Angola

Angola, whose official name is República de Angola (in Portuguese, República de Angola), is a country located south of Africa that has borders with Namibia to the south, Zambia to the southeast, the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the north and northeast and the Republic of the Congo to the northwest, while to the west it has a coast bathed by the Atlantic Ocean. Its capital is Luanda and in the north of the country is the exclave of Cabinda, which borders the Republic of the Congo and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

The Portuguese were present in various parts of the coast that today belongs to Angola since the XVI century and interacted in various ways manners with the natives. The Portuguese presence was consolidated in the XIX century with its penetration into the interior of the territory and its effective occupation to consider it a colony of the Europeans, as stipulated in the Berlin conference of 1884. The consolidation of colonization did not take place until the 1920s, after the subjugation of the Mbunda people and the kidnapping of their king, Mwene Mbandu Kapova I.

Angola achieved its independence from Portugal on November 11, 1975, after a long war (from 1961 to 1975). However, once emancipated, the new country was plunged into a long and intense civil war, which lasted from 1975 to 2002, fomented by the white racist apartheid group of South Africa and the dictator Mobutu Sese Seko of Zaire. The country has abundant mineral and oil deposits, and its economy has grown at a very high rate since the 1990s, especially since the end of the civil war. That is why the standard of living is high in the cities and towns on the coast, but in the interior there is still poverty. Life expectancy rates are higher than those of its neighboring countries and infant mortality is among the lowest in Africa.

Its system of government is multiparty democracy, with a presidential regime. He is a member of the African Union, the Community of Portuguese Language Countries and the Southern African Development Community.

Toponymy

The word «Angola» is the Portuguese form of the word quimbundu (language of the Bantu family) N'gola, which refers to the title of the heads of the Kingdom of Ndongo that existed in the 15th to 16th centuries, when the Portuguese settled in Luanda. From the title, the kingdom was called Angola Dongo by Europeans. As for the word itself, it is linked to ngolo which means "strength".

History

Bantu expansion.

The original inhabitants of present-day Angola were hunters and gatherers and spoke the Khoisan language, few in number and quite dispersed. With the expansion of the Bantu peoples, who reached the current territory of Angola from the year 1000, they were absorbed by them or dispersed towards the south. Some small groups are still found in southern Angola, others in northern Botswana and Namibia.

The Bantu were a people of farmers, gatherers and hunters who probably began their migrations from the humid jungle, on what is now the border between Nigeria and Cameroon. Its expansion occurred in small groups, which relocated in response to ecological, economic or political circumstances. Through the fourteenth and seventeenth centuries, a series of kingdoms were established in contemporary Angola, the main one being the Kingdom of the Congo. This included the northwest of present-day Angola, the west of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Republic of the Congo, and the south of present-day Gabon. The strip that is currently the border between Angola and the Democratic Republic of the Congo and its heyday occurred during the 12th to 17th centuries.

In 1482, a Portuguese fleet arrived at the mouth of the Congo River, commanded by Diogo Cão. That was the first contact with the ancestors of the current Angolans, specifically with the Kingdom of Congo, and the prelude to the colonizing process that over the course of five centuries went through very different periods.

Colonial Period

Lithography of Queen Nzinga during peace agreements with the Portuguese governor in 1657.

Portugal arrived in the territory in 1483 on the Congo River, where Kongo existed, stretching from present-day Gabon in the north to the Cuanza River in the south. Portugal established in 1575 a Portuguese colony in Luanda based on the slave trade. The Portuguese gradually took control of the coastline throughout the 16th century through a series of treaties and wars, thus forming the colony of Angola, still small in size, and which would belong to Spain from 1580 to 1640, due to its union with Portugal.

The Dutch occupied Luanda from 1641 to 1648, providing a boost for anti-Portuguese states. In 1648, Portugal retook Luanda and began a process of military conquest of the states of Kongo and Ndongo that ended in victory for the Portuguese in 1671. Full Portuguese administrative control of the interior did not occur until the turn of the century XX. In 1951, the colony was recategorized as an overseas province, also called Portuguese West Africa.

Between 1939 and 1943 the Portuguese army carried out operations against the nomadic Mucubal people, accused of rebellion, which caused the death of half of its population. The survivors were incarcerated in concentration camps, sent to forced labor camps, where the vast majority perished due to the brutality of the labor system, malnutrition, and executions.

Arms shield (1951-1975).

After Portugal's decision to bet on a multiracial state in the face of the decolonization process, three independence movements arose in Angola:

• The People ' s Movement for the Liberation of AngolaMovimento Popular de Libertação de Angola, MPLA), with a base between kimbundu and the mestizo intelligence of Luanda, and ties with Communist parties of Portugal and the countries of the Warsaw Pact.
• The National Liberation Front of Angola (NLF)National Front of Libertação de Angola, FNLA), with an ethnic basis in the northern Bakongo region and links with the United States Government, the Mobutu Sese Seko regime in Zaire and the apartheid government of South Africa, among others.
• The National Union for the Total Independence of AngolaUnião Nacional para a Independência Total de Angola, UNITA), led by Jonas Malheiro Savimbi with ethnic and regional base in the heart of Ovimbundu, in the center of the country.

After a 14-year guerrilla war that began on February 4, 1961, and following the Carnation Revolution in Portugal, Angola achieved its independence in 1975.

Autonomous period

Before the formal handover of the government by the Portuguese set for November 11, 1975, a civil war broke out on August 9, 1975 between the MPLA, UNITA and FNLA, all three supported by outside forces.

Facade of a building in Huambo (Angola) with bullet impacts produced during the civil war.

The MPLA, of leftist inspiration, managed to defeat, with the support of Cuban, Guinean and Katangese forces (from Katanga, a breakaway province of Zaire that would later return to its sovereignty) their opponents in Qifangondo, at the gates of Luanda and received the government out of the hands of the Portuguese, but the war continued.

