Bengo Province


Bengo is a province of Angola. Its capital is Caxito. It has an area of 31,371 square kilometres, and its population as of the 2014 Census was 356,641. The province was created in 1980 by dividing the original province of Luanda into Bengo and a new smaller province of Luanda.
WWW Official Site

Geography

The province is bordered by the provinces of Zaire to the North, Uige to the Northeast, Cuanza Norte to the East, and Cuanza Sul to the South. It has two western coastal stretches along the Atlantic Ocean, and forms an enclave around the national capital's province of Luanda. The Kissama [National Park] and the Kibinda Forest Reserve are here. The province also has a number of lakes, most of them are in the municipalities of Dande and Icolo and Bengo. There are lagoons at Panguila and Ibendoa, Cabiri and Ulua do Sungui.

Municipalities

Since the territorial reform of July 2011

The Angolan National Assembly approved a law on July 27, 2011 reorganizing the territorial subdivisions of Luanda and Bengo Provinces
The law moved the Icolo e Bengo and Quiçama municipalities from Bengo Province to Luanda Province and created new municipalities in both provinces. Now, Bengo Province is divided into six municipalities:
MunicípioCapitalArea Pop.
AmbrizAmbriz4,20416,611
Bula-AtumbaBula3,60456,718
DandeCaxito6,52982,992
DembosQuibaxe2,44458,941
NambuangongoMuxaluando5,604110,831
Pango-AluquémPango2,75445,680

Before the territorial reform of 2011

The province of Bengo contained five municipalities :
MunicípioCapitalArea Pop.
AmbrizAmbriz4,20416,611
DandeCaxito6,52982,992
Ícolo e BengoCatete3,81958,830
NambuangongoMuxaluando5,604110,831
QuiçamaMuxima12,04629,905

Since 2011, Icolo e Bengo and Quiçama have been moved to Luanda Province.
Some sources show the following municipalities in Bengo Province: Bula-Atumba, Dembos and Pango-Aluquém; while others list those three in Cuanza Norte province.

Communes

The province of Bengo contains the following communes, sorted by their respective municipalities:

Natural resources and geology

Bengo is known for its abundant fish, with fishing communities along the coast. Late Cretaceous fossils are known from this region, including unique turtles and the first dinosaur fossil skeleton from Angola: the Angolatitan.

List of governors of Bengo

NameYears in office
Manuel Lopes Maria aka Xi Mutu1980–1987
Francisco Deolindo da Rosa aka Facho1987–1988
Pedro Benga Lima aka Foguetão1988–1990
António Ventura de Azevedo1990–1994
Domingos Hungo aka SKS1994
Isalino Samuel Mendes1994–2004
Jorge Inocêncio Dombolo2004–2009
João Bernardo de Miranda2009–2018
Mara Baptista Quiosa2018–