Difference between revisions of "Angola" - New World Encyclopedia

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{{Infobox Country |
 
{{Infobox Country |
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native_name             = República de Angola |
+
|native_name                 = '''''República de Angola''''' {{pt icon}}
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common_name             = Angola |
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|conventional_long_name      = Republic of Angola
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image_flag               = Flag of Angola.svg |
+
|common_name                 = Angola
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image_coat               = Coat of Arms Angola.jpg |
+
|image_flag                 = <!--DO NOT ADD the proposed flag, you WILL be reverted and warned—> Flag of Angola.svg
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national_motto           = none |
+
|alt_flag                    =
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image_map                = LocationAngola.png |
+
|image_coat                 =
−
national_anthem         = [[Angola Avante|Angola Avante!]]<br><small>([[Portuguese language|Portuguese]]: [[Angola Avante|Forward Angola!]]) |
+
|alt_coat                    =
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official_languages      = [[Angolan Portuguese|Portuguese]] |
+
|symbol_type                = Insignia
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capital                 = [[Luanda]] |
+
|national_motto             =
−
latd=8|latm=50|latNS=S|longd=13|longm=20|longEW=E|
+
|national_anthem             = ''[[Angola Avante|Angola Avante!]]''{{Spaces|2}}<small>([[Portuguese language|Portuguese]])<br />''Forward Angola!''</small>
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government_type         = [[Multi-party]] [[democracy]] |
+
|royal_anthem                =
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leader_titles            = [[President of Angola|Head of State]] <br> [[Prime Minister of Angola|Head of Government]]|
+
|motto                      =
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leader_names            = [[José Eduardo dos Santos]] <br> [[Fernando da Piedade Dias dos Santos|Fernando da Piedade <br> Dias dos Santos]]|
+
|other_symbol_type          =
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largest_city            = [[Luanda]] |
+
|other_symbol                =
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area                    = 1,246,700 |
+
|image_map                  = LocationAngola.png
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area_rank               = 22nd |
+
|alt_map                    =
−
area_magnitude           = 1 E12 |
+
|map_caption                =
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percent_water            = Negligible |
+
|image_map2                  =
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population_estimate     = 10,978,552 |
+
|alt_map2                    =
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population_estimate_year = 2004 |
+
|map_caption2                =
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population_estimate_rank = 71st |
+
|capital                     = [[Luanda]]
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population_census       = ''unavailable'' |
+
|latd= 8 | latm= 50 | latNS = S
−
population_census_year   = ? |
+
|longd= 13 |longm= 20 |longEW = E
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population_density      = 8.6 |
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|largest_city                = capital
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population_density_rank  = 213 |
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|official_languages          = [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]]
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GDP_PPP_year             = 2003 |
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|national_languages          = [[Kongo language|Kikongo]], [[Chokwe language|Chokwe]], [[South Mbundu language|Umbundu]], [[North Mbundu language|Kimbundu]]
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GDP_PPP                  = 31,364<sup>1</sup> |
+
|regional_languages          =
−
GDP_PPP_rank             = 83 |
+
|languages_type              =
−
GDP_PPP_per_capita       = 2,319 |
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|languages                  =
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GDP_PPP_per_capita_rank = 120 |
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|ethnic_groups              = [[Ovimbundu]], [[Mbundu people|Ambundu]], [[Bakongo]], [[Lunda|Lunda-Chokwe]], [[Nhaneca-Humbe|Nyaneka-Nkhumbi]], [[Ovambo]], [[Ganguela]], [[Xindonga]], [[Herero]], [[Khoisan]]
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HDI_year                = 2003 |
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|ethnic_groups_year          =
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HDI                      = 0.445 |
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|demonym                    = Angolan
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HDI_rank                = 160th |
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| government_type       = [[Unitary state|Unitary]] [[Dominant-party system|dominant-party]] [[Presidential system|presidential]] [[republic]]
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HDI_category            = <font color="#E0584E">low</font> |
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| leader_title1          = [[President of Angola|President]]
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sovereignty_type        = [[Independence]] |
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| leader_name1          = [[João Lourenço]]
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established_events      = From [[Portugal]] |
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| leader_title2          = [[Vice President of Angola|Vice President]]
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established_dates        = [[November 11]] [[1975]] |
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| leader_name2          = [[Bornito de Sousa]]
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currency                 = [[Kwanza]] |
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| legislature            = [[National Assembly (Angola)|National Assembly]]
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currency_code           = AOA |
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|sovereignty_type            = [[Angolan War of Independence|Independence]]
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time_zone               = [[Central European Time|CET]] |
+
|sovereignty_note            = from [[Portugal]]
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utc_offset               = +1 |
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|established_event1          = Date
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time_zone_DST           = not observed |
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|established_date1          = November 11, 1975
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utc_offset_DST           = +1 |
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| established_event2    = [[United Nations]] [[United Nations Security Council Resolution 397|full membership]]
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cctld                   = [[.ao]] |
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| established_date2      = November 22, 1976
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calling_code             = 244 |
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| established_event3    = [[Constitution of Angola|Current constitution]]
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footnotes               = <sup>1</sup> Estimate is based on regression; other PPP figures are extrapolated from the latest International Comparison Programme benchmark estimates.
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| established_date3      = January 21, 2010
 +
<!-- ... —>
 +
|established_event9          =
 +
|established_date9          =
 +
|area_rank                   = 23rd
 +
|area_magnitude             = 1 E12
 +
|area_km2                    = 1246700
 +
|area_sq_mi                  = 481354
 +
|area_footnote              =
 +
|percent_water               = negligible
 +
|area_dabodyalign           =
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| population_estimate   = 35,063,956<ref>[https://www.worldometers.info/world-population/angola-population/ Angola Population] ''Worldometer''. Retrieved August 28, 2022.</ref>
 +
| population_census     = 25,789,024<ref>[https://ghdx.healthdata.org/record/angola-population-and-housing-census-2014 Angola Population and Housing Census 2014] ''GHDx''. Retrieved August 28, 2022. </ref>
 +
| population_estimate_year = 2022
 +
| population_estimate_rank = 42nd
 +
| population_census_year = 2014
 +
| population_density_km2 = 24.97
 +
| population_density_sq_mi = 64.65
 +
| population_density_rank = 157th
 +
| GDP_PPP                = $213.034&nbsp;billion
 +
| GDP_PPP_year           = 2022
 +
| GDP_PPP_rank           = 67th
 +
| GDP_PPP_per_capita     = $7,360
 +
| GDP_PPP_per_capita_rank = 157th
 +
| GDP_nominal            = $125.496 billion
 +
| GDP_nominal_year      = 2022
 +
| GDP_nominal_rank      = 61st
 +
| GDP_nominal_per_capita = $3,793
 +
| GDP_nominal_per_capita_rank = 145th
 +
| Gini                  = 51.3<ref>[https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SI.POV.GINI?locations=AO GINI index (World Bank estimate) - Angola] ''The World Bank''. Retrieved August 28, 2022. </ref>
 +
| Gini_year              = 2018
 +
| Gini_ref              =  
 +
|currency                   = [[Angolan kwanza|Kwanza]]
 +
|currency_code               = AOA
 +
|time_zone                   = [[West Africa Time|WAT]]
 +
|utc_offset                 = +1
 +
|time_zone_DST               = ''not observed''
 +
|antipodes                  =
 +
|date_format                =
 +
|DST_note                    =
 +
|utc_offset_DST             = +1
 +
|drives_on                  = right
 +
|cctld                       = [[.ao]]
 +
|iso3166code                =
 +
|calling_code               = [[+244]]
 +
|image_map3                  =
 +
|alt_map3                    =
 +
|footnotes                   =
 +
|footnote1                  =
 +
|footnote2                  =
 +
|footnote7                  =
 