In 1976, the Zaire-backed FNLA was defeated in Operation Charlotte, leaving the MPLA and the apartheid South African-backed UNITA to scramble for power.

A lot of effort has been made in the field of adult education and literacy, especially in urban centers. In 1986, the number of primary school students exceeded 1.5 million, and almost half a million adults learned to read and write. The language of instruction remains mainly Portuguese, but experiments have been carried out to introduce the study of local African languages from the earliest years of schooling.

In January 1984 an agreement was negotiated. South Africa obtains from Angola a promise to withdraw its support for the SWAPO Movement for the independence of Namibia established in Angola since 1975) in exchange for the evacuation of South African troops from Angola. Despite this agreement, South Africa, under the pretext of pursuing SWAPO guerrillas, carried out large-scale operations on Angolan soil when UNITA was under attack by Angolan government forces. In parallel, South Africa is organizing attacks in Angola. In May 1985, an Angolan patrol intercepted a South African commando in Malongo that was about to sabotage oil installations.

The United States provided Stinger surface-to-air missiles to the rebels through the Kamina base in southern Zaire, a base the United States would consider permanently reactivating. US aid would also include anti-tank weapons so that UNITA can better resist the increasingly threatening offensives by the Luanda army against areas still under its control in the east and southeast of the country.

In 1991, after the battle at Cuito Cuanavale in 1988, after long negotiations, South Africa and Cuba agreed to withdraw from Namibia and Angola respectively. So the Angolan government and UNITA agreed to make Angola a multi-party state. However, after José Eduardo dos Santos of the MPLA won the presidential elections monitored by international observers, UNITA again unleashed hostilities alleging fraud, an allegation that was not supported by observers.

A new peace agreement in 1994 (Lusaka Protocol) between the government and UNITA saw the integration of former UNITA insurgents into the government. A government of national unity was installed in 1997. However, UNITA claimed that the government was not complying with the agreements and resumed hostilities in 1998. This time the UN approved a censure against UNITA. President José Eduardo dos Santos suspended the regular functioning of the democratic bodies due to the conflict and launched a major offensive that crushed UNITA's conventional forces in 1999 and recaptured the main cities. UNITA announced a return to guerrilla warfare.

Map with the main cities. To the north of the country, next to the coast, is the enclave of Cabinda.

On February 22, 2002, Jonás Savimbi, the leader of UNITA, was killed in an ambush in the province of Moxico and a ceasefire was reached between the two factions. UNITA left the armed struggle and definitively became a political party.

In 2008, the parliamentary elections were held, after ten years of suspension of democratic guarantees and procedures, with the general approval of international observers, who also denounced various irregularities. In the elections the MPLA won by an overwhelming majority. However, under the constitution adopted in 2010, there will no longer be a place for presidential elections, since the position of president will be held by the leader of the party that obtains the majority in parliament.

Some of Angola's main problems are a serious humanitarian crisis as a consequence of the protracted war, the abundance of antipersonnel mines, and the actions of guerrilla movements such as the Front for the Liberation of the Cabinda Enclave (FLEC), which they fight for the independence of the northern enclave of Cabinda in order to achieve an independent republic. The huge oil reserves in the region are also one of the parameters of the conflict, since its production is essential for the Angolan economy and the volume of its extraction corresponds to more than half of the GDP. Although the scant support of the Congolese authorities current actions towards this guerrilla group have reduced their activity, their actions continue to mobilize the Angolan army.

Angola, like many sub-Saharan nations, is subject to periodic epidemics of infectious diseases. As of April 2005, Angola is in the midst of a Marburg virus epidemic, which is becoming the worst hemorrhagic fever epidemic in recorded history, with more than 237 recorded deaths out of 261 recorded cases, and It has been extended to 7 of the 18 provinces as of April 19, 2005.

Government and politics

Former President of the Angolan Republic, José Eduardo dos Santos.

Angola was mired in civil war from 1975, when it gained independence from Portugal and the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) took power, until 2002. The main opponent of the MPLA was the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA). In 1990, a peace agreement was signed that opened the door to a multiparty system, with a constitution adopted in 1992 and legislative and presidential elections, held in the same year. The MPLA obtains an absolute majority in the first, although not in the second, but UNITA does not recognize these results and immediately returns to civil war - even though its deputies normally participate in the work of the National Assembly. In 1998, a Government of Unity and National Reconciliation (GURN) was formed, dominated by the MPLA but with UNITA and FNLA ministers, but at the same time the war continued until 2002, ending with the death of Jonás Savimbi, leader of the UNITED. According to the 1992 constitution, the government executive consists of the president, the prime minister, and the Council of Ministers. During the 1990s and 2000s, political power has in fact been concentrated in the Presidency, which has exercised it in a fairly authoritarian manner. The Council of Ministers, made up of all ministers, meets regularly

The last parliamentary elections were held in August 2017, with the MPLA party winning, with 61% of the vote. In 2010 a new constitution was adopted that consecrates the dominant position of the president: the division between the three powers is abolished, explicitly and implicitly; the post of prime minister is also abolished, and his functions are assumed by the president; this is the supreme commander of the Armed Forces and determines the composition of the Supreme Court of Justice. Presidential elections are likewise abolished and the constitution enshrines the principle that the president of the most voted party becomes president of the State.

Armed Forces

The Angolan Armed Forces (FAA) are led by a chief of staff who reports to the Minister of Defense. There are three divisions: the Army (Army), the Navy (Marinha de Guerra, SMG), and the National Air Force (Força Aérea Nacional, FAN). The total number of troops is 110,000. The army is by far the largest of the services with nearly 100,000 men and women. The Navy numbers about 3,000 and operates several small patrol boats and barges. Spain tried to sell the aircraft carrier Príncipe de Asturias (R-11), a Discovery-type corvette, Harrier planes, helicopters, transport ships, as well as other naval assets. This operation was canceled by the Angolan Navy (MGA).

