Cunene is a province of Angola. It has an area of 87,342&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup> and a population of 1,806,417 in 2024.

thumb|right|Catching catfish in Cunene Province.

Ondjiva is the capital of the province; it was previously known as Vila Pereira d’Eça. Ondjiva is the only city in this province with the distance from Ondjiva to Luanda is 1424&nbsp;km and to Lubango is 415&nbsp;km. The Cunene River gave its name to the province.

300px|thumb|Ruacana Falls

Cunene lies north of the Cunene River, which forms the border between Angola and Namibia. Cunene is traversed by the northwesterly line of equal latitude and longitude.

During World War I the region was the scene of fighting in 1914–15. The German campaign in Angola resulted in Germany's temporary occupation of the area.

The inhabitants of the Province are overwhelmingly Ovambo pastoralists. Since the 1960s, they have been under pressure first from white settlers, and after independence from high-ranking military officers and politicians, who acquired large extensions of land which the Ovambo need for the transhumance of their cattle. The ecological, economic and social disadvantages of pastoralism over ranching has been known since the 1970s, but has not been sufficiently taken into account in policy making.

Municipalities

The province of Cunene contains six municipalities ():

  • Cahama
  • Kuroka (Curoca)
  • Kuvelai (Cuvelai)
  • Kwanhama (Cuanhama)
  • Namakunde (Namacunde)
  • Ombadja

Communes

The province of Cunene contains the following communes (); sorted by their respective municipalities:

  • Cahama Municipality: – Cahama, Oxinjau (Otchinjau)
  • Kuroka Municipality: – Chitado, Oncócua
  • Kuvelai Municipality: – Calonga, Cuvati (Cubati), Mucolongodijo (Mukolongodjo), Mupa (Omunda)
  • Kwanhama Municipality: – Evale, Môngua, Nehone-Cafima, Ondjiva, Simporo (Tchimporo-Yonde)
  • Namakunde Municipality: – Melunga-Chiede, Namakunde (Namacunde)
  • Ombadja Municipality: – Humbe, Mucope, Naulila, Ombala yo Mungu, Xangongo

List of governors of Cunene

{| class="wikitable sortable

|-

! Name !! Years in office

|-

| Kundi Paihama|| data-sort-value="04"|1976–1979

|-

| Capt Ary da Costa|| data-sort-value="04"|1979–1982

|-

| Pedro Mutindi|| data-sort-value="26"|1983–2008

|-

| António Didalelwa || data-sort-value="09"|2008–2016

|-

| Kundi Paihama || data-sort-value="03"|2016–2018

|-

| Vigílio da Ressurreição Bernardo Adriano Tyova || data-sort-value="02"|2018–2020

|-

|Gerdina Ulipamue Didalelwa

|2020–

|}

In Call of Duty: Black Ops II, the UNITA under Jonas Savimbi assists CIA operatives Alex Mason and Jason Hudson to find the CIA remnants under Woods held by the MPLA and the Cubans.

See also

  • Kunene Region in Namibia

References

  • Official website of province governor
  • Information on this province at the Angolan ministry for territorial administration
  • Information on this province at Info Angola
  • Province geographical info at geoview.info