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PROCEEDINGS OF THE CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES 
Series 4, Volume 65, Supplement II 
between European colonial powers. The Cabinda enclave, a Portuguese protectorate since 1885, 
also known as Portuguese Congo, was added to Angola after independence. Administratively, 
Angola is currently divided into 18 provinces — Cabinda, Zaire, Uige, Bengo, Luanda, Kwanza 
Norte, Kwanza Sul, Malanje, Lunda Norte, Lunda Sul, Mexico, Bie, Huambo, Benguela, Namibe, 
Huila, Cunene and Cuando Cubango — with Mexico being the largest (223,023 km^) and Luanda 
the smallest (18,826 km^). Angolan provincial delimitations have changed over time. For example, 
Bengo Province was created in 1980 from areas formerly constituting parts of Luanda and Kwan¬ 
za Norte provinces, and it has recently decreased in size owing to the expansion of the borders of 
Luanda. There are plans to divide Mexico and Cuando Cubango provinces into three and two 
provinces, respectively. Each province is divided into different municipalities (“Municipios”) that 
are subsequently divided into communes (“Comunas”). 
Physiography.— The Angolan coastal plain extends from sea level to approximately 250- 
12^E 16°E 20°E 24^E 
6°S 
lO^S 
14^S 
18 ^S 
Figure 2. The topography of Angola (after Sayre et al. 2013) 