Soldiers of the Armed Forces of Angola

The Air Force whose personnel numbers around 7,000, and its equipment includes Mig-23 fighters, Il-86 and Il-76 bombers and transport planes. There are also 312 Brazilian-made Tucano for personnel training, Czech-made L-39 as trainers and bombers, Czech Zlín for training, and a variety of western-made aircraft such as C-212 Aviocar, Sud Aviation Alouette III, etc. A small number of FAA personnel are stationed in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (Kinshasa) and the Republic of the Congo (Brazzaville).

Police

The services of the National Police are: Public Order, Criminal Investigation, Traffic and Transportation, investigation and inspection of Economic Activities, Taxation and Border Supervision, the Riot Police and the Rapid Intervention Police. The National Police is in the process of setting up an air division, which will provide helicopter support for police operations. The National Police is also developing its criminal investigation and forensic capabilities. The National Police has about 6,000 patrol officers, 2,500 prosecutors and border supervisors, 182 financial crime investigators and 100 detectives, and about 90 Economic Activity inspectors.

The National Police has implemented a modernization and development plan to increase the capacity and efficiency of the total force. In addition to the administrative reorganization, the modernization projects include the acquisition of new vehicles, aircraft and equipment, the construction of new police stations and forensic laboratories, restructuring of training programs and the replacement of AKM rifles with Uzi 9mm for police officers in urban areas.

Human Rights

In terms of human rights, regarding membership of the seven bodies of the International Bill of Human Rights, which include the Human Rights Committee (HRC), Angola has signed or ratified:

Status of major international human rights instruments

Angola	International treaties
	CESCR		CCPR			CERD	CED	CEDAW		CAT		CRC			MWC	CRPD
	CESCR	CESCR-OP	CCPR	CCPR-OP1	CCPR-OP2-DP			CEDAW	CEDAW-OP	CAT	CAT-OP	CRC	CRC-OP-AC	CRC-OP-SC		CRPD	CRPD-OP
Pertenence
Signed and ratified, signed, but not ratified, neither signed nor ratified, without information, it has agreed to sign and ratify the body concerned, but also recognizes the competence to receive and process individual communications from the competent bodies.

Foreign Policy

Embassy of Angola in Washington D.C.

Angola is one of the founding member states of the Community of Portuguese Language Countries (CPLP), also known as the Lusophone Commonwealth, an international organization and political association of Lusophone nations from four continents, where Portuguese is the official language or one of the most importants.

On October 16, 2014, Angola was elected for the second time as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, with 190 votes in favor out of a total of 193. The mandate began on January 1, 2015 and expired on December 31, 2016.

Since January 2014, the Republic of Angola has also chaired the International Conference for the Great Lakes Region (CIRGL). In 2015, the executive secretary of the CIRGL, Ntumba Luaba, said that Angola is the example to be followed by the members of the organization, due to the significant progress made during the 12 years of peace, specifically in terms of socio-economic and political stability. military.

Constitution

The 2010 Constitution establishes the general lines of the government structure and defines the rights and duties of citizens. The legal system is based on Portuguese law and customary law, but it is weak and fragmented, with courts only functioning in 12 of the more than 140 municipalities. A Supreme Court acts as a court of appeal; a Constitutional Court has no powers of judicial review. The governors of the 18 provinces are appointed by the president. After the end of the civil war, the regime received internal pressure and the international community to be more democratic and less authoritarian. His reaction was to apply a series of changes without substantially modifying his character.

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

Territorial organization

Angola is divided into 18 provinces:

Exclave of Cabinda

Map of the province of Cabinda.

With an area of approximately 7,283 square kilometers, the northern province of Cabinda is the only one separated from the rest of the country by a strip of approximately 60 kilometers wide, belonging to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) that runs along of the Congo River. Cabinda is bordered to the north by the Republic of the Congo, and to the east and south by the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The city of Cabinda is the main population center.

According to the 1995 census, Cabinda had an estimated population of 600,000. However, demographic estimates are not very reliable. Consisting largely of tropical forest, Cabinda produces hardwoods, coffee, cocoa, coarse rubber, and palm oil. However the product for which it is best known is oil, which has given it the nickname 'Kuwait of Africa'. Cabinda's oil production, from its considerable reserves, accounts for more than half of Angola's exports today. Most of the oil along its coast was discovered under the Portuguese administration by the Cabinda Gulf Oil Company (CABGOC) starting in 1968.

Back then Portugal handed over the sovereignty of its former overseas province to local pro-independence groups (MPLA, UNITA, and FNLA), and the territory of Cabinda has been a focus of guerrilla separatist actions that oppose the Angolan government (which has used its military forces, the FAA - Forças Armadas Angolanas). The Cabinda separatists, FLEC-FAC, announced a virtual Federal Republic of Cabinda under the Presidency of Henriques Tiago N'Zita. One of the characteristics of the Cabinda independence movement is its constant fragmentation, into smaller and smaller factions, in a process that, although not totally instigated by the Angolan government, is undoubtedly encouraged and duly exploited by it.

Geography

Satellite photo.

Angola is a state in southwestern Africa. It borders the Republic of the Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Zambia, and Namibia. Its coastline, with more than 1,600 km, is located in the Atlantic Ocean and has a total area of 1,246,700 km². Its interior is represented by a large plateau, with greater relief in the areas of Bié and Huíla, in the western area. On this same plateau, many tributaries of the Congo River and the Zambezi River are born. In the southwest, near Namibia, the great coastal plain is extremely arid, forming the Moçâmedes desert, contrasting with the much wetter northeast of the country, where a savannah landscape predominates. To the north, in the Cabinda area, tropical forests can be found.

Relief

The Angolan relief presents two basic geomorphological units: the coastal plain and the plateau, or planalto. The first of these regions constitutes a cool, dry and swampy coastal strip that narrows in its southern sector and acquires a progressive aridity in the Moçamedes desert. This arid region stretches from Namibia to Luanda.

