Whereas Bailundo is mentioned in some 18th and 19th-century chronicles in connection to a trading route linking it with Viye (Bie), Wambu was only really known with the advent of the construction of the Benguela Railway by the Portuguese.

Though the kings of Bailundu and Wambu (particularly Ekuikui II and Katiavala I) opposed the penetration of the railway by ambushing workers and settlers, they were eventually subdued by the Portuguese Army and Huambo was officially founded on 8 August 1912 by the Governor-General of Angola Norton de Matos.

This railroad had been devised by the British entrepreneur Sir Robert Williams as the easiest and cheapest way to link the rich copper mines of Katanga, in Belgian Congo, with a point on the coast from which the mineral could be exported.

The construction of the railway initially advanced with great difficulty, due to the ruggedness of the terrain, the prevalence of malaria and, to some extent, the resistance of the natives.

A benign climate (greatly due to its high altitude, 1,700m) and the presence of abundant water resources in and around made of it an ideal spot to have a hub on the railway.

[10] By mid-1976 the Cuban expeditionary force had established its most important structures in the Province of Huambo in the areas of São Pedro, Lufefena, and Cruzeiro, and strong garrisons in most of the other municipal capitals and main towns, but UNITA had the control of nearly all of the territory in between.

1996 and 1997 were years of relative improvement of the living conditions of civilians in Huambo, although return movements were only moderate, reconstruction slow and commercial activities did not regain their past vigor.

After the United Nations Security Council enforced sanctions against UNITA (29 October 1997), because of delays in the implementation of the Lusaka Protocol and reluctance to demilitarize and turn over its strongholds, insecurity in Huambo increased gradually, especially in the second half of 1998.

In early December the Government launched an offensive aimed at taking the last strongholds held by UNITA in Huambo and Kuito, this new war outbreak soon extending to other regions of the country.

Large camps of internally displaced people were then installed in these cities as the Humanitarian Community was forced to retire out of UNITA-controlled areas, withdrawing completely by the end of the year and concentrating in Huambo, Caala, and later, Ukuma.

In this period the conventional war that the Province had known gave way to guerrilla warfare, UNITA still controlling most rural areas and randomly striking military or police installations of the Government, and often civilian communities too.

In October 2001 the Government launched a renewed offensive against UNITA from the North and the South of the Province, combining this time strict military action with what were known as operações de limpeza, literally, cleansing operations which consisted in removing from rural areas large groups of population which were subsequently forced into a few, specific concentration points.

In the short term this resulted in renewed pressure over available resources in safe areas of the city and Province of Huambo, and in many cases in the death by starvation of groups trapped by the conflict or impeded to reach any of those zones.

The death of Jonas Savimbi in February 2002 and the subsequent signature of a new cease-fire brought back tranquility to the Province, set the conditions for the present ongoing peace process, and the beginning of an era of development.

Huambo features a subtropical highland climate (Köppen: Cwb), with wet summers from October through April and dry winters between May and September.

Despite its location in the tropics, due to its high altitude, Huambo features mild, spring-like temperatures throughout the course of the year, a characteristic common among cities with this climate.