Dundo

History

The settlement of Dundo was founded in 1912 after the discovery of diamonds in the Musalala River, a tributary of the Chiumbue River located in the north-eastern border of Angola where it today adjoins the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Formed as a planned community to support the burgeoning mining operations, Dundo grew after the private investor company, Diamang (formed in 1917) were given the diamond mining concession in the entire region of Lunda, basing their headquarters in the town. Diamang was created under the auspices of Portugal, Angola's then colonial master, with further investment from other European nations. The region was mainly stable under colonial rule, but after independence in 1975, Angola was engulfed in civil war. This led to increased and unplanned population growth in the country's mining towns as people fled the insecurity of the countryside. In 1978 the Angolan government created the province of Lunda Norte and established the nearby town of Lucapa as the provincial capital. The effects of the Angolan civil war (1975-2002) impacted Dundo's diamond mining operations. The rebel forces of UNITA (União Nacional para a Independência Total de Angola) sought to disrupt the governmental mining companies of Diamang and Endiama, by allowing workers to act as wildcat prospectors. This and the continued violence saw the collapse of Endiama in Dundo with the loss of 18,000 jobs. This resulted in miners turning to UNITA, who either took a cut of their profits or sold the diamonds to fund their resistance to the government, this practice was known as blood diamonds. In 2000, the government changed the provincial capital of Lunda Norte from Lucapa to Dundo due to its 'greater architectural design, size and economic importance'. A new settlement, New…

Most-observed species

• Estes's Sprite

  Pseudagrion estesi Pinhey, 1971 · Insecta
  1
• Pied-spot

  Hemistigma albipunctum (Rambur, 1842) · Insecta
  1
• Bronze Dropwing

  Trithemis aenea Pinhey, 1961 · Insecta
  1
• Portia Widow

  Palpopleura portia (Drury, 1773) · Insecta
  1