Lubango

File:Canyon in the Huila Plateau, image 5.jpg

In 1882 approximately one thousand Portuguese settlers came from the island of Madeira to the area of current-day Lubango. These Portuguese farmers helped develop the region and founded the settlement. The city, originally established in 1885 to serve colonists from the Madeira Islands, lies at an elevation of 1,760 metres in a valley of the Huíla Plateau and was surrounded by a scenic park spreading up the mountain slopes.{{Citation needed|date=October 2018}}

By 1910 there were over 1,700 ethnic Portuguese living in the settlement, which was referred to as "Lubango". By 1923 the Moçâmedes Railway had connected the settlement to the town of Moçâmedes in the coast. The Portuguese government made it a city and renamed it "Sá da Bandeira", after Bernardo de Sá, 1st Marquess of Sá da Bandeira. Once the major centre of Portuguese settlement, it was built in a Portuguese style of architecture, with a cathedral, commerce hall, industrial hall, and a secondary school, and, like every Portuguese city or town in the mainland and the overseas territories, it would have the Portuguese town hall, the hospital and the typical CTT post office, besides banking (most prominently the Banco Nacional Ultramarino - BNU), insurance and other services as well. The city developed as a notable agricultural and transportation centre, with its own airport and railway station, as well as major maintenance and repair facilities for them.{{Citation needed|date=March 2020}}

Several Basters (children of African and Cape Colony Dutch descent) emigrated from Namibia to Angola and settled in Lubango, where they are known as the Ouivamo. Many of them were forced to return to Namibia between 1928 and 1930 by white South Africans.

In 1951, the Portuguese colony of Angola was officially rebranded the Overseas Province of Angola.[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWZi7j1GGQg SáDaBandeiraAnosOuro.wmv], a film of Sá da Bandeira, Overseas Province of Angola, before 1975.

After Angola's Independence from Portugal due to the events of the April 25, 1974 Carnation Revolution in Lisbon, the city was once again renamed Lubango. During the Angolan Civil War (1975–2002), Lubango served as a major base of Cuban, SWAPO and government troops. Its once thriving economy plummeted.

Lubango's economy is based on agriculture, especially meat products, cereals, sisal, tobacco, fruits and vegetables produced in the surrounding fertile region. Food processing, leather tanning, and consumer goods industries dominate the industrial sector.

A number of Angolan banks like BAI or BPC offer good financial services, and it is possible to receive funds from outside Angola by way of electronic fund transfer into these banks. ATMs are available around the city but they disburse kwanza, which is the local currency. In the markets US dollars or kwanza both are acceptable.

The main shopping plaza in Lubango is a newly built Mall called "Milleneum", where most products of daily use as well as other products like cosmetics, shoes, clothes etc. are available.

File:Lubango Airport.jpg.]]

Lubango is the site of an airport (Lubango Airport IATA code:SDD) and headquarters for a fighter bomber regiment of the Angolan Air Force. The airport receives daily flights from Luanda and thrice a week from Windhoek, Namibia through TAAG, the Angolan airline.

The town is served by the Moçâmedes Railway, known as CFM. It is the junction for the branch railway to Chiange. Also the town is serviced by taxis (mostly shared) which run in circles around the city. One can hire personal taxis which are marked "PARTICULAR". Walking around town is also a good way to explore Lubango. Bus services are available from Lubito and the buses run by a firm called "SGO" are pretty comfortable.

Lubango is home to two public higher education institutions, namely the Mandume ya Ndemufayo University and the Higher Institute of Education Sciences of Huíla.BARRETO, M. A.; COSTA, A. B. II Coopedu Africa e o Mundo: Livro de Atas. Lisboa: ISCTE-IUL/CEA/ESECS-IPL, 2012.

The town has a Portuguese international school, the Escola Portuguesa do Lubango (Portuguese School of Lubango),{{citation |url=http://www.dgae.mec.pt/web/14650/angola |title=Escolas com Currículo Português em Angola |publisher=Direção de Serviços de Ensino e Escolas Portuguesas no Estrangeiro (DSEEPE) of the Portuguese Education Ministry |location=Lisbon, Portugal |language=pt |access-date=26 October 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150418071338/http://www.dgae.mec.pt/web/14650/angola |archive-date=18 April 2015 }} and the Instituto Superior Politécnico Gregório Semedo (Gregório Semedo Polytechnical Institute){{cite web |url=http://www.igs.ed.ao/ |title=Instituto Superior Politécnico Gregório Semedo |editor=ISPGS |language=pt |location=Mapunda, Angola |access-date=2016-11-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161104014259/http://www.igs.ed.ao/ |archive-date=2016-11-04 |url-status=dead }} that offers degree courses in various disciplines.

With an altitude of {{convert|1760|m|ft|0}} above sea level, Lubango is one of the highest places in Angola. The city features a subtropical highland climate (Cwb) under the Köppen climate classification. The climate is hot and humid during the day and cool to cold at night, the annual average temperature is {{convert|18.6|C|F|1}}, though there are extremes of {{convert|0|to|34.4|C|F|1}}. June and July are cold when frosts are possible, albeit rare. The heaviest rains are between December and March and the warmest months are September and October.

