Facts about Luanda

12 Interesting Facts About Luanda

Luanda, the capital of the African country Angola, is perhaps the most contrasting city in the world. Luxury is next to destitution here, wealth is next to poverty, and no one has ever heard of equal treatment or equal rights. All of this is a consequence of incredible corruption in the country which divided the population into two unequal groups. In Luanda, many poor people live in the shadow of gleaming skyscrapers.

Top facts about Luanda

  • This city has repeatedly been recognized as the world’s most expensive metropolis to live in.
  • Here you can easily see expensive villas on one side of the street and homemade huts built from what was found in the trash on the other side. That’s Luanda.
  • The ocean coast near Luanda is littered with so much that the beach is not visible from under a layer of plastic bottles and bags.
  • Local authorities regularly demolish slum areas to free up land for development. Nobody cares about slum residents.
  • The average price of dinner for two in any decent restaurant in Luanda starts from 250-300 USD.
  • Within the prosperous center, Luanda looks like somewhere in the US, Australia, New Zealand, or Europe. It’s clean, with good roads and neat lawns. But take just one step aside – poverty can shock even an experienced traveler.
  • The city was called Sao Paulo di Luanda, founded 4 centuries ago, but the name was shortened in 1975 after Angola gained independence.
  • It was founded by Portuguese colonizers. Plenty of their descendants still live here.
  • The crime rate is low here outside the slums, despite the monstrous social stratification. Perhaps, Luanda can be called one of the safest cities in Africa.
  • The population of Luanda is larger than the population of Chicago.
  • In the past, Luanda was one of the main ports through which slaves had been transported to the New World. More than 3 million slaves were transported through this city.
  • The population here has increased 10-fold over the past 50 years.

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Top Facts