The Mirador de la Luna, located about 40 km south of Luanda.

To the north of Luanda the coast is rectilinear and steep, but to the south it offers various inlets. The coastal strip is tempered by the cold Benguela current, which results in a climate similar to that of the coast of Peru or Baja California. The coast is mostly flat, with occasional low cliffs of red sedimentary rock. There is a deep bay on the coast called Bahía de los Tigres. To the north are Port Alexander, Little Fish Bay and Lobito Bay, while shallow bays are numerous. Lobito Bay has enough water to allow the unloading of large ships near the coast.

The planalto or humid interior plateau, occupies two thirds of the Angolan surface with an altitude that varies between 450 and 600 m a.s.l. no. m., divided between a dry savannah in the south and southeast and a jungle in the north and in Cabinda. From this narrow coastal strip, whose width varies between 48 and 165 kilometers, the relief rises rapidly through slopes until it reaches a plateau, which is covered by vast vegetation. Then it begins to descend gently towards the center of Africa. The Angolan Plateau or Bié Plateau forms a quadrangle to the east of Benguela with an average altitude of 1,500 m with maximum heights of up to 2,200 m. This plateau covers approximately 10% of the country's surface and is a center of water dispersion.

Climate

Like the rest of tropical Africa, Angola has well-differentiated alternating seasons, one rainy and the other dry. The climate of the coastal strip is softened by the Benguela current, so it has a climate similar to that of the coast of Peru or Baja California. It is semi-arid in the south of the country and on the coast as far as Luanda. There is a short rainy season from February to April. Summers are hot and dry, while winters are mild.

Average climate parameters of Luanda
Month	Ene.	Feb.	Mar.	Open up.	May.	Jun.	Jul.	Ago.	Sep.	Oct.	Nov.	Dec.	Annual
Temp. max. abs. (°C)	33	35	35	34	36	32	29	28	29	32	37	34	37
Average temperature (°C)	28	29	30	29	28	25	23	23	24	26	28	28	27
Temp. medium (°C)	23	24	24	24	23	20	18	18	19	22	23	23	22
Temp. min. abs. (°C)	21	21	21	21	18	15	14	14	17	18	20	19	14
Total precipitation (mm)	25	36	76	117	13	0	0	0	3	5	28	20	323
Source: BBC Weather

In the north there is a cool and dry season from May to October, followed by a warm and rainy season from November to April. In the interior, above 1000 m s. no. m., the temperature and the rains decrease. The inland highlands have a mild climate with a rainy season from November to April, followed by a dry season from May to October. The climate of the plateau is healthy. The average annual temperature in M'Banza Kongo is 22.2 °C; in Luanda, 23.3 °C; and in Caconda, 19.5 °C. The climate is greatly influenced by the prevailing winds, which oscillate between west, southwest and southwest. Two seasons are distinguished, the cool one from June to September; and the rainy from October to May. The greatest rainfall occurs in April, accompanied by violent storms. The extreme north of the country and the enclave of Cabinda have rains distributed throughout most of the year.

Average Cabinda climate parameters
Month	Ene.	Feb.	Mar.	Open up.	May.	Jun.	Jul.	Ago.	Sep.	Oct.	Nov.	Dec.	Annual
Temp. max. abs. (°C)	32	33	33	33	33	29	28	29	30	33	33	34	34
Average temperature (°C)	30	31	31	31	29	26	26	26	27	28	29	28	28
Temp. medium (°C)	23	23	23	23	23	21	18	19	21	23	23	23	22
Temp. min. abs. (°C)	20	19	18	19	19	16	13	15	16	19	19	19	13
Total precipitation (mm)	58.4	109.2	83.8	116.8	55.9	0	0	2.5	5.1	33	114.3	88.9	668
Source:

Hydrography

Congo River Basin.

The Angolan plateau constitutes an important center for the reception and dispersion of water, thus both the Zambezi River and several tributaries of the Congo River have their sources in Angola. To the north flow the rivers Cuango, Cuílo, Cuangue, Cassai, all tributaries of the Congo. The Kwango River is a tributary of the Kasai River near the city of Bandundu and with a length of 1,100 km it runs through Angola and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, forming the border between the two countries. The Kasai River is also bordering and meets the Congo River in the town of Kwamouth. To the east are the tributaries of the Zambezi.

Southward-flowing rivers such as the Cubango and Cuíto flow into the inland Ngami Depression, also known as the Okavango, in northern Botswana. The main rivers of the Atlantic slope are the Cunene, one of the few perennial rivers in the region, whose final stretch serves as the border with Namibia, and the Cuanza, which flows south of Luanda and offers great potential as a source of electricity and navigation channel.

Ecology

Mountains in the province of Namibe.

The dominant biome in Angola is the savannah.

In the center of the country, and occupying most of its extension, is the ecoregion called miombo bushveld of Angola. To the south, from east to west, the Zambezi teak bushveld and the Angolan mopane bushveld follow one another. To the east, from north to south, we find the miombo bushveld of the central Zambezi and the grassland of the western Zambezi; the latter interspersed with the dry jungle of the Zambezi. Further to the southeast are some enclaves of flooded grassland of the Zambezi. The south-west of the country is desert, with the Kaoko Desert on the coast and the Namibian bushveld in the interior.

Tazua Falls of the Cuango River.

Mountain grassland predominates in the west of the country, with the Angolan Great Escarpment savannah in the northwest and the Angola montane jungle-grassland mosaic further south. To the north there is a transition from savannah to shady forest, with the western Congo forest-savanna mosaic and, to the northeast, the southern Congo forest-savanna mosaic. In the extreme northwest is the southern limit of the mangrove swamp of Central Africa and in the interior of the Cabinda enclave appears the Atlantic equatorial coastal forest.

Economy

New building district in Luanda, commercial and financial center of the country.

