1393 Sofala, provisional designation 1936 KD, is a Vestian asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 11 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 25 May 1936, by South African astronomer Cyril Jackson at the Union Observatory in Johannesburg.^[10] The asteroid was named after the province of Sofala in Mozambique.^[2]

Sofala is a member of the Vesta family (401),^[3] the second-largest asteroid family of the main-belt by number of members. However, it is also considered to be a non-family asteroid of the main belt's background population when applying the Hierarchical Clustering Method to its proper orbital elements.^[4] It orbits the Sun in the inner asteroid belt at a distance of 2.2–2.7 AU once every 3 years and 10 months (1,387 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.11 and an inclination of 6° with respect to the ecliptic.^[1]

The asteroid was first identified as 1928 FB at Heidelberg Observatory in March 1928. The body's observation arc begins with its official discovery observation at Johannesburg in 1936.^[10]

Sofala is an assumed stony S-type asteroid.^[3]

This minor planet was named after Sofala Province in central-eastern Mozambique. It is the country's largest province.^[2] Its capital city is Beira after which the Mars-crosser 1474 Beira, another discovery by Cyril Jackson, is named. The official naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center in April 1953 (M.P.C. 909).^[11]