Angola

Date of Independence: November 11, 1975 Capital: Luanda Languages: Portuguese (official), Umbundu, Kimbundu, Kikongo Ethnic groups: Ovimbundu, Mbundu, Bakong, Lunda-Chokwe, Nganguela, Mestico (mixed European and African) Major Religions: Christianity Currency: Kwanza Population: 14.5 million (2005) Main exports: Oil, diamonds, minerals, coffee, fish, timber

Angola is in the Great Lakes Region of Africa. The name Angola was derived from the word ngola, the title once given to rulers of the Mbutu people in northern Angola. Overwhelmingly rural, subsistence agriculture provides the main livelihood for 85% of the population. The largest of three former Portuguese colonies in Africa, Angola waged a bitter war for independence from nearly five centuries of Portuguese rule. During the struggle, various factions put aside their differences to fight for independence, but when the country finally gained independence in 1975, the cracks quickly began to show.

Angola is slowly rebuilding itself after one of the longest civil wars in Africa’s history. For over 27 years, immediately after the country’s independence in 1975, the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), led by Jose Eduardo Dos Santos, and the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA), led by Jonas Savimbi, waged war in the shadow of the Cold War. The MPLA, Angola’s ruling party since independence, was strongly supported by the Soviet Union and Cuba, while UNITA and Savimbi were backed by the U.S. and South Africa.

There was a brief period of peace in 1992 when Angola held multiparty elections for the first time. The president at the time, Agostinho Neto, failed to score a clear victory against Savimbi in first-round voting and was forced into a run-off election. When he won the second round, UNITA rejected the outcome and resumed fighting. In 1994, another peace accord was signed and the United Nations (UN) sent in peacekeepers. But fighting escalated again and grew so violent that the UN withdrew its forces in 1999. It was not until 2002 when Savimbi was killed in a gunfight with government forces that a lasting peace seemed possible. A new peace treaty was signed later that year that has since held.

The fighting in Angola was brutal. Over 300,000 people died and as many as two million people were displaced in the fighting. One of the most tragic legacies of the war is the estimated 500,000 landmines that are buried throughout the country. No one knows exactly how many landmines there are; some estimates go as high as six million. The danger has prevented many farmers from returning to cultivate their lands. Angola is potentially one of the richest countries in Africa, with vast resources of oil, diamonds, minerals and cottons. Yet because of the war, much of its population relies on food aid.

Sources:
The World Factbook, Central Intelligence Agency, available at: http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/ao.html

Country Profile: Angola, BBC News, available at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/country_profiles/1063073.stm

Forgotten People: Displaced Persons in Cabinda Province, Angola, Refugees International, available at: http://www.refugeesinternational.org/content/article/detail/5862/

Angola, MSN Encarta, available at: http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761571092/Angola_(country).html

Angola, Wikipedia, available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angola