}}
 
}}
  
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A former Portuguese colony, Angola, known formally as the '''Republic of Angola''', has been ravaged by a quarter-century of civil war and dominated by a Marxist-style government since independence. The name '''Angola''' is a Portuguese derivation of the [[Bantu language|Bantu]] word N’gola, being the title of the native rulers of the Quimbundos Kingdom in the sixteenth century. It has considerable natural resources, among which oil and diamonds are the most relevant.
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A former [[Portugal|Portuguese]] colony, '''Angola,''' known formally as the '''Republic of Angola,''' is on the west coast of Southern Africa. It is the second-largest Lusophone (Portuguese-speaking) country in both total area and population (behind [[Brazil]] in both cases), and is the seventh-largest country in Africa. It is bordered by [[Namibia]] to the south, the [[Democratic Republic of the Congo]] to the north, [[Zambia]] to the east, and the [[Atlantic Ocean]] to the west. Angola has an exclave province, the province of [[Cabinda]], that borders the [[Republic of the Congo]] and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The capital and most populous city is [[Luanda]].
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{{toc}}
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The oil-rich exclave province of [[Cabinda]] borders both the [[Republic of the Congo]] and the [[Democratic Republic of the Congo]]. The latter's only oceanic access, XX miles (60 km) in width, divides Angola from Cabinda. The population stands at around 300,000, two-thirds of which inhabit the surroundings in a generally stable state on Congolese and Zairian territory. The Angolan central government has yet to quell the Cabindese secessionist movement.
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Angola has vast mineral and petroleum reserves. Angolan culture reflects centuries of Portuguese influence, namely the predominance of the Portuguese language and of the [[Catholic Church]], intermingled with a variety of indigenous customs and traditions.  
  
 
==History==
 
==History==
 +
In 1482, when the Portuguese first landed in what is now northern Angola, they encountered the Kingdom of the Congo, which stretched from modern [[Gabon]] in the north to the [[Kwanza River]] in the south. South of this kingdom were various important states. Ndongo was the most significant, and modern Angola derives its name from the Ndongo word ''ngola'' (king). The Portuguese gradually took control of the coastal strip throughout the sixteenth century by a series of [[treaty|treaties]] and [[war]]s and had conquered the Congo and Ndongo states by 1671. Full Portuguese administrative control of the interior did not occur until the beginning of the twentieth century.
  
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Prior to the colonial period, Angola was ruled by two highly centralized native kingdoms, the Bantu in the North and the Mbundu in the south. The Portuguese arrived in 1483, established colonies and developed a lucrative slave trade. When the native people's resisted, the Portuguese clamped down killing, capturing and exporting the natives, whose population declined dramatically until the mid-18th century. The Berlin Conference of 1884 officially allocated African regions to colonial European states, Portuguese settlement accelerated, as did the military campaign to subdue the kingdoms. Colonial exploitation continued until the mid-20th century.
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[[Portugal]]'s primary interest in Angola quickly turned to [[slavery]], which began with the purchase from African chiefs of people to work on sugar plantations in [[São Tomé]], [[Principé]], and [[Brazil]]. Many scholars agree that by the nineteenth century, Angola was the largest source of slaves not only for Brazil but also the Americas, including the [[United States]]. By the end of the nineteenth century, a massive [[forced labor]] system had replaced formal slavery and would continue until outlawed in 1961. Forced labor provided the basis for development of a plantation economy and then the [[mining]] sector. It was also used to construct three [[railroad]]s from the coast to the interior.  
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Although Britain and France had been abandoning their colonial empires, the Portuguese resisted attempts for peaceful de-colonization. In 1956, the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) emerged as a coalition of nationalist rebel groups, fighting for independence and against racial and imperialist exploitation. By the time the Portuguese government was overthrown in April 1974, three major rebel factions had developed, the MPLA, the National Front for the Liberation of Angola (FNLA), and the Union for the Total Independence of Angola, UNITA.
 