Today Angola has an economy that is in disarray from a quarter century of almost continuous warfare. Despite its abundant natural resources, its per capita income is among the lowest in the world. Subsistence agriculture provides the main livelihood for 85% of the population. Oil production is vital to the economy, contributing approximately 45% to GDP and 90% of exports.

Despite the peace agreement signed in November 1994, violence continues and millions of mines remain buried in the land, making many farmers reluctant to return to their fields. Therefore, most of the country's food must still be imported. Despite the passage of the civil war in 1998, the economy grew an estimated 4% in 1999. The government introduced new currency denominations in 1999, including 1 and 5 kwanzas.

Angola is the second country in Africa with the highest economic growth in recent decades.^{[citation needed]} In 2009 its GDP was 114.4 billion dollars. Oil production in 2005 reached 1,400,000 barrels of crude, with a forecast of more than 2,000,000 for 2019.^{[citation needed]} Its exploitation has been consolidated in a conglomerate of companies called Sonangol Group., owned by the government. On December 14, 2006, Angola was admitted to OPEC, acquiring the status of a new member on March 1, 2007. The country's main deposits are located in the territorial waters of Cabinda.

Angolan's economy grew 18% in 2005, 26% in 2006 and 17% in 2007.^{[citation needed]} Despite this economic growth, and the economic stability achieved in 2002, faces major social and economic problems, partly as a consequence of the continuous conflicts since 1961 - but increasingly as a result of the combination of an authoritarian political regime, " neo - patrimonial" at all levels of the State and pervasive corruption. The politically and economically dominant social segment often takes advantage of the economic development of the country in a dizzying way, and the same development allows the constitution of different "middle classes". At the same time, close to half of the population lives in poverty, with large differences between rural and urban areas. A survey carried out in 2008 by the National Institute of Statistics of Angola indicates that in the countryside 58% of people were poor, according to UN criteria, but in the cities (where more than 50% of the population is concentrated) only 19% (country total: 37%). In cities most families, beyond those classified as poor, are forced to adopt a variety of survival strategies. In the Human Development Index of the UN Angola is always among the worst placed countries.

Natural resources

Installation of an oil platform off the Angolan coast in 2010.

Angola's natural resources are significant compared to most African countries, especially suitable for the development of the industrial economy. There are large oil and gas reserves, concentrated in offshore areas around Cabinda and the Congo estuary. The quality of the crude is generally good, with low sulfur content. In large areas of northeast Angola there are deposits of sedimentary diamonds, with a large percentage of them as precious stones and others for industrial uses, and a series of kimberlite tubes. On the other hand, in the southwest, there are large deposits of low-grade ore. Throughout the country, especially in the wings, between the coastal strip and the central plateau, mineable quantities of other minerals and metals are known to exist.

Angola's hydroelectric potential is one of the largest in Africa. The country also has some of the richest fishing grounds on the continent, especially in the far south. Wood stocks are also important. The forested Magiompe in the north of the Cabinda enclave, as well as the forested areas along the rivers in the southeast have trees of commercial importance, such as Tola blanca and Limba used for the production of furniture and musical instruments. Fertile farmland is limited to a few favored areas in the highlands and river valleys, less than 10% of the national territory is arable. The combination of poor land, with insufficient rainfall, which prevails in most of the country, poses a great problem for the diffusion of crops. However, agricultural resources are not fully exploited. Grazing is affected by the spread of the tsetse fly and the lack of pasture and surface water in the sandy area of the Kalahari desert. There are favorable conditions for grazing development in the southwest.

Agriculture and Forestry

The Angolan agricultural area is estimated at 58,290,000 hectares (FAO, 2009), of which 54 million correspond to pastures. Of the 3.4 million that correspond to arable land, permanent crops occupy 290,000 hectares, 80,000 of them irrigated.

Before independence, agriculture coexisted with large plantations owned by Portuguese and other European settlers, with innumerable small African producers. The cultivated area represented only 3% of the national territory, of which less than 1% was irrigated. The most important agricultural product was coffee. In 1974 Angola contributed 19% of world production, more than 200,000 tons. The cultivation of cotton, which was used locally or exported for industry in Portugal, thrived mainly in the Kwanza River valley. The internal demand for sugar was completely covered by the intensive cultivation of sugar cane. The same was true of plantations of oil palm, bananas, and other tropical fruits. Sisal is another of the plantation agricultural products, but its relative importance declined during the 1960s and in many cases it has been replaced by smoke. In general, Angola was a net exporter of food and exported more than it imported, with maize being one of the main food exports, which originated in the fields of small farmers in the central plateau of Angola. African farmers grew cassava for their own consumption, along with small amounts of millet, sorghum, kidney beans, sweet potatoes, groundnuts, rice, wheat, and potatoes.

Since independence, the basic structure has been maintained, although the large plantations have been appropriated by prominent politicians (including the President of the Republic) and by high-ranking military officers, which substantially lowered the productivity of the companies. In small-scale agriculture there have been serious interruptions due to the anti-colonial war (1961-74), the conflict during the decolonization process (1974-75), the civil war (1975-2002) and, in 2011, the reconstruction in this area is far from complete.^{[citation needed]}

Cattle are kept mainly in the south, both on traditional farms and on large modern ranches. The other species of livestock animals play a minor role in the exchange of goods, but the raising of goats, pigs and poultry is very important for the maintenance of the indigenous population. Timber exploitation in natural forests is concentrated in the Magiompe forest area, the Cabinda enclave, and in Lucy on the eastern part of the Benguela railway. In the western part of the railway line, large eucalyptus plantations have been created, with a total area of 515,000 hectares, which provide the necessary fuel for the train engines and feed the pulp factory that operates near the city of Benguela.

