roman Catholic archbishop. The Univ. of Angola, the 17th-century Fort of Săo Miguel, and the Governor's Palace are in Luanda.