Angola

In Luanda, sand has given its name to the neighbourhoods where most people live.

They are called musseques, after a Kimbundu word for the red, sandy ground around the city.

In colonial times, the planned city lay down by the sea. As more Portuguese settlers arrived, many of the city’s residents were pushed out of the centre. They built their own neighbourhoods on the sandy ground further inland, and the neighbourhoods took the ground’s name.

The border between the areas was often just a road. It was called the asphalt frontier. On one side lay the city of asphalt, on the other the city of sand.

Today, about three in four people in Luanda live in the city of sand.