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***
 
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Present-day Angola was settled in 1483 at the river Congo, where the [[Kongo]] State, [[Ndongo]] and [[Lunda]] existed. The Kongo State stretched from modern [[Gabon]] in the north to the [[Kwanza River]] in the south. Portugal established a colony at [[Luanda]] in 1575, based on the slave trade. The Portuguese gradually took control of the coastal strip throughout the sixteenth century by a series of treaties and wars and then formed the colony of Angola. The [[Netherlands|Dutch]] occupied Luanda from 1641 to 1648, providing a boost for anti-Portuguese states. But in 1648 Portugal retook Luanda and initiated a process of military conquest of the Kongo and Ndongo states that ended with Portuguese victory in 1671. Full Portuguese administrative control of the interior did not occur until the beginning of the twentieth century. In 1951 the colony was restyled as an overseas province, also called Portuguese West Africa. When Portugal refused a decolonization process three independence movements emerged:
 
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* the [[Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola]] (''Movimento Popular de Libertação de Angola'' MPLA), with a base among [[Kimbundu]] and the mixed-race intelligentsia of Luanda and links to communist parties in Portugal and the Soviet bloc;
 
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* the [[National Liberation Front of Angola]] (''Frente Nacional de Libertação de Angola'', FNLA), with an ethnic base in the Bakongo region of the north and links to the [[United States]] and the [[Mobutu Sese Seko|Mobutu]] regime in [[Zaire]]; and
 
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* the [[National Union for Total Independence of Angola]] (''União Nacional para a Independência Total de Angola'', UNITA), led by [[Jonas Savimbi|Jonas Malheiro Savimbi]] with an ethnic and regional base in the Ovimbundu heartland in the center of the country.
 
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After a fourteen-year independence guerrilla war and the overthrow of Portugal's government by a military coup, Angola's nationalist parties began to negotiate for independence in January 1975.  Independence was set for  November 1975, but almost immediately, a [[Angolan Civil War|civil war]] broke out among the MPLA, UNITA, and the FNLA, exacerbated by foreign intervention.  South African troops struck an alliance of convenience with UNITA and invaded Angola in August 1975 to ensure that there would be no interference (by a newly independent Angolan state) in Namibia, which was then under South African control. Cuban troops came to the support of the MPLA in October 1975, enabling them to control the capital, [[Luanda]], and hold off the South African forces.  The MPLA declared itself the de facto government of the country when independence was formally declared in November, with [[Agostinho Neto]] as the first president.
 
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In 1976, the FNLA was defeated by a combination of MPLA and [[Cuba|Cuban]] troops, leaving the Marxist MPLA and UNITA (backed by the United States and South Africa) to fight for power.
 
  
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The conflict raged on, fueled by the geopolitics of the Cold War and by the ability of both parties to access resources from Angola's natural resources.  The MPLA drew upon the revenues of off-shore oil reserves, while UNITA accessed alluvial diamonds that were easily smuggled through the region's very porous borders.
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Colonial economic development did not translate into social development for native Angolans. The Portuguese regime encouraged white [[immigration]], especially after 1950, which intensified racial antagonisms. As [[decolonization]] progressed elsewhere in [[Africa]], Portugal rejected [[independence]] and treated its African colonies as overseas provinces. Consequently, three independence movements emerged: the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) led by Agostinho Neto, with a base among Kimbundu and the mixed-[[race]] intelligentsia of Luanda, and links to [[communism|communist]] parties in Portugal and the [[Soviet bloc]]; the National Front for the Liberation of Angola (FNLA), led by Holden Roberto with an ethnic base in the Bakongo region of the north and links to the United States and the [[Mobutu Sese Seko|Mobutu]] regime in Kinshasa; and the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA), led by Jonas Savimbi with an ethnic and regional base in the Ovimbundu heartland in the center of the country.
  
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In 1991, the factions agreed to turn Angola into a multiparty state, but after the current president [[José Eduardo dos Santos]] of MPLA won UN-supervised elections, UNITA claimed there was fraud and fighting broke out again. A 1994 peace accord ([[Lusaka]] protocol) between the government and UNITA provided for the integration of former UNITA [[insurgent]]s into the government. A national unity government was installed in 1997, but serious fighting resumed in late 1998, rendering hundreds of thousands of people homeless.
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After the 1974 [[coup d’état|coup]] in Portugal, the military government promptly agreed to hand over power to a coalition of the three movements. The ideological differences between the three movements eventually led to armed conflict, with FNLA and UNITA forces, encouraged by their respective international supporters, attempting to wrest control of Luanda from the MPLA. The intervention of troops from [[South Africa]] on behalf of UNITA and [[Zaire]] on behalf of the FNLA in September and October 1975 and the MPLA's importation of [[Cuba|Cuban]] troops in November, effectively internationalized the conflict. Retaining control of Luanda, the coastal strip, and increasingly lucrative [[petroleum|oil]] fields in Cabinda, the MPLA declared independence on November 11, 1975—the day the Portuguese abandoned the capital. UNITA and the FNLA formed a rival coalition government based in the interior city of Huambo. Agostinho Neto became the first president of the MPLA government that was recognized by the [[United Nations]] in 1976. Upon his death in 1979, then-Planning Minister José Eduardo dos Santos became president, a position he still holds.  
  
