Malanje

Portuguese settlers founded Malanje in the 19th century. The construction of the railway from Luanda to Malanje, in the fertile highlands, started in 1885. The environs of Malanje included the principal cotton-producing area of Portuguese West Africa and drove its development since the beginning. The town developed in the mid-19th century as an important feira (open-air market) on Portuguese Angola's principal plateau, between Luanda — the territory's capital and largest city, 350 kilometres (220 mi)[3] to the west – and the Cubango River valley, inhabited by Northern Mbundu peoples, 200 km (120 mi) to the east. Situated at an elevation of 1,134 metres (3,720 ft),[4] the town had a high-altitude tropical climate, ideal to several agricultural productions. The city developed as an important agricultural, manufacturing, trading and services centre. Its productions included cotton, textiles, coffee, fruit and corn, and among its facilities it had cinema, hospital, railway station and airport.[5] The Cangandala National Park, was established by the Portuguese authorities on 25 June 1970, having previously been classified as an Integral Natural Reserve on 25 May 1963.

The withdrawal of the Portuguese in conjunction with Angola’s independence in 1975, and, later, the Angolan Civil War (1975–2002), severely hampered the production of cotton as well as that of coffee and corn (maize). Malanje was partially destroyed during the civil war, but reconstruction efforts in the years following the end of the conflict have rebuilt the city and its surroundings.

Malanje Airport was built during the colonial era. Currently, there are no flights to the capital Luanda.

The construction of the railway from Luanda to Malanje, in the fertile highlands, started in 1885. After the end of the civil war in 2002, it was expected to be the terminus of a railway from the capital city and port of Luanda once reconstruction was complete.