Angola is a country on Africa’s southwest coast. Its official name is the Republic of Angola. Cabinda, in the northwest, is a district of Angola. The Congo River and the Democratic Republic of the Congo separate it from the rest of the country.
About one-third of Angola’s people live in rural areas and work on farms. Angola produces a variety of crops, including bananas, coffee, corn, sugar cane, and a starchy root called cassava (see Cassava). Angola also has many natural resources, including diamonds, iron ore, and petroleum. Luanda, the capital and largest city, is a major African seaport.
Angola became independent in November 1975. Parts of it had been ruled by Portugal for most of the period since the 1500’s. Between 1975 and the early 2000’s, Angola was torn apart by a brutal civil war. A cease-fire was signed in 2002.
Government.
A president is the most powerful official in Angola’s government. The National Assembly, the country’s legislature, makes the laws. The people of Angola elect the National Assembly. The head of the party with a majority in the National Assembly becomes president. The president appoints a vice president to help run the day-to-day affairs of the government.
People.
Angola’s people belong to several ethnic groups, including the Ovimbundu, the Mbundu, the Kongo, and the Luanda-Chokwe. Before the nation became independent, more than 400,000 Europeans and mestizos (people of mixed African and European ancestry) lived in Angola. Most Europeans fled during the civil war that began in 1975.
People in Angola’s rural areas work as farmers and herders. Many raise just enough food for their own use. Most Europeans and mestizos who did not leave the country live in cities. They own small businesses or hold other jobs that require technical and management skills.
Most Angolans speak one of the Bantu languages (see Bantu). Some Angolans speak Portuguese, the official language. About half of the people are Christians, mostly Roman Catholics. Many Angolans have traditional beliefs based on the worship of ancestors and spirits. The majority of Angola’s adults can read and write.
Land and climate.
Angola forms part of the large inland plateau of southern Africa. The country consists chiefly of hilly grasslands, but a rocky desert covers the south. The land gradually rises from the interior to the west, where it drops sharply to a narrow coastal plain. Most of the coastal plain has little natural vegetation. Tropical forests grow in the north.
Angola has many rivers and more than 900 miles (1,400 kilometers) of coastline. Some of the rivers flow north into the Congo River, and others flow west into the Atlantic Ocean. A few, including the Cunene and the Cuanza, serve as waterways to the interior.
Temperatures in the coastal plain region average about 70 °F (21 °C) in January and about 60 °F (16 °C) in June. Most of the inland region has slightly higher temperatures. From 40 to 60 inches (100 to 150 centimeters) of rain falls annually on the northern coast and in most of the interior. Only about 2 inches (5 centimeters) of rain falls yearly in the desert.
Economy.
Mining and agriculture are the most important sectors of Angola’s economy. The country has vast deposits of petroleum and diamonds. Petroleum accounts for almost all of Angola’s exports. Angola is one of the world’s leading diamond producers.
Over half of Angola’s workers are employed in agriculture. The main crops include bananas, cassava, corn, pineapples, sugar cane, and sweet potatoes. Farmers raise cattle for beef and milk. Fishing is important in coastal areas. Angolan industries produce cement, chemicals, petroleum products, processed foods, and textiles.
Many of Angola’s roads are unpaved. Luanda has an international airport. Major ports are at Lobito, Luanda, and Namibe.
History.
Prehistoric peoples lived in what is now Angola as early as 50,000 B.C. Bantu-speaking peoples settled there about 2,000 years ago. The Portuguese established bases in Angola during the 1500’s. By the early 1600’s, Angola had become a major source of slave labor for Portugal’s colony in Brazil. In 1641, the Dutch forced the Portuguese out of Angola and took over the slave trade. Portugal regained control in 1648. During the 1800’s, after the decline of the slave trade, Portuguese planters began to grow corn, sugar cane, and tobacco in Angola. Angola was sometimes called Portuguese West Africa during Portuguese rule.
Portugal began to improve Angola’s economy after the Portuguese dictator Antonio de Oliveira Salazar came to power in the late 1920’s. Thousands of Portuguese moved to Angola and started businesses there.
In the 1950’s, many Angolans began to demand freedom from Portuguese rule. In 1956, the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) was organized. MPLA members revolted in Luanda in 1961. Rioting spread throughout the country and developed into a bloody war. A Portuguese army that included many Angolans put down the uprising. The MPLA rebels then set up guerrilla bases in nearby countries.
Cultural and political differences soon divided the rebels. In 1962, a group of northern rebels formed the National Front for the Liberation of Angola (FNLA). In 1966, southern rebels organized the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA). In 1974, Portuguese military officers overthrew the government of Portugal. In January 1975, they decided to grant independence to Angola. At first, the Angolans agreed to set up a government with representatives from all three rebel groups. But each group wanted to head the government. A civil war broke out over which would rule.
Angola gained independence from Portugal on Nov. 11, 1975. But the civil war continued between the MPLA and the FNLA and UNITA, whose forces had united. The MPLA received considerable aid from two Communist nations, the Soviet Union and Cuba. The United States and South Africa assisted UNITA. The MPLA largely defeated its enemies in April 1976 and formed a Marxist government (government based on the philosophy of Karl Marx). But MPLA leaders denied the government was a Communist dictatorship.
Angola’s new government faced major problems. Members of UNITA continued to wage guerrilla warfare against the government. The FNLA also carried out guerrilla activities until 1984, when it became inactive. The sudden departure of most of Angola’s Europeans caused a shortage of executives and technicians. Many industries and large farms could not be managed properly, and production declined.
The government began several programs to overcome the effects of the civil war. It took control of many businesses and started to train teachers and technicians. The Soviet Union, Cuba, and other Communist countries provided financial and technical aid. But the government also encouraged non-Communist nations to invest in Angolan businesses. Cuba kept troops in Angola to aid the government in its fight against the guerrillas.
Under an agreement signed by Angola, Cuba, and South Africa in late 1988, South Africa stopped sending aid to UNITA, and Cuba began withdrawing its troops. In 1989, the government and UNITA agreed to a cease-fire. The two sides signed a peace treaty in May 1991. Violence continued in the Cabinda area, where guerrillas demanded Cabinda’s independence from Angola.
In 1990, the MPLA renounced Marxism, and in 1991, legalized all political parties. Multiparty elections were held in September 1992. The head of the MPLA government, Jose Eduardo dos Santos, won the first round of the elections. But UNITA protested that the elections were fraudulent, and civil war erupted again. The second round of the elections did not take place, but dos Santos continued as president.
The two sides signed a peace agreement in November 1994. However, in 1998 and early 1999, violence increased, and the peace agreement broke down. The fighting continued, mainly in northwestern Angola. In February 2002, government troops shot and killed UNITA’s long-time leader, Jonas Malheiro Savimbi. In April, the two sides signed a cease-fire agreement.
In 2008, multiparty legislative elections were held for the first time since 1992. The MPLA won the most seats in the National Assembly by a landslide. In 2010, Angola’s government enacted a new constitution. The Constitution eliminated direct presidential elections, instead giving the presidency to the head of the party with a majority of seats in the National Assembly. The MPLA again won legislative elections in 2012, 2017, and 2022. Dos Santos remained president until 2017, when João Lourenço succeeded him in that role. As leader of the MPLA, Lourenço remained president following the elections in 2022. That same year, Esperança Francisco da Costa became Angola’s first woman vice president.