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On February 22, 2002, UNITA's leader, Jonas Savimbi,was shot dead and a cease-fire was reached by the two factions. UNITA gave up its armed wing and assumed the role of major opposition party. Although the political situation of the country seems to be normalizing, President dos Santos still has not allowed regular democratic processes.
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The FNLA's military failures led to its increasing marginalization, but [[civil war]] between UNITA and the MPLA continued until 1989. For much of this time, UNITA controlled vast swaths of the interior and was backed by U.S. resources and South African troops. Similarly, tens of thousands of Cuban troops remained to support the MPLA. A U.S.-brokered agreement resulted in withdrawal of foreign troops in 1989 and led to the Bicesse Accord in 1991, which spelled out an electoral process for a [[democracy|democratic]] Angola under the supervision of the United Nations. UNITA leader Savimbi rejected the results of the first round of the presidential election in 1992, charging [[fraud]], and returned to war. Another [[peace accord]], known as the Lusaka Protocol, was brokered in Lusaka, [[Zambia]], and signed in 1994. This agreement, too, collapsed. The Angolan military launched a massive offensive in 1999 that destroyed UNITA's conventional capacity and recaptured all the major cities previously held by Savimbi's forces. Savimbi returned to [[guerrilla]] tactics, which continued until his death in combat in February 2002. Soon after, a [[cease-fire]] agreement was reached.  
  
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Among Angola's major problems are a serious humanitarian crisis as a result of the prolonged war, the abundance of mine fields, and continued violence by guerrilla movements fighting for the independence of the northern enclave of [[Cabinda]] ([[Frente para a Libertação do Enclave de Cabinda]]).
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The Front for the Liberation of the Enclave of Cabinda (FLEC), formed in 1974, rejected the agreement that included Cabinda as part of Angola at independence. In 1975, FLEC began guerilla attacks against government targets and [[kidnapping|kidnapped]] foreigners in an effort to press for an independent Cabindan state. The simmering revolt finally ended with the signing of a memorandum of understanding in 2006.
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Angola, like many sub-Saharan nations, is subject to periodic outbreaks of infectious diseases. As of early April 2005, Angola was in the midst of an [[Marburg virus#2004-2005 outbreak in Angola|outbreak]] of the [[Marburg virus]], which is rapidly becoming the worst outbreak of a hemmorhagic fever in recorded history, with over 237 deaths recorded out of 261 reported cases. It had spread to seven of the eighteen provinces as of 2005.
 
  
 
==Politics==
 
==Politics==
 +
Angola changed from a one-party Marxist-Leninist system ruled by the MPLA to a nominal multiparty [[democracy]] following the 1992 elections, in which President José Eduardo dos Santos won the first-round election with more than 49 percent of the vote to Jonas Savimbi's 40 percent; a runoff never took place. Although the political situation of the country began to stabilize, regular democratic processes did not prevail until the elections in Angola in 2008 and 2012 and the adoption of a new constitution in 2010, all of which strengthened the prevailing dominant-party system.
  
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The executive branch of the government is composed of the president, the prime minister,  and a Council of Ministers. Currently, political power is concentrated in the presidency. The Council of Ministers, composed of all government ministers and vice ministers, meets regularly to discuss policy issues. Governors of the eighteen provinces are appointed by and serve at the pleasure of the president. The Constitutional Law of 1992 establishes the broad outlines of government structure and delineates the rights and duties of citizens. The legal system is based on Portuguese and customary law but is weak and fragmented, and courts operate in only 12 of more than 140 municipalities. A Supreme Court serves as the appellate tribunal; a Constitutional Court with powers of judicial review has never been constituted despite statutory authorization.
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The Constitution of 2010 established the broad outlines of government structure and delineates the rights and duties of citizens. The legal system is based on Portuguese law and customary law but is weak and fragmented, and courts operate in only 12 of more than 140 municipalities. A Supreme Court serves as the appellate tribunal; a Constitutional Court does not hold the powers of judicial review. Governors of the 18 provinces are appointed by the president. After the end of the civil war, the regime came under pressure from within as well as from the international community to become more democratic and less authoritarian. Its reaction was to implement a number of changes without substantially changing its character.
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The 27-year-long civil war ravaged the country's political and social institutions. The United Nations estimates there are 1.8 million internally displaced persons , while the accepted figure for war-affected people is 4 million. Daily conditions of life throughout the country and specifically Luanda (population approximately 4 million) mirror the collapse of administrative infrastructure as well as many social institutions. The ongoing grave economic situation largely prevents any government support for social institutions. Hospitals lack medicines or basic equipment, schools operate without books, and public employees often do without basic supplies for their day-to-day work.
 
  
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The president has announced the government's intention to hold elections in [[2006]]. These elections would be the first since 1992 and would serve to elect both a new president and a new National Assembly.
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The new constitution, adopted in 2010, did away with presidential elections, introducing a system in which the president and the vice-president of the political party that wins the parliamentary elections automatically become president and vice-president. Directly or indirectly, the president controls all other organs of the state, so there is de facto no separation of powers. In the classifications used in [[constitutional law]], this government falls under the category of authoritarian regime.
  
