What you need to know about Lubango

Lubango is the capital city of the Angolan province of Huíla. Its last known population was 100,757. Until 1975, the city’s official name was Sá da Bandeira.

Population: 256 713 (2010)
Area: 3 147 km²
Official Language: Português

Currency

The Angolan Kwanza is the currency of Angola. The currency code for Kwanza is AOA, and the currency symbol is K.
Coins: KZ1, KZ2, Kz5, 10,50.
Notes: Kz10, Kz50, Kz100, Kz200, Kz500, Kz1000, Kz2000.
Central bank: National Bank of Angola.

Climate

With an altitude of 1,760 metres (5,774 ft) above sea level, Lubango is one of the highest places in Angola. The city features a subtropical highland climate (Cwb) under the Köppen climate classification. The climate is hot and humid during the day and cool to cold at night, the annual average temperature is 18.6 °C (65.5 °F), though there are extremes of 0 to 34.4 °C (32.0 to 93.9 °F). June and July are cold when frosts are possible, albeit rare. The heaviest rains are between December and March and the warmest months are September and October.

Economy

Lubango’s economy is based on agriculture, especially meat products, cereals, sisal, tobacco, fruits and vegetables produced in the surrounding fertile region. Food processing, leather tanning, and consumer goods industries dominate the industrial sector.
A number of Angolan banks like BAI or BPC offer good financial services and it is possible to receive funds from outside Angola by way of Electronic fund transfer into these banks. ATM’s are available around the city but they disburse Kwanza which is the local currency. In the markets US Dollars or Kwanza both are acceptable.
The main shopping plaza in Lubango is a newly built Mall called “Milleneum” where most products of daily use as well as other products like cosmetics, shoes, clothes etc. are available.

Education

The town has a Portuguese international school, the Escola Portuguesa do Lubango (Portuguese School of Lubango), and the Instituto Superior Politécnico Gregório Semedo (Gregório Semedo Polytechnical Institute) that offers degree courses in various disciplines.

Transport

Lubango is the site of a major airport (Lubango Airport IATA code:SDD) and headquarters for a fighter bomber regiment of the Angolan Air Force. The airport receives daily flights from Luanda through TAAG, the Angolan airline and thrice a week from Windhoek, Namibia.

The town is served by the Moçâmedes Railway known as CFM. It is the junction for the branch railway to Chiange. Also the town is serviced by taxis (mostly shared) which run in circles around the city. One can hire personal taxis which are marked “PARTICULAR”. Walking around town is also a good way to explore Lubango. Bus services are available from Lubito and the buses run by a firm called “SGO” are pretty comfortable.