The booming rural economy began to decline after Angola's independence. The old plantations were nationalized and replaced by state farms, which are characterized by very low productivity. Farm workers belonging to the national ovimpountou group refused to work in areas where they would be vulnerable to attack by rival tribes, and the compulsory recruitment of workers from the cities (so-called "volunteer brigades") was not a very good temporary solution. Small farmers were forced to participate in a government-controlled cooperative system and sell their products to an inefficient state monopoly that replaced small Portuguese traders. At the same time, a deteriorating transport network, the uncertainty that had conquered the entire country, the depreciation of the currency, a tax on exports and the collapse of the national industry, had removed any incentive for farmers to sell their products. in the cities. As a result, the urban population came to depend on imported food.

The collapse of agriculture in Angola did not have the same intensity in all sectors. The cultivation of food for own consumption was affected very little. The cultivation of food for the domestic market was significantly affected, while the increasing influence of industrial raw materials and export products was disastrous. After independence, cassava and sweet potato production was slightly higher, but sorghum and bean production decreased by 50%. The production of maize, bananas and timber fell to 25% of the level it was in 1975, sugar and beef by 10% while coffee, cotton and sisal only 2%.

Fishing

Luanda Island Fishermen Village, 1972.

Before independence, around 700 vessels operated in the country, employing 13,000 workers and catching an average of 300,000 tons per year (257,500 in 1965, 368,400 in 1970). Most of the catch was destined for processing in modern factories, which exported their output to Western markets, in the form of frozen food, preserves or fishmeal. Tuna catches stood out. The main fishing ports were located to the south of Benguela and were Moçâmedes, Porto Alexandre and Baia dos Tigres. There was also a more traditional industry, which dried, cured or smoked fish, whose production was destined to supply the local market.

After 1975, most vessels, especially those owned by Portugal, left the country and fish processing plants were destroyed or abandoned; the catches were 118,600 tons in 1978. Licenses were later granted to foreign vessels to fish in Angolan waters, on the condition that part of the catch was unloaded in Angolan ports. In addition, some fish processing facilities were repaired and modernized with foreign aid. The effect of this process was that the fishing industry maintained its activity in the face of the collapse of most of the national economy. However, catches declined substantially compared to the colonial period, probably due to reduced school sizes due to ecological changes due to overfishing.

Mining

Crude oil plays a dominant role in the national economy and production has nearly tripled since independence and beyond. But, since Angola joined OPEC (Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries) on January 1, 2007, the amount of exports is determined by quotas. Favorable geological conditions prevail in the country, high success rate in applied research, while the level of exploitation costs are largely relatively low. Several experimental studies indicate that the oil industry can be profitable and much more points in the same maritime areas. Oil extraction is in areas of the land, and surveys conducted to identify new deposits. They also found gas deposits, but their exploitation occurs even on a small scale.

Satellite photo of a diamond mine in Catoca.

In 1976, a public company, known as Sonangol, was founded and established joint ventures for the exploitation of oil and proceed to subsidy agreements for royalties in exchange for participation in production, leaving the responsibility of administration to foreigners. The American company Chevron operates through its Cabinda Gulf Oil Company brand, which is responsible for just over 50% of national production. The other three oil companies operating in Angola, the French Elf, Texaco S.U. and the Belgian Petrofina. The latter is limited to small and dwindling oil fields on earth. Drilling to identify new oil and gas fields involves many companies from the US, France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Germany, the UK, Sweden, Norway, Brazil and Japan.

Before independence, Angola was the fourth largest exporter of diamonds in different parts of the world, in current value and the value of exports amounted to 2.4 million carats. But after 1975, production stagnated, until it collapsed in the 1980s. The government nationalized 77% of the shares of the Angolan diamond company Diamang, which was owned by Portuguese investors, and the extraction of Diamonds in the northeastern part of the country were taken over by a state-owned and parastatal company, Indiama (Angolan National Diamond Company). The industry faces significant management problems, aggravated by the corruption of public officials, insecurity throughout the country and its poor relations with the Central Availability Agency (for diamonds), controlled by the De Beers company of South Africa. Thus, in 1986, the extraction of diamonds granted to foreign companies, agreements with the participation of the State in the production of mines, and two years later, the Angolan government has started negotiations with De Beers, the sale of diamonds and with the necessary technical assistance to hold the kimberlite tubes. Through these actions, production began to rise again and the peace of the country begins to play a leading role in the world diamond trade again.

There are other important extractive industries in Angola, although ore from the south of the country was the fourth most important export product before independence. However, Kasingka iron mining is significantly subsidized by the Portuguese and it is doubtful that it has the potential to be truly profitable. Production initially declined and then stopped between 1975 and 1984, and the quality of apolipsimou ore is too low to enter the mines again. Copper, manganese, gold, marble, black granite and quartz are also mined on a small scale, with plans to exploit phosphates present in Cabin and the provinces of Zaire.

Construction

Traditional furnaces to produce bricks in Angola.

Before independence, the industrial, construction, and hydroelectric power sectors grew rapidly, but riots and the national struggle against colonialism, followed by coups, inflicted suffering, and delay in overcoming their path to development they retarded their growth. Nationalization and migration of skilled labor have mainly affected the industrial sector of the national economy, while rebels from the UNITA organization have sabotaged electricity and water facilities. The consequence of all this is that the State had accumulated large debts, while the factories operated at an average of 30% of their capacity, the workers were paid in part with the goods produced by the factory, despite the numerous Efforts to prevent this practice unexcused absences from work were common and productivity was surprisingly low.

Apart from some errors in the small-scale processing of raw materials for export, the national industry is basically oriented towards import substitution, which includes the production of food, tobacco, minerals and wood, textiles, oil refining, vehicle assembly, electricity and cement production. Most of the electricity comes from dams on the rivers. However, much of the installed capacity, more than 600 megawatts, is in such a state that it cannot currently be used. Most of the industries that were nationalized like construction companies and public services that were in the 1990s, joined the privatization projects, some of them even reverted to the former owners.