 
==Geography==
 
==Geography==
 +
[[File:Angola Topography.png|thumb|350px|Topographic map of Angola]]
 +
Angola is bordered by [[Namibia]] to the south, [[Zambia]] to the east, the [[Democratic Republic of the Congo]] to the northeast, and the South [[Atlantic Ocean]] to the west. Angola's capital, Luanda, lies on the Atlantic coast in the northwest of the country. The [[petroleum|oil]]-rich province of Cabinda is separated from the rest of the nation by the [[Congo River]] and a narrow strip of land belonging to the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
  
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Angola is bordered by [[Namibia]] to the south, [[Zambia]] to the east, the [[Democratic Republic of the Congo]] to the northeast, and the [[South Atlantic Ocean]] to the west. The [[exclave]] of [[Cabinda]] also borders the [[Republic of the Congo]] to the north. Angola's capital, [[Luanda]], lies on the Atlantic coast in the northwest of the country.
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Angola is divided into an arid coastal strip stretching from Namibia to Luanda; a wet, interior highland; a dry savanna in the interior south and southeast; and [[rainforest]]s in the north and in Cabinda. The [[Zambezi River]] and several tributaries of the Congo River have their sources in Angola.
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Angola is divided into an arid coastal strip stretching from Namibia to Luanda; a wet, interior highland; a dry savanna in the interior south and southeast; and rain forest in the north and in Cabinda. The [[Zambezi River]] and several tributaries of the Congo River have their sources in Angola.
 
  
 
==Economy==
 
==Economy==
  
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[[Image:Angola map.png|thumb|300px|Map of Angola]]
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[[Image:Angola map.png|thumb|350px|Map of Angola]]
  
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Angola is an economy in disarray because of a quarter century of nearly continuous warfare. Despite its abundant natural resources, output per capita is among the world's lowest. Subsistence agriculture provides the main livelihood for 85 percent of the population. Oil production and its supporting activities are vital to the economy, contributing about 45 percent of GDP and 90 percent of exports.  Control of the oil industry is consolidated in [[Sonangol Group]], a conglomerate which is owned by the Angolan government.  Notwithstanding the signing of a peace accord in November 1994, violence continues, millions of land mines remain, and many farmers are reluctant to return to their fields. As a result, much of the country's food must still be imported. Despite the increase in the pace of civil warfare in late 1998, the economy grew by an estimated 4 percent in 1999. The government introduced new currency denominations in 1999, including a 1 and 5 kwanza note. Expanded oil production brightens prospects for 2000, but internal strife discourages investment outside the petroleum sector.
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Angola has [[diamonds]], [[oil]], [[gold]], [[copper]], and rich wildlife (which was dramatically depleted during the [[civil war]]), forest, and [[fossil fuel]]s. Since independence, oil and diamonds have been the most important economic resource. Smallholder and plantation agriculture dramatically dropped in the Angolan Civil War, but began to recover after 2002.
  
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With the advent of peace in 2002 a strategic partnership with China was set in motion, so huge investments by Chinese companies are now in place, especially in the construction sector and more recently in the metallurgical sector.
+
Angola's economy has in recent years moved on from the disarray caused by a quarter-century of Angolan civil war to become the fastest-growing economy in Africa and one of the fastest-growing in the world. [[PRC|China]] is Angola's biggest trade partner and export destination as well as the fourth-largest source of imports.
−
Angola's high growth rate is driven by its oil sector, with record oil prices and rising petroleum production. Oil production and its supporting activities contribute about half of GDP and 90% of exports. Increased oil production supported 12% growth in 2004 and 19% growth in 2005. A postwar reconstruction boom and resettlement of displaced persons has led to high rates of growth in construction and agriculture as well. Much of the country's infrastructure is still damaged or undeveloped from the 27-year-long civil war. Remnants of the conflict such as widespread land mines still mar the countryside even though an apparently durable peace was established after the death of rebel leader Jonas SAVIMBI in February 2002. Subsistence agriculture provides the main livelihood for half of the population, but half of the country's food must still be imported. In 2005, the government started using a $2 billion line of credit from China to rebuild Angola's public infrastructure, and several large-scale projects are scheduled for completion by 2006. The central bank in 2003 implemented an exchange rate stabilization program using foreign exchange reserves to buy kwanzas out of circulation, a policy that was more sustainable in 2005 because of strong oil export earnings, and has significantly reduced inflation. Consumer inflation declined from 325% in 2000 to about 18% in 2005, but the stabilization policy places pressure on international net liquidity. To fully take advantage of its rich national resources - gold, diamonds, extensive forests, Atlantic fisheries, and large oil deposits - Angola will need to continue reforming government policies and to reduce corruption. The government has made sufficient progress on reforms recommended by the IMF such as promoting greater transparency in government spending but continues to be without a formal monitoring agreement with the institution.
 
  
 +
Although the country's economy has grown significantly since Angola achieved political stability in 2002, mainly due to fast-rising earnings in the oil sector, Angola continues to face huge social and economic problems. These are in part a result of almost continual armed conflict from 1961 on, although the highest level of destruction and socio-economic damage took place after the 1975 independence, during the long years of civil war. The enormous differences between the regions pose a serious structural problem for the Angolan economy, illustrated by the fact that about one third of economic activities are concentrated in Luanda and neighboring Bengo province, while several areas of the interior suffer economic stagnation and even regression.
  
 
==Demographics==
 
==Demographics==
−
[[Image:LuandaJuin2005-1-br.jpg|thumb|230px|[[Luanda]], the Angolan capital]]
+
[[Image:LuandaJuin2005-1-br.jpg|thumb|400px|Luanda, the Angolan capital]]
−
 
 
−
Angola has three main ethnic groups, each speaking a Bantu language: [[Ovimbundu]] 37 percent, [[Kimbundu]] 25 percent, and [[Bakongo]] 13 percent. Other groups include [[Chokwe]] (or [[Lunda]]), [[Ganguela]], [[Nhaneca-Humbe]], [[Ambo]], [[Herero]], and [[Xindunga]]. In addition, ''[[mestiço]]s'' (Angolans of mixed European and African family origins) amount to about 2 percent, with a small (1 percent) population of whites, mainly ethnically Portuguese. Portuguese make up the largest non-Angolan population, with at least 30,000 (though many native-born Angolans can claim Portuguese nationality under Portuguese law). Portuguese is both the official and predominant language, spoken in the homes of about two-thirds of the population, and as a secondary language by many more.
 
