Angola

Full name of country: Republic of Angola

Region: Africa

Official language: Portuguese

Population: 37,202,061 (2024 est.)

Nationality: Angolan(s) (noun), Angolan (adjective)

Land area: 1,246,700 sq km (481,353 sq miles)

Capital: Luanda

National anthem: "Angola Avante" (Forward Angola), by Manuel Rui Alves Monteiro/Rui Alberto Vieira Dias Mingao

National holiday: Independence Day, November 11 (1975)

Population growth: 3.33% (2024 est.)

Time zone: UTC +1

Flag: The flag of Angola features two horizontal bands of color, one red and one black. The red represents the blood shed during the country’s fight for independence while the black represents Africa. The flag also features a yellow cog wheel, machete, and star. This centered imagery, which represents the communist ideals of workers and industry, was included during the years Angola was administered by a single-party socialist government.

Independence: November 11, 1975 (from Portugal)

Government type: republic; multiparty presidential regime

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal

Legal system: civil legal system based on Portuguese civil law; no judicial review of legislation

Angola is a country on the southwest coast of Africa. It was named by the Portuguese, from the word for king, "ngola," used by the Ndongo people. The Portuguese used the Angolan coast as a base for the slave trade beginning in the sixteenth century, sometimes working with regional African powers such as the Kingdom of Kongo. Through the nineteenth century Portugal gradually asserted colonial control throughout all of modern-day Angola (then often known as "Portuguese West Africa"), and in 1914 it imposed direct rule.

Angola won independence from Portugal in 1975. Over the following decades, two disparate political groups, the People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) and the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA), engaged in near-continuous civil war. The Angolan Civil War formally ended in 2002. Almost forty years of fighting killed as many as 1.5 million people and displaced millions more, shattered Angola's economy, and left land mines which continue to claim victims.

In 2010, Angola instituted a new constitution. The discovery and development of oil deposits also helped efforts to rebuild the country following the devastating civil war. However, government corruption has played a large role in keeping a significant portion of the country's population below the poverty line.

Note: unless otherwise indicated, statistical data in this article is sourced from the CIA World Factbook, as cited in the bibliography.

People and Culture

Population: Angola's population remained largely rural areas into the twenty-first century, but by 2010 the country had begun to urbanize rapidly. By 2023, an estimated 68.7 percent of the population lived in urban areas. Most of Angola's population is concentrated in the western half of the country.

Angola is very ethnically diverse. The Ovimbundu, who constitute an estimated 37 percent of the population, speak the Umbundu language and live mostly in central and southern Angola. The Mbundu (Kimbundu) account for 25 percent of the population. They speak Kimbundu, and live mainly in the capital and in the central and southern areas. Straddling Angola's borders with the Republic of the Congo and the Democratic Republic of the Congo is the homeland of the Bakongo (13 percent of the population), who speak Kikongo dialects.

Other ethnic groups in Angola include the Lwena, Chokwe, Ovakwanyama, Nyaneka-Humbe, Luchazi, Ambo, and Mbwela peoples. Before independence, more than 400,000 Europeans and people of mixed Black African and European descent lived in Angola. Many Europeans fled during the years of civil war. Most of those who remain live in the country's cities.

While the official language is Portuguese, more than sixty languages belonging to the Bantu group are also spoken in Angola. Some of the major languages include Umbundu, Kimbundu, Kikongo, Chokwe, Ovambo (Oshiwambo), and Kwanyama.

Angola's largest city is Luanda, the capital, with a population of about 9.292 million in 2023. Other major cities include Lubango (population 959,000 in 2023) and Cabinda (809,000 in 2023).

According to its constitution, Angola is a secular state, with respect for all religions. Most of the people are Christians, and most of the Christians are Roman Catholics (about 41.1 percent of the population). Protestant churches include the Evangelical Congregational, Evangelical Pentecostal and United Evangelical churches, and together account for about 38.1 percent of the population. A small number of Angolans adhere to traditional tribal beliefs. An estimated 12.3 percent profess no religious affiliation.

Indigenous People: Angola has been inhabited since prehistoric times. Approximately two thousand years ago, Bantu-speaking people settled in the area. When the Portuguese arrived in 1482, the area was dominated by the Kingdom of Ndongo, but numerous ethnic groups existed in the region. Through wars and treaties, the Portuguese gained control and imposed borders with little regard for preexisting tribal or political divisions. Portugal and other European powers exploited conflicts among African peoples to grow the slave trade.

