Mwinilunga

Mwinilunga is a town in the North-Western Province of Zambia and headquarters of a district of that name. It lies on the West Lunga River, not far from the borders with the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Angola.

The town had a population estimated at 14,500 in 2006. The Chilunda-speaking Kanongesha-Lunda people are the largest ethnic group, and are related to the Chibemba-speaking Kazembe-Lunda of Luapula Province.

The town's elevation is 1387 m and it is one of the wettest places in Zambia with annual rainfall of about 1400 mm falling in the rainy season from October to May. The town is also home to a small airport.

Mwinilunga Secondary School is the largest school to date in town. Government and Community Schools pepper the rural area surrounding the boma and provide education for children grades 1 to 12.

Attempts have been made to establish industries in the town such as the TIKA Iron and Steel plant and the pineapple cannery. Neither were commercially successful and have closed due to the distance of the town from the markets of the Copperbelt and the lack of a railway and source of coking coal for the TIKA plant.

In 2006 plans were formulated to extend the proposed railway to Solwezi to the town and even on to the Benguela Railway in Angola to avoid reliance on the line in the DR Congo, but these plans have not been confirmed and the Benguela Railway has not yet been re-opened. However, the Angolan transport ministry plans to build a line branching off the Benguela Railway at Luacano and entering Zambia from Macango.

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