−
 
 
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The great majority of the inhabitants are of Bantu stock with some admixture in the Congo district. In the southeast are various tribes of Bushmen. The best-known of the Bantu tribes are the Ba-Kongo (Ba-Fiot), who dwell chiefly in the north, and the [[Abunda]] (Mbunda, Ba-Bundo), who occupy the central part of the province, which takes its name from the Ngola tribe of Abunda. Another of these tribes, the Bangala, living on the west bank of the upper Kwango, must not be confused with the Bangala of the middle Congo. In the Abunda is a considerable strain of Portuguese blood. The Ba-Lunda inhabit the Lunda district. Along the upper Kunene and in other districts of the plateau are settlements of Boers, the Boer population being about 2,000. In the coast towns the majority of the white inhabitants are Portuguese. The Mushi-Kongo and other divisions of the Ba-Kongo retain curious traces of the Christianity professed by them in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries and possibly later. Crucifixes are used as potent fetish charms or as symbols of power passing down from chief to chief; every native has a "Santu" or Christian name and is dubbed dom or dona. [[Fetishism]] is the prevailing religion throughout the province. The dwelling places of the natives are usually small huts of the simplest construction, used chiefly as sleeping area; the day is spent in an open space in front of the hut, protected from the sun by a roof of palm or other leaves.
 
−
 
 
−
Catholicism remains the dominant religion, although an increasing number of churches are claiming more followers, particularly evangelicals.
 
−
 
 
−
 
 
−
==Culture==
 
−
 
 
−
 
 
−
 
 
−
 
 
−
 
 
−
 
 
−
 
 
−
 
 
−
 
 
−
 
 
−
 
 
  
 +
The [[civil war]] ravaged the country's political institutions and resulted in massive internal displacement. Many people fled as [[refugee]]s to neighboring countries. By 2005, after [[peace]] was restored, an estimated four million people had returned to their homes but forty thousand to sixty thousand remained as internally displaced persons (IDPs). Daily conditions of life throughout the country, especially Luanda (with a population of approximately four million), mirror the collapse of government as well as many social institutions. The [[agriculture|agricultural]], [[health care]], [[education]], water, and [[transport]]ation [[infrastructure]]s were destroyed during the [[war]]. [[Hospital]]s lack [[medicine]]s or basic equipment, [[school]]s operate without books, and public employees often do without basic supplies for their day-to-day work. An estimated 80,000 Angolans are victims of [[land mine]]s.
  
−
===Government===
+
Angola has three main [[ethnic group]]s, each speaking a [[Bantu]] language: Ovimbundu, Kimbundu , and Bakongo. ''Mestiços'' (Angolans of mixed European and African origins) and a small population of whites make up the remainder. Portuguese make up the largest non-Angolan population. [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]] is both the official and predominant [[language]], spoken in the homes of about two-thirds of the population and as a secondary language by many more.
−
*[http://www.angola.org/ Republic of Angola] official government portal
 
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*[http://www.parlamento.ao/ National Assembly of Angola] official site (in Portuguese)
 
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*[http://www.angola.org/ Embassy of Angola in Washington DC] government information and links
 
  
−
===News===
+
[[Catholicism]] remains the dominant [[religion]], although an increasing number of churches are claiming more followers, particularly evangelicals.
−
*[http://allafrica.com/angola/ allAfrica - Angola] news headline links
 
−
*[http://www.angolapress-angop.ao/ Angola Press] government-controlled news agency (in Portuguese, French and English)
 
−
*[http://www.angonoticias.com/ Angonoticias] (in Portuguese) - A popular news source in Angola
 
  
−
===Overviews===
+
==Notes==
−
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/country_profiles/1063073.stm BBC - Country profile: ''Angola'']
+
<references/>
−
* [http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/ao.html CIA World Factbook - ''Angola'']
 
−
* [http://www.state.gov/p/af/ci/ao/ US State Department - ''Angola''] includes Background Notes, Country Study and major reports
 
  
−
===Directories===
+
==References==
−
*[http://www.columbia.edu/cu/lweb/indiv/africa/cuvl/Angola.html Columbia University Libraries - ''Angola''] directory category of the WWW-VL
+
* Cutter, Charles H. ''Africa 2006.'' Harpers Ferry, WV: Stryker-Post Publications, 2006. ISBN 1887985727
−
*[http://dmoz.org/Regional/Africa/Angola/ Open Directory Project - ''Angola''] directory category
+
* Gailey, Harry A., Jr. ''History of Africa: From 1800 to 1945.'' Malabar, FL: Robert Krieger Publishing, 1989. ISBN 0894642952
−
*[http://www-sul.stanford.edu/depts/ssrg/africa/angola.html Stanford University - Africa South of the Sahara: ''Angola''] directory category
+
* Gailey, Harry A., Jr. ''History of Africa: From Earliest Times to 1800.'' Malabar, FL: Robert Krieger Publishing, 1999. ISBN 1575241188
−
*[http://dir.yahoo.com/Regional/Countries/Angola/ Yahoo! - ''Angola''] directory category
 
  
 +
==External links==
 +
All links retrieved July 27, 2023.
  