Credit system

After independence, the banks were nationalized. The Central Bank is the Banco Nacional de Angola, which has the privilege of issuing banknotes, but functions as a commercial institution. However, Banco Popular de Angola functions mainly as a savings bank. In 1985, foreign banks have gradually returned to the country, but the banking system is still largely under state control. In general, most people keep their savings outside of the rigid system of state banks, as they prefer various informal types of deposits. Foreign investment goes almost exclusively to the oil, diamond, and fishing industries.

The country's currency is the New Kwanza. The average annual purchasing power per inhabitant was US$3,200, based on 2005 data. There are no more recent data, but the strong growth of GDP in recent years, certainly higher than population growth, indicates that there was an increase in the average - while the low HDI and the high Gini coefficient show that purchasing power is extremely unequal.

Tourism

In Luanda, the visitor can find fortresses such as the São Pedro de Katoumpela bar, the churches of the colonial period, such as the temples of Nosa Señor do Karma, and Da dos Mizerikorntia Rementios, buildings such as the National Bank and the Museum of Angola (1938) with exhibits of ethnographic and historical interest.

In the former Portuguese colony there are still many Portuguese-style buildings. Notable are the church of Nosa Señor do Popolo and the palace of Velia in Benguela, the fortress of São Pedro de Katoumpela in Lobito and the beaches of Namibia. The visitor must visit the KISA National Park, located 70 km south of the capital, Luanda. In this park, founded in 1957, many species of wildlife are housed, such as elephants, buffaloes, antelopes and sea turtles. There are also other national parks, such as Namibia, on the border of Namibia and Lona.

Transportation

Traffic in Luanda Fighters Avenue.

Transport in Angola is made up of:

• Three rail systems with a total of 2,761 km.
• 76,626 km of roads of which 19,156 km are paved.
• 1,295 navigable aquatic channels.
• Eight important seaports.
• 243 airports, of which 32 have asphalt track.

Telecommunications

The telecommunications industry is considered one of Angola's main strategic sectors.

In October 2014, the construction of a submarine fiber optic cable was announced, a project that aims to turn Angola into a continental hub, thus improving Internet connections both nationally and internationally.

On March 11, 2015, the First Angolan Forum on Telecommunications and Information Technology was held in Luanda under the slogan "The challenges of telecommunications in the current context of Angola", to promote the debate on current issues in telecommunications in Angola and in the world. [A study on this sector, presented at the forum, said that Angola had the first telecommunications operator in Africa to test LTE -with speeds of up to 400 Mbit/s- and a mobile phone penetration of about 75%; there are about 3.5 million smartphones in the Angolan market; there are about 25,000 kilometers of fiber optics installed in the country.

On December 26, 2017, the first Angolan satellite, AngoSat-1, was put into orbit. It was launched from the Baikonur space center in Kazakhstan aboard a Zenit 3F rocket. The satellite was built by the Russian company RSC Energía, a subsidiary of the state space industry Roscosmos. The satellite payload was supplied by Airbus Defense & Space. Due to a power failure on board during the deployment of the solar panels, on December 27, RSC Energia revealed that it had lost communications contact with the satellite. Although subsequent attempts to re-establish communications with the satellite were successful, the satellite eventually stopped sending data and RSC Energia confirmed that AngoSat-1 was inoperable. The launch of AngoSat-1 was aimed at guaranteeing telecommunications throughout the country. According to Arístides Safeca, Secretary of State for Telecommunications, the satellite was intended to provide telecommunications, television, internet and electronic government services and was expected to remain in orbit "at best" for 18 years. Work is underway on a replacement satellite called AngoSat-2 which is expected to be in service in 2020. As of February 2021, Ango-Sat-2 was 60% ready. Officials reported that the launch is expected in about 17 months, by July 2022.

Demographics

Population growth since 1961 (in thousands of inhabitants).

After the preliminary results of the 2014 Population and Housing Census, Angola has a population of 24,300,000 inhabitants, 52 percent of whom are women. According to data from 2022, life expectancy at birth is 61.9 years For its part, the mortality rate is 7.9 deaths per 1,000 inhabitants (2022).

Infant mortality stands at 48.2 deaths per 1,000 live births (2022), while the fertility rate is 5.2 children per woman (2022).

There are six well-defined ethnic groups: Ovimbundu 37%, Kimbundu 25%, Bakongo 13%, Tucokwe 13%, Vangangela 9%, Vanyaneka 5%. When considered from the point of view of the number of speakers, it is the Umbundu language that stands out.

Pyramid population of Angola, 2005.

It is estimated that by the end of 2007 there were some 12,100 refugees and 2,900 asylum seekers in the country. Of the former, 11,400 came from Congo-Kinshasa and arrived in the 1970s. In 2008 there were some 400,000 migrant workers from the same country, at least 291,900 Portuguese and at least 40,000 Chinese working throughout the country, although some reports estimate that the number could be around 259,000. Before independence there were about 500,000 Portuguese in the country. At the same time, many Angolan citizens chose to emigrate to other countries trying to achieve better living conditions., with Portugal being the main destination.

Portuguese is spoken as a mother tongue by 60% of the population, and as a second language by another 40%. The dominance of Portuguese among speakers of African languages is due to a strong influence from Portugal, as opposed to Mozambique, which is further removed from Lusophone countries and thus retained a majority of Bantu-language speakers.

Cities

The state is sparsely populated, with an average density of about 10 people per square kilometer. Urbanization was limited by the unhealthy climate on the coast. However, 57% of the total population lived in urban areas in 2008. The economy of the cities suffered during the civil war. The six largest cities are:

Post	City	Image	Population*
1	Luanda		2.487.444 hab.
2	Lubango		876,339 hab.
3	Huambo		815,685 hab.
4	Bless her.		623.777 hab.
5	Cuíto		512,706 there.
6	Malanje		569,474 hab.
7	Lobito		324.050 hab. (2014)

* Population for the year 2018 except where indicated.

