Luanda is the capital and the largest city in Angola. Located on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean, it is also the main port and economic center of the country. It is a municipality subdivided into six urban districts and is also the capital of the homonymous province.
It was founded on January 25, 1576 by the Portuguese nobleman and explorer Paulo Dias de Novais, under the name "São Paulo da Assunção de Loanda", in 2018, with a population of approximately 6.5 million inhabitants,] o which makes it the seventh most populous Portuguese-speaking city in the world, behind São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Brasilia, Salvador, Fortaleza and Belo Horizonte, all in Brazil - and, in fact, the second most populous Portuguese-speaking capital in the world, ahead Maputo and Lisbon.
The industries present in the city include the transformation of agricultural products, the production of beverages, textiles, cement, recently car assembly plants, building materials, plastics, metallurgy, cigarettes and shoes. The oil, extracted in the vicinity, is refined in the city, although the refinery was damaged several times during the civil war that devastated the country between the years 1975 and 2002. Luanda has an excellent natural port, the main exports being coffee, cotton, sugar, diamonds, iron, salt, copper, gold, wheat and corn.
With an extremely cosmopolitan profile, the inhabitants of Luanda are, for the most part, members of the ambiguous ethnic groups, Congo and Ovimbundu, with relevant fractions from all Angolan ethnic origins. There is a population of European origin, consisting mainly of Portuguese people estimated at around 400 thousand people and an important Chinese community estimated at 67 thousand. The official and most widely spoken language is Portuguese, and several African languages are also spoken.
Nightlife, especially in Luanda, is very busy. For those who like to go out at night, have a few drinks and have fun with friends or dancing, bars and clubs have the habit of organizing themed parties and being open until the wee hours of the morning. The music is mainly African, Brazilian or international and techno pop. The evening goers are varied and there are many tourists who enjoy until dawn.