In the 1950s, Portuguese people were encouraged to move to Angola and start businesses. The resulting economic advances did little for Black Angolans, most of whom lived in a state of virtual forced labor. This disparity led to increased racial tensions. Ethnic divisions also played into the Angolan Civil War, with the MPLA largely representing the Mbundu and UNITA dominated by the Ovimbundu.

Education: All state education is free in Angola, but schools became overcrowded as a result of the Angolan Civil War, which destroyed many school buildings. Officially, education is compulsory for children between the ages of seven and eleven. Primary school begins at age six and lasts for six years. Secondary school begins at age twelve and lasts for up to six years, three in lower secondary and three in upper secondary. Instruction used to be solely in Portuguese, but today it is usually offered in local languages.

Until 2000, Angola had only two universities, both in Luanda. The Universidade Agostinho Neto began in 1962 as the Estudos Gerais Universitários de Angola. A public, state-run institution, it was of two Portuguese-run universities founded in Africa that year (the other was in Mozambique). It was renamed the Universidade de Luanda in 1968. In 1976, following independence the previous year, the institution was reestablished as Universidade de Angola, a state school. In 1985, the name was changed to Universidade Agostinho Neto, in honor of the first president of the independent republic.

After independence, private schools were banned. In 1992 the ban was lifted to allow the Angolan Catholic Church to establish its own university. The Universidade Católica de Angola opened in 1999, the first private university in the country since independence. Since then, a number of other public and private higher institutions have been established. In 2005 the Ministry of Education issued a press release warning prospective university students to make sure that any school they applied to was on the list of government-recognized institutions, which at the time numbered seven (two public, five private).

In 2015, the literacy rate in Angola was approximately 71.1 percent overall (82.6 percent among men and 62.4 percent among women).

Health Care: In general, public health in Angola is very poor. The overall health of the country is ranked among the lowest in the world. Life expectancy at birth is only 62.9 years overall (60.8 years for men and 65.1 for women, by 2024 estimates). An estimated 2.9 percent of the country's GDP went to health expenditures in 2020. A shortage of trained medical professionals in Angola presents significant challenges.

Just 66.5 percent of Angolans have access to improved drinking water, and approximately 72.7 percent have access to improved sanitation (2020 estimates). Angola's rank on the 2022 United Nations Human Development Index (based on data for 2022), which measures quality-of-life indicators, was 150 out of 193 countries and territories.

Because of the country's lack of medical professionals and health-care infrastructure, many high-risk diseases remain prevalent in Angola. These include bacterial and protozoal diarrhea, typhoid fever, dengue fever, hepatitis A, malaria, schistosomiasis, and rabies.

Food: Corn and palm oil are staples of the Angolan diet. Funge, or cornmeal mush, is the basic food eaten at most meals. Some meat and a variety of vegetables are also used in Angolan cooking.

Calulu is fish or chicken in a stew of okra, greens, zucchini, tomatoes, and garlic, cooked in palm oil. Chicken mamba is similar, but includes "palm hash," which is left over after palm oil is extracted from palm oil fruit. Grilled fish, such as tilapia, is a main ingredient of mafuto de cacuso. The fish is marinated in onion, peppers, oil, lemon, vinegar and salt. Mafuto de cacuso is often served with beans cooked in palm oil.

Angola first popularized piri-piri sauce made from hot Brazilian red chili peppers. Historically, this sauce was a staple food throughout the Portuguese empire.

Arts & Entertainment: Angolan traditional arts are closely tied to cultural rituals such as birth, death, and adulthood, and to seasonal activities such as hunting and harvesting.

The Thinker, a wooden sculpture of Chokwe origin, is one of the oldest and best-known pieces of traditional Angolan art. Masks of bronze, ivory, malachite, ceramics, and wood are distinct for each culture. Lunda-Chokwe masks, for instance, represent mythological figures and are used with music and storytelling.

Because of slavery, traditional Angolan musical styles and instruments spread throughout Latin America and the Caribbean. Some Angolan instruments include the saxi (katchakatcha), better known as maracas, and the ngoma, also known as bongos. The vandumbu is a kind of trumpet, and the mjemboerose is a trumpet made from antelope's horn greased with beeswax. The mbulumbumba, a kind of harp, was popular among enslaved people in Brazil. It is still used there under the name berimbau. The marimba was developed as a result of Angolan contact with Asian cultures.

