Cuanza River

Course of the river Cuanza

Template: Infobox River / BILD_fehlt

It rises near Mumbue to about 1450 m altitude in the highlands of Bié in central Angola and flows into the Atlantic Ocean: From its source the water of Cuanza flows first in a northerly direction through the province of Bie, continue in a northwesterly direction as border river of the provinces Bie and Malange, later Cuanza Sul and Malange, and then - to the west - Cuanza Sul and Bengo, before it flows through the province Cuanza Norte. Then the river flows about 50 km south of the Angolan capital Luanda in Barra do Cuanza into the Atlantic.

In the lower reaches, where at the Cambambe Dondo Dam was built with a hydroelectric power station (180 MW), the Cuanza for 250 km is navigable. In addition, the Capanda Dam was completed in 2004. Moreover, there are plans for a large hydroelectric power plant with over 6000 MW capacity.

Tributaries of the Cuanza are the Kuiva, Luando and Lucala.

The provinces Cuanza Sul (South) and Cuanza Norte (North) owes its name to the river.