Ethnology

Great ethnic groups in 1970.

The Khoisan were the first inhabitants of Angola; They were few hunter-gatherers, they were partially absorbed by the Bantu peoples who arrived at the beginning of the second millennium. For the most part they live today in Namibia, Botswana, southern Tanzania and northern South Africa, but there are groups that still reside in southern Angola.

Almost the entire population of Angola is ethnically Bantu and constitutes a variety of groups and subgroups. The most important people with approximately 35% of the total population are the Ovimbundu who inhabit the center of the country, and form important minorities in all the cities of the country. Approximately 25% of the population are Ambundu who are concentrated in a region that stretches from Luanda to Malanje. Approximately 15% are Bakongo, who occupy northeast Angola and are very numerous in Luanda and other Angolan cities. Other important peoples are the Lunda and Chokwe of the northeast. In the east there is a set of smaller groups generally designated as ngangela; the south is inhabited by a pastoral people, the Ovambo, most of whom live in Namibia. Its neighbors to the south-west are the agro-pastoral peoples designated as nyaneka-khumbi. Small groups of pastoralists related to the Herero of Namibia are found in the Namib desert, and in the extreme southeast are a group of hunting and fishing groups collectively called the Xindonga.

Languages

The legal and de facto official language is Portuguese. Thus, article 9 of the «Lei de Bases do Sistema de Educação» (2001) establishes that teaching be carried out in this language, the «Lei de Defesa do Consumidor» (2003) establishes that the information is provided in Portuguese, and regulations similar are included in the Highway Code and the Customs Code. On the other hand, the 2006 Press Law contemplates the promotion of national languages (línguas nacionais), which are not listed but are specified in the new Constitution; They are, in order of numerical importance, the Umbundu, the Kimbundu, the Kikongo, the Chókwè, the Nganuela and the Kwanyama.

Extension of the kikongo.

Knowledge of Portuguese and its use as a lingua franca among members of various linguistic groups was reinforced during the civil war period, not because of schooling but because of the need produced by the massive displacement to the cities of people of diverse origin fleeing from combat zones. A study published in the daily O Público in 1995 estimated that 99% of Luanda's inhabitants were able to express themselves in Portuguese, while the use of Kimbundu had fallen, particularly among young people. This is, naturally, an exceptional situation: in other cities, the knowledge and use of Portuguese is less marked and the mastery of the respective local languages is more preserved. As for rural areas, there is always a clear predominance of the local language. Even so, the command of the colonial language by the local population is very high compared to most African countries.

Currently, the Bantu languages of Angola have gained importance with the creation of the Faculty of Letters of the Universidade Agostinho Neto de Luanda where there are language and culture courses with emphasis on native African languages and literatures.

• The Kwanyama language is the main language used in the province of Cunene (425,000 people) and in northern Namibia, Ovamboland region (240,000 people).
• The kikongo is the language of the Kongo people composed of more than 4,500,000 people living in the southwest of Congo-Brazzaville, west of Congo-Kinshasa and northwest of Angola, with important communities in all major cities of Angola.
• The kimbundu is the language of the ambundu, with about 4 million people, who inhabit Luanda and the region extending from the capital to Malanje.
• The umbundu is used by about 5 million people of the ovimbundu people mainly in the provinces of Huambo, Bié and Benguela.

Interestingly, due to the Cuban military presence in the Angolan Civil War, there is a community of about two thousand people who speak the Spanish language in the city of Luena.^{[citation required ]}

Religion

Catholic Church in Benguela.

Christianity is the predominant religion in Angola. The World Christian Database states that 93.5% of Angolans are Christian, 4.7% practice ethnic (indigenous) religions, 0.6% Muslim, 0.9% agnostic and 0.2% non-Agnostic. religious. However, other sources put the percentage of Christians at 53%, the rest of the population adhering to indigenous beliefs. According to these sources, of the Christians in Angola, 72% are Catholic, and the remaining 28% is divided between Baptists, Presbyterians, Evangelical Reformed (Pentecostals, Methodists, Lutherans) and some small Christian cults.

In a study evaluating nations' levels of religious regulation and persecution scoring from 0-10, where 0 represents low levels of regulation or persecution, Angola scored 0.8 in Regulation of Government of Religion, 4 in social regulation of religion, 0 in government favoritism in religion, and 0 in the case of religious persecution.

The main Protestant denominations are Methodists, Baptists, Congregationalists (United Church of Christ), and the Assemblies of God. The largest syncretic religious group is the Kimbanguist Church, whose adherents believe that the mid-century XX Congolese pastor José Kimbangu was a prophet. A small portion of the population in rural areas of the country practices traditional or indigenous religions. There is a small Islamic community built around West African migrants.

In colonial times the country's coastal populations were mainly Catholic, while Protestant missionary groups were active in the interior. With the massive social displacement caused by 26 years of civil war, this division is no longer generally valid.

Foreign missionaries were very active before independence in 1975, although the Portuguese imperial authorities expelled many Protestant missionaries and closed mission stations based on the belief that the missionaries were inciting independence sentiments. Missionaries have been able to return to the country since the early 1990s, although security conditions due to the civil war have prevented the restoration of many of their former mission sites in the interior of the country.

The Catholic religion holds its own in contrast to the mainline Protestant denominations, which are much more active in trying to win new members. The mainline Protestant denominations provide aid to the poor in the form of crop seeds, farm animals, health care, and education in English, math, history, and religion.

In November 2013, the government of President José Eduardo dos Santos announced that Islam would be banned and the country's mosques demolished, since the practice of this cult was not approved because it was "contrary to customs and habits of the culture of Angola" becoming the first country in the world to ban Islam in modern times.

Health

Angolan girls.

Studies conducted in 2007 concluded that low and deficient levels of niacin (vitamin B3) are common in Angola. Epidemics of cholera, malaria, rabies, and African hemorrhagic fevers, such as Marburg