What you need to know about Huambo
Uíge, one of the eighteen Provinces of Angola, is located in the northwestern part of the country. Its capital city is of the same name. Municipalities within the province include Alto Cauale, Ambuila, Bembe, Buengas, Bungo, Damba, Macocola, Milunga, Mucaba, Negage, Puri, Quimbele, Quitexe, Sanza Pombo, Songo, Uíge, and Zombo.
Beginning in October 2004 and continuing into 2005, Uige Province was the centre of an outbreak of Marburg hemorrhagic fever, a disease closely related to Ebola. According to the United Nations, it was, at the time, the world’s worst epidemic of any kind of hemorrhagic fever.
Population: 800 000(2008)
Area: 58 698 km²
Climate
The climate is tropical in Uíge. In winter, there is much less rainfall in Uíge than in summer. The climate here is classified as Aw by the Köppen-Geiger system. The average annual temperature in Uíge is 22.2 °C. The rainfall here averages 1402 mm.
Economy
The economy of the province is basically of traditional agricultural farming of coffee, beans, cassava, grain, peanuts, cotton, and wood. Plantation and production of coffee contributed largely to the economy of the province and also Angola during colonial times. Coffee production (in Uige, Luanda, Cuanza Norte and Cuanza Sul provinces of Angola) was started by the Portuguese in 1830s and soon became a cash crop; the popular crop grown was robusta coffee (in its 2000 and odd plantations in Angola, owned mostly by the Portuguese). It was even one of the largest coffee producing country in Africa, in the 1970s. However, the civil war for independence from the Portuguese rule devastated the coffee plantations and many coffee agronomists migrated to Brazil and the plantations became wild bushes. However, the rehabilitation of the plantation has started since 2000 but the investment required to replace the 40-year-old unproductive plants are estimated to be US$230 million. With opening up of new roads, industrial activity in the province is taking shape.
Important mineralogical resources which help the economy include copper, silver, and cobalt. Diamonds are also found in the alluvial deposits in the province. The Movoviao –Tetelo-Bembe copper exploration project is located in the province at the border with the Congo Republic. The project has been taken up under a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed in 2008 between Hansa Resources Limited of Canada and Angala Petroleum Services (S.A.R.L). Under this MOU, the Movio copper mine, which was operational between 1937 and 1961 as an open pit and underground mine, is being revived, in addition to the Bembe and Tetelco deposits. Several other minerals, such as cobalt, gold, lead, manganese, silver, vanadium, and zinc, have also been found in this region.
Geography
Uige Province is located in northeastern Angola. It is bounded on the north by the Democratic Republic of Congo, on the west by the Zadi River, east by the Beu river and on the south by Beu town. The land route to enter the province is from Luanda through the province of Bengo. Roads are being built over the hilly terrain to connect with Congo. The main road in the north is the one which crosses the border at Kizenga to reach Kinshasa. A highway connects to Castilo and further on to Luanda. Another southwest highway connects with the provinces of Zaire and Malanje.
The province is drained by many rivers. Cuilo river flows is a popular attraction, as is the Sanza Pombo falls. The lagoon of Luzamba and Muvoio and the lagoon of Sacapate are good for swimming and bathing. Other important rivers in the province are the Zadi River, the Lucala River, the Dange River and the Luvulu River. Only small boats can ply these rivers The province is characterized by pastoral terrain and rich soil, with an area of 58,698 square kilometres (22,663 sq mi). It has a tropical climate with an annual average temperature reported as 24 °C (75 °F). The province’s Beu Forest Reserve covers an area of 1,400 square kilometres (540 sq mi). It is bounded on the north by the Democratic Republic of Congo, on the west by the Zadi, east by the Beu River and on the south by Beu town. Since the Forest Reserve near Beu village is not declared the assistance provided to maintain it is lacking. Hence, the reserve has poor infrastructure and guidance. Among the large mammals, elephants could be sighted here.
Currency
The kwanza is the currency of Angola. Four different currencies using the name kwanza have circulated since 1977.