{{Weather box

|location = Lubango (1931–1960)

|metric first = yes

|single line = yes

|Jan record high C = 30.1

|Feb record high C = 30.7

|Mar record high C = 30.1

|Apr record high C = 29.1

|May record high C = 29.8

|Jun record high C = 28.1

|Jul record high C = 27.7

|Aug record high C = 30.1

|Sep record high C = 31.4

|Oct record high C = 34.4

|Nov record high C = 32.0

|Dec record high C = 31.1

|year record high C = 34.4

|Jan high C = 25.0

|Feb high C = 24.6

|Mar high C = 24.6

|Apr high C = 24.9

|May high C = 24.8

|Jun high C = 23.6

|Jul high C = 24.2

|Aug high C = 26.2

|Sep high C = 28.2

|Oct high C = 28.0

|Nov high C = 26.3

|Dec high C = 25.3

|year high C = 25.5

|Jan mean C = 19.0

|Feb mean C = 18.8

|Mar mean C = 18.8

|Apr mean C = 18.7

|May mean C = 17.3

|Jun mean C = 15.8

|Jul mean C = 16.2

|Aug mean C = 18.6

|Sep mean C = 20.8

|Oct mean C = 20.7

|Nov mean C = 19.8

|Dec mean C = 19.2

|year mean C = 18.6

|Jan low C = 13.1

|Feb low C = 12.9

|Mar low C = 13.0

|Apr low C = 12.5

|May low C = 9.8

|Jun low C = 7.9

|Jul low C = 8.3

|Aug low C = 11.0

|Sep low C = 13.4

|Oct low C = 13.4

|Nov low C = 13.2

|Dec low C = 13.2

|year low C = 11.8

|Jan record low C = 5.3

|Feb record low C = 5.4

|Mar record low C = 2.0

|Apr record low C = 3.2

|May record low C = 0.6

|Jun record low C = -1.0

|Jul record low C = -1.0

|Aug record low C = 0.0

|Sep record low C = 4.6

|Oct record low C = 4.1

|Nov record low C = 5.1

|Dec record low C = 3.9

|year record low C = -1.0

|precipitation colour = green

|Jan precipitation mm = 139.7

|Feb precipitation mm = 152.8

|Mar precipitation mm = 171.6

|Apr precipitation mm = 93.5

|May precipitation mm = 5.5

|Jun precipitation mm = 0.1

|Jul precipitation mm = 0.0

|Aug precipitation mm = 0.4

|Sep precipitation mm = 4.3

|Oct precipitation mm = 70.4

|Nov precipitation mm = 118.0

|Dec precipitation mm = 152.6

|year precipitation mm = 909.0

|unit precipitation days = 0.1 mm

|Jan precipitation days = 15

|Feb precipitation days = 14

|Mar precipitation days = 17

|Apr precipitation days = 10

|May precipitation days = 1

|Jun precipitation days = 0

|Jul precipitation days = 0

|Aug precipitation days = 0

|Sep precipitation days = 2

|Oct precipitation days = 10

|Nov precipitation days = 14

|Dec precipitation days = 17

|year precipitation days = 100

|Jan humidity = 65

|Feb humidity = 67

|Mar humidity = 69

|Apr humidity = 63

|May humidity = 47

|Jun humidity = 40

|Jul humidity = 34

|Aug humidity = 30

|Sep humidity = 33

|Oct humidity = 49

|Nov humidity = 59

|Dec humidity = 63

|year humidity = 52

|Jan sun = 164.3

|Feb sun = 163.9

|Mar sun = 173.6

|Apr sun = 204.0

|May sun = 272.8

|Jun sun = 285.0

|Jul sun = 282.1

|Aug sun = 282.1

|Sep sun = 240.0

|Oct sun = 213.9

|Nov sun = 207.0

|Dec sun = 201.5

|year sun =

|Jand sun = 5.3

|Febd sun = 5.8

|Mard sun = 5.6

|Aprd sun = 6.8

|Mayd sun = 8.8

|Jund sun = 9.5

|Juld sun = 9.1

|Augd sun = 9.1

|Sepd sun = 8.0

|Octd sun = 6.9

|Novd sun = 6.9

|Decd sun = 6.5

|yeard sun = 7.4

|source 1 = Deutscher Wetterdienst

{{cite web

| url = http://www.dwd.de/DWD/klima/beratung/ak/ak_663900_kt.pdf

| title = Klimatafel von Lubango (Sá da Bandeira), Prov. Huila / Angola

| work = Baseline climate means (1961-1990) from stations all over the world

| publisher = Deutscher Wetterdienst

| language = de

| access-date = 25 January 2016}}

|date=August 2010

}}

The city is regarded as the coldest city in Angola{{Citation needed|date=November 2010}}, with registered temperatures of {{convert|-2|C|F}}.

• Marco Abreu (born 8 December 1974), footballer and member of the Angola national football team.

• Railway stations in Angola

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{{Coord|14|55|S| 13|30|E|display=title}}

{{Municipalities of Angola}}

{{Huíla Province}}

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Category:Municipalities of Angola

Category:Populated places in Huíla Province

Category:Provincial capitals in Angola

Category:Populated places established in 1885