Luau is a town and municipality in

Angola Angola, officially the Republic of Angola, is a country on the west-Central Africa, central coast of Southern Africa. It is the second-largest Portuguese-speaking world, Portuguese-speaking (Lusophone) country in both total area and List of c ...

in the province of Moxico Leste on the border with the

Democratic Republic of Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), also known as the DR Congo, Congo-Kinshasa, or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Republic of the Congo), is a country in Central Africa. By land area, it is t ...

History

Until independence, the town was called Teixeira de Sousa, having been named after the Portuguese Prime Minister

António Teixeira de Sousa António Teixeira de Sousa, 2nd Count of Sousa Palmela (; 5 May 1857 – 5 June 1917) was a Portuguese medical doctor and politician during the Constitutional Monarchy. He graduated in Medicine at the University of Porto, in 1883. A member ...

. The town once had a population of nearly 90,000 due to its creation as a stopping point on the

Benguela railway The Benguela Railway () is a 3 ft 6 in gauge railways, Cape gauge railway line that runs through Angola from west to east, being the largest and most important railway line in the country. It also connects to Tenke, Democratic Republic of the C ...

, which continued east to cross the nearby Luao River and enter Dilolo, where it connected to the Katanga rail network. It was developed as a railroad town by Sir Robert Williams, a friend of

Cecil Rhodes Cecil John Rhodes ( ; 5 July 185326 March 1902) was an English-South African mining magnate and politician in southern Africa who served as Prime Minister of the Cape Colony from 1890 to 1896. He and his British South Africa Company founded th ...

. The town has downsized considerably since independence.

Transport

The

connects Luau with the port of Lobito, Angola to the rich minerals of the Katanga province of the then

Belgian Congo The Belgian Congo (, ; ) was a Belgian colonial empire, Belgian colony in Central Africa from 1908 until independence in 1960 and became the Republic of the Congo (Léopoldville). The former colony adopted its present name, the Democratic Repu ...

. The railway and town were very successful until the

Angolan Civil War The Angolan Civil War () was a civil war in Angola, beginning in 1975 and continuing, with interludes, until 2002. The war began immediately after Angola became independent from Portugal in November 1975. It was a power struggle between two for ...

, when the infrastructure of Angola, as well as most industry, ceased to be productive. As a result of the war, there are also considerable amounts of mine-fields around the town, making transportation and development considerably difficult. After the war, the railway was slowly rebuilt, and the first train reached Luau in August 2013.

Notes

Populated places in Moxico Leste Province {{Angola-geo-stub

History

Transport

See also

Notes