Lobito

Lobito is a town and municipality in Benguela Province in Angola. It is located on the Atlantic Coast north of Catumbela Estuary.

It dates from 1905 and owes its existence to the bay of the same name having been chosen as the sea terminus of the Benguela railway to the far interior, passing through Luau to Katanga in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The city is located on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean. The population is 324,050 (2014) in an area of 3,648 km². The municipality consists of the communes Canjala, Egipto Praia and Lobito.

History

Portuguese rule

Lobito, was built on a sandspit and reclaimed land, with one of Africa’s finest natural harbours, protected by a 5 km long sandspit. The old municipality (concelho) was created in 1843 by the Portuguese administration. The town was also founded in 1843 by order of Maria II of Portugal, and its harbour works were begun in 1903. Large developments, however, were not stimulated until the completion in 1928 of the important Benguela Railway, which connected Portuguese Angola with the Belgian Congo. Under Portuguese rule, the port was one of Angola’s busiest, exporting agricultural produce from the interior and handling transit trade from the mines of southeastern Belgian Congo and of Northern Rhodesia. Fishing, tourism and services were also important. The carnival in Lobito was also one of the most renowned and popular in Portuguese Angola.