Angola's traditional oral literature was influenced during colonial times by Portuguese education. Later literary works encouraged rebellion against imperialism. António Agostinho Neto, the country's most famous poet, was also the first president of Angola. The civil war and government censorship limited literary output in Angola in the years following independence.

Architecture in Angola is largely in the Portuguese style, with cathedrals and forts that date to the seventeenth century.

Angola's national soccer team, the Palancas Negras (black antelopes), competes internationally.

Holidays: Official holidays observed in Angola include Martyrs' Day (January 4), Peace and National Reconciliation Day (April 4), Africa Day (May 25), and Independence Day (November 11).

Liberation Day (February 4) marks the anniversary of the outbreak of armed resistance against the Portuguese. National Heroes' Day (September 17) is also the birthday of Agostinho Neto, the country's first president.

Environment and Geography

Topography: Almost twice the size of the American state of Texas, Angola lies on the southwest coast of Africa. It is bounded on the north by the Republic of the Congo and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly Zaire), on the east by Zambia, on the south by Namibia and on the west by the Atlantic Ocean. The province of Cabinda, in the northwest, is separated from the rest of the country by the estuary of the Congo River.

Angola is part of southern Africa's inland plateau. A dry coastal plain rises to a wet agricultural plateau in the interior. The land then slopes gradually to the savannah (grasslands) of the east. The southwestern part of the county is rocky semi-desert, and borders the Kalahari Desert of Namibia. The northern part (including Cabinda) is rainforest.

Luanda is a major African seaport. Other seaports include Ambriz, Cabinda, Lobito, Malongo, Namibe, Porto Amboim, and Soyo.

Angola is traversed by 1,400 kilometers (more than 900 miles) of navigable rivers. Primary watercourses into the interior include the Cunene (1,207 kilometers/750 miles), the Cuango (1,127 kilometers/700 miles), and the Cuanza (966 kilometers/600 miles). The Zambezi, Africa's fourth-largest river, rises in Angola and flows south into Zambia. The lower Congo River forms part of the border between Angola and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Natural Resources: Angola's major natural resources are petroleum, diamonds, timber, gold, iron ore, copper, phosphates, bauxite, feldspar, and uranium, plus various fruits and other foodstuffs, including fish.

The country suffers many environmental problems. The pressures of a growing population have led to overgrazing and resultant soil erosion. In turn, soil erosion contributes to water pollution. Deforestation in the tropical rainforest has resulted from the use of wood for fuel as well as from international demand for timber, causing a loss of biodiversity. Conservation groups are working to preserve and increase animal and plant populations. Desertification is another problem.

Plants & Animals: Other than palm trees, little vegetation grows along Angola's dry coastal plain. The northern tropical forests are home to such tree species as African sandalwood, ebony, rosewood, tola and mahogany. Aloe grows in the highlands. Grasses and shrubs grow abundantly in the savannah. The south and east are characterized by grasslands. Sparse desert vegetation grows in the southwest.

War and deforestation have caused Angola to lose much of its biodiversity, especially large animals. However, the country is still home to Angolan giant sables (a mountain goat-antelope), gorillas, elephants, crocodiles, hippopotamuses, elands, reedbucks, oribis, black sables, impalas, antelope, lions, zebras, bushpigs, duikers, buffalo, leopards, baboons, giraffes, and cheetahs. Smaller animals include porcupines, pangolins, aardwolves, genets (a type of cat), adders, and mound-building termites.

About 360 bird species have been identified in the highlands alone, including cave-chats, francolins, swifts, togins, thrushes and the slaty flycatcher. Mackerel, tuna and sardines flourish in Angola's coastal waters.

Climate: The northern part of Angola, nearer the equator, has a tropical climate. The southern area is subtropical. Temperate conditions prevail, however, at altitudes above 1,500 meters (5,000 feet), where frost sometimes occurs.

Average temperatures on the coastal plain range from around 21 degrees Celsius (70 degrees Fahrenheit) in January (subequatorial summer) to 16 degrees Celsius (60 degrees Fahrenheit) in June. The coast is cooler than most tropical areas at the same latitude because of sea breezes from the Benguela Current. The interior experiences temperatures close to 19 degrees Celsius (66 degrees Fahrenheit). The rainy seasons lasts from October to March, while the dry season is from November to April.

The northern coast and most of the interior experience between 1,000 and 1,500 millimeters (40 and 60 inches) of annual rainfall, whereas the desert area receives only about 50 millimeters (2 inches) of rain each year. Local heavy rains on the plateau often cause floods.

