Cuito Cuanavale, occasionally spelt Kuito Kuanavale or Kwito Kwanavale, is a municipality in Cuando province in Angola.

On the one hand, the FAPLA, the armed forces of the MPLA, at the height of power fought, supported by the Cuban army, and on the other, the FALA, armed forces of UNITA, supported by the South African Army.

[4][5] Cuito Cuanavale covers an area of around 35,000 square kilometres (14,000 sq mi) and its population as of 2014 was 40,829 inhabitants.

[citation needed] Dangerous minefields are a legacy of the 1980s war in Cuito Cuanavale; it is the most-mined town in Angola.

Among many others in the area, where tens of thousands of mines were laid, is one designated by the HALO Trust as HKK029 – "one of the largest and most complicated minefields in the world", with an overall length of 18 to 20 km (11 to 12 mi).