Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. Benguela is a city in western Angola, south of Luanda, and capital of Benguela Province. It lies on a bay of the same name, in 12° 33 S., 13° 25 E. Benguela is one of Angola's most populous cities. Benguela, a Portuguese fort from 1587, was founded in 1617 by the Portuguese under Manuel Cerveira Pereira, 8th Governor of Angola. It was long the centre of an important trade, especially in slaves to Brazil and Cuba. Ships anchor about a mile off the shore, in 4 to 6 fathoms and transfer loads to smaller boats which use five or six jetties in the town. However the nearby deep-water sheltered harbour of Lobito is a much larger port.