Economy

The civil war that ended in 2002 left Angola's economy in ruin. However, the country subsequently developed one of the fastest-growing economies in Africa, thanks to its oil output. Angola is one of the largest oil-producing countries in Africa, and exports account for about half of the country's gross domestic product (GDP). Diamonds have long been economically important, and other sectors, such as fishing and manufacturing, have also grown. Angola's real gross domestic product (GDP; purchasing power parity) was an estimated US$265.868 billion, or US$7,200 per capita, in 2023.

Despite the country's oil wealth, most Angolans remain poor. The country's unemployment rate was estimated at 14.62 percent in 2023. Many people make their living by subsistence farming.

Industry: Angola's chief industrial products include petroleum, diamonds, iron ore, phosphates, and cement.

Angola's major exports, which earned an estimated US$36.961 billion in 2023, include crude and refined petroleum, natural gas, diamonds, and asphalt mixtures.

Agriculture: Major agricultural products include cassava, bananas, maize, sweet potatoes, pineapples, sugar cane, potatoes, citrus fruit, and cabbage. Timber, fish, and livestock are also important to the agricultural sector.

Livestock products include cows' milk, beef and veal, pork, honey, hides, goat meat, poultry, game, eggs, beeswax, mutton, and lamb.

Before the civil war, Angola was the fourth-largest coffee producer in the world. The International Coffee Organization (ICO) has worked to help coffee growers revive production in the country.

Only about 3.9 percent of the land in Angola is arable (2018 estimate), and subsistence farmers are unable to grow enough food to feed their families; the majority of agricultural land is given over to permanent pasture. Today, Angola imports much of its food. Drought also contributes to low agricultural productivity.

Tourism: The civil war heavily damaged Angola's tourist business. More than two decades after the end of the war, the country is still relatively unstable, limiting growth in the industry.

Angola's attractions include beaches, tropical rainforests, dramatic landscapes in both mountains and plains, waterfalls, unusual rock formations, rivers and deep gorges. Tourists also enjoy safaris in game parks and national parks. Historical Portuguese buildings in Angola, dating to the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, include the ruins of the Bishop's Cathedral in the city of Mbanza Kongo; the Cathedral of Luanda, built in 1628; and numerous coastal forts.

Government

An armed rebellion against Portuguese imperialism, begun in 1961, was unsuccessful. Severe repression followed, but violence kept breaking out for more than a decade. Finally, after a 1974 coup d'état in Portugal, the new military leaders agreed to grant Angola its independence. The republic was officially established on November 11, 1975. Cultural divisions between the north and south resulted in a long civil war after independence. Today, Angola is officially a multiparty democracy, though the democratic process has yet to take hold in the aftermath of the war. Suffrage is universal at age eighteen.

The president is head of state and head of government. The constitution of 2010 gives the president almost unlimited powers. Beginning in 1979, the president of Angola was Jose Eduardo dos Santos. After he stepped down in 2017, he was succeeded by Joao Manuel Goncalves Lourenco.

The unicameral legislature, the Assembleia Nacional (National Assembly), has 220 members who are elected by proportional representation for five-year terms.

The country is organized into eighteen provinces. Each province is administered by a governor appointed by the president.

Interesting Facts

• During the colonization of Angola, Queen Nzinga Mbande (1582–1663) became a symbol of resistance. An expert at guerilla warfare, she continued to personally lead her warriors into battle against the Portuguese until well into her sixties.
• The Dutch supplanted the Portuguese from 1641 to 1648, partly with Queen Nzinga's aid. However, instead of abolishing the slave trade, they simply took it over.
• The Cuanza River historically provided an important navigation route to the interior of the country, many parts of which resisted direct Portuguese control until the late 1800s.
• Cabinda Province is an exclave of Angola on the Atlantic coast, located to the north and separated from the rest of the country by a narrow strip of land that is part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Bibliography

"Angola." The World Bank, 2024, data.worldbank.org/country/angola. Accessed 21 Jan. 2025.

"Angola." The World Factbook, Central Intelligence Agency, 15 Jan. 2025, www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/angola/. Accessed 21 Jan. 2025.

"Angola." World Health Organization, www.who.int/countries/ago/en/. Accessed 25 Oct. 2023.

“Human Development Insights.” Human Development Reports, 13 Mar. 2024, United Nations Development Programme, hdr.undp.org/data-center/country-insights#/ranks. Accessed 21 Jan. 2025.