−
===Other===
+
* [https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-13036732 Angola Country Profile] ''BBC''
−
* [http://www.flashpoints.info/countries-conflicts/Angola-web/angola_briefing.html Angola Conflict Briefing]
+
* [https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/angola/ Angola] CIA ''World Factbook''
 +
* [https://www.state.gov/countries-areas/angola/ Angola] ''U.S. Department of State''
 +
* [https://www.hrw.org/africa/angola Angola] ''Human Rights Watch''
  
 
{{credit|31639987}}
 
{{credit|31639987}}
  
 
[[Category:Countries]]
 
[[Category:Countries]]
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[[Category:Nations and places]]
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[[Category:Geography]]

Latest revision as of 06:01, 28 July 2023


República de Angola (Portuguese)
Republic of Angola
Flag of Angola
Anthem: Angola Avante! (Portuguese)
Forward Angola!
Location of Angola
Capital
(and largest city) 		Luanda
8°50′S 13°20′E
Official languages Portuguese
Ethnic groups  Ovimbundu, Ambundu, Bakongo, Lunda-Chokwe, Nyaneka-Nkhumbi, Ovambo, Ganguela, Xindonga, Herero, Khoisan
Demonym Angolan
Government Unitary dominant-party presidential republic
 -  President João Lourenço
 -  Vice President Bornito de Sousa
Legislature National Assembly
Independence from Portugal 
 -  Date November 11, 1975 
 -  United Nations full membership November 22, 1976 
 -  Current constitution January 21, 2010 
Area
 -  Total 1,246,700 km² (23rd)
481,354 sq mi 
 -  Water (%) negligible
Population
 -  2022 estimate 35,063,956[1] (42nd)
 -  2014 census 25,789,024[2] 
 -  Density 24.97/km² (157th)
64.65/sq mi
GDP (PPP) 2022 estimate
 -  Total $213.034 billion (67th)
 -  Per capita $7,360 (157th)
GDP (nominal) 2022 estimate
 -  Total $125.496 billion (61st)
 -  Per capita $3,793 (145th)
Gini (2018) 51.3[3] 
Currency Kwanza (AOA)
Time zone WAT (UTC+1)
 -  Summer (DST) not observed (UTC+1)
Internet TLD .ao
Calling code [[++244]]

A former Portuguese colony, Angola, known formally as the Republic of Angola, is on the west coast of Southern Africa. It is the second-largest Lusophone (Portuguese-speaking) country in both total area and population (behind Brazil in both cases), and is the seventh-largest country in Africa. It is bordered by Namibia to the south, the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the north, Zambia to the east, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west. Angola has an exclave province, the province of Cabinda, that borders the Republic of the Congo and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The capital and most populous city is Luanda.

Angola has vast mineral and petroleum reserves. Angolan culture reflects centuries of Portuguese influence, namely the predominance of the Portuguese language and of the Catholic Church, intermingled with a variety of indigenous customs and traditions.

History

In 1482, when the Portuguese first landed in what is now northern Angola, they encountered the Kingdom of the Congo, which stretched from modern Gabon in the north to the Kwanza River in the south. South of this kingdom were various important states. Ndongo was the most significant, and modern Angola derives its name from the Ndongo word ngola (king). The Portuguese gradually took control of the coastal strip throughout the sixteenth century by a series of treaties and wars and had conquered the Congo and Ndongo states by 1671. Full Portuguese administrative control of the interior did not occur until the beginning of the twentieth century.

Portugal's primary interest in Angola quickly turned to slavery, which began with the purchase from African chiefs of people to work on sugar plantations in São Tomé, Principé, and Brazil. Many scholars agree that by the nineteenth century, Angola was the largest source of slaves not only for Brazil but also the Americas, including the United States. By the end of the nineteenth century, a massive forced labor system had replaced formal slavery and would continue until outlawed in 1961. Forced labor provided the basis for development of a plantation economy and then the mining sector. It was also used to construct three railroads from the coast to the interior.

Colonial economic development did not translate into social development for native Angolans. The Portuguese regime encouraged white immigration, especially after 1950, which intensified racial antagonisms. As decolonization progressed elsewhere in Africa, Portugal rejected independence and treated its African colonies as overseas provinces. Consequently, three independence movements emerged: the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) led by Agostinho Neto, with a base among Kimbundu and the mixed-race intelligentsia of Luanda, and links to communist parties in Portugal and the Soviet bloc; the National Front for the Liberation of Angola (FNLA), led by Holden Roberto with an ethnic base in the Bakongo region of the north and links to the United States and the Mobutu regime in Kinshasa; and the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA), led by Jonas Savimbi with an ethnic and regional base in the Ovimbundu heartland in the center of the country.

After the 1974 coup in Portugal, the military government promptly agreed to hand over power to a coalition of the three movements. The ideological differences between the three movements eventually led to armed conflict, with FNLA and UNITA forces, encouraged by their respective international supporters, attempting to wrest control of Luanda from the MPLA. The intervention of troops from South Africa on behalf of UNITA and Zaire on behalf of the FNLA in September and October 1975 and the MPLA's importation of Cuban troops in November, effectively internationalized the conflict. Retaining control of Luanda, the coastal strip, and increasingly lucrative oil fields in Cabinda, the MPLA declared independence on November 11, 1975—the day the Portuguese abandoned the capital. UNITA and the FNLA formed a rival coalition government based in the interior city of Huambo. Agostinho Neto became the first president of the MPLA government that was recognized by the United Nations in 1976. Upon his death in 1979, then-Planning Minister José Eduardo dos Santos became president, a position he still holds.

The FNLA's military failures led to its increasing marginalization, but civil war between UNITA and the MPLA continued until 1989. For much of this time, UNITA controlled vast swaths of the interior and was backed by U.S. resources and South African troops. Similarly, tens of thousands of Cuban troops remained to support the MPLA. A U.S.-brokered agreement resulted in withdrawal of foreign troops in 1989 and led to the Bicesse Accord in 1991, which spelled out an electoral process for a democratic Angola under the supervision of the United Nations. UNITA leader Savimbi rejected the results of the first round of the presidential election in 1992, charging fraud, and returned to war. Another peace accord, known as the Lusaka Protocol, was brokered in Lusaka, Zambia, and signed in 1994. This agreement, too, collapsed. The Angolan military launched a massive offensive in 1999 that destroyed UNITA's conventional capacity and recaptured all the major cities previously held by Savimbi's forces. Savimbi returned to guerrilla tactics, which continued until his death in combat in February 2002. Soon after, a cease-fire agreement was reached.

The Front for the Liberation of the Enclave of Cabinda (FLEC), formed in 1974, rejected the agreement that included Cabinda as part of Angola at independence. In 1975, FLEC began guerilla attacks against government targets and kidnapped foreigners in an effort to press for an independent Cabindan state. The simmering revolt finally ended with the signing of a memorandum of understanding in 2006.

Politics

Angola changed from a one-party Marxist-Leninist system ruled by the MPLA to a nominal multiparty democracy following the 1992 elections, in which President José Eduardo dos Santos won the first-round election with more than 49 percent of the vote to Jonas Savimbi's 40 percent; a runoff never took place. Although the political situation of the country began to stabilize, regular democratic processes did not prevail until the elections in Angola in 2008 and 2012 and the adoption of a new constitution in 2010, all of which strengthened the prevailing dominant-party system.

The Constitution of 2010 established the broad outlines of government structure and delineates the rights and duties of citizens. The legal system is based on Portuguese law and customary law but is weak and fragmented, and courts operate in only 12 of more than 140 municipalities. A Supreme Court serves as the appellate tribunal; a Constitutional Court does not hold the powers of judicial review. Governors of the 18 provinces are appointed by the president. After the end of the civil war, the regime came under pressure from within as well as from the international community to become more democratic and less authoritarian. Its reaction was to implement a number of changes without substantially changing its character.

The new constitution, adopted in 2010, did away with presidential elections, introducing a system in which the president and the vice-president of the political party that wins the parliamentary elections automatically become president and vice-president. Directly or indirectly, the president controls all other organs of the state, so there is de facto no separation of powers. In the classifications used in constitutional law, this government falls under the category of authoritarian regime.

Geography

Topographic map of Angola

Angola is bordered by Namibia to the south, Zambia to the east, the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the northeast, and the South Atlantic Ocean to the west. Angola's capital, Luanda, lies on the Atlantic coast in the northwest of the country. The oil-rich province of Cabinda is separated from the rest of the nation by the Congo River and a narrow strip of land belonging to the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Angola is divided into an arid coastal strip stretching from Namibia to Luanda; a wet, interior highland; a dry savanna in the interior south and southeast; and rainforests in the north and in Cabinda. The Zambezi River and several tributaries of the Congo River have their sources in Angola.

Economy

Map of Angola

Angola has diamonds, oil, gold, copper, and rich wildlife (which was dramatically depleted during the civil war), forest, and fossil fuels. Since independence, oil and diamonds have been the most important economic resource. Smallholder and plantation agriculture dramatically dropped in the Angolan Civil War, but began to recover after 2002.

Angola's economy has in recent years moved on from the disarray caused by a quarter-century of Angolan civil war to become the fastest-growing economy in Africa and one of the fastest-growing in the world. China is Angola's biggest trade partner and export destination as well as the fourth-largest source of imports.

Although the country's economy has grown significantly since Angola achieved political stability in 2002, mainly due to fast-rising earnings in the oil sector, Angola continues to face huge social and economic problems. These are in part a result of almost continual armed conflict from 1961 on, although the highest level of destruction and socio-economic damage took place after the 1975 independence, during the long years of civil war. The enormous differences between the regions pose a serious structural problem for the Angolan economy, illustrated by the fact that about one third of economic activities are concentrated in Luanda and neighboring Bengo province, while several areas of the interior suffer economic stagnation and even regression.

Demographics

Luanda, the Angolan capital

The civil war ravaged the country's political institutions and resulted in massive internal displacement. Many people fled as refugees to neighboring countries. By 2005, after peace was restored, an estimated four million people had returned to their homes but forty thousand to sixty thousand remained as internally displaced persons (IDPs). Daily conditions of life throughout the country, especially Luanda (with a population of approximately four million), mirror the collapse of government as well as many social institutions. The agricultural, health care, education, water, and transportation infrastructures were destroyed during the war. Hospitals lack medicines or basic equipment, schools operate without books, and public employees often do without basic supplies for their day-to-day work. An estimated 80,000 Angolans are victims of land mines.

Angola has three main ethnic groups, each speaking a Bantu language: Ovimbundu, Kimbundu , and Bakongo. Mestiços (Angolans of mixed European and African origins) and a small population of whites make up the remainder. Portuguese make up the largest non-Angolan population. Portuguese is both the official and predominant language, spoken in the homes of about two-thirds of the population and as a secondary language by many more.

Catholicism remains the dominant religion, although an increasing number of churches are claiming more followers, particularly evangelicals.

Notes

  1. ↑ Angola Population Worldometer. Retrieved August 28, 2022.
  2. ↑ Angola Population and Housing Census 2014 GHDx. Retrieved August 28, 2022.
  3. ↑ GINI index (World Bank estimate) - Angola The World Bank. Retrieved August 28, 2022.

References
ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

  • Cutter, Charles H. Africa 2006. Harpers Ferry, WV: Stryker-Post Publications, 2006. ISBN 1887985727
  • Gailey, Harry A., Jr. History of Africa: From 1800 to 1945. Malabar, FL: Robert Krieger Publishing, 1989. ISBN 0894642952
  • Gailey, Harry A., Jr. History of Africa: From Earliest Times to 1800. Malabar, FL: Robert Krieger Publishing, 1999. ISBN 1575241188

External links

All links retrieved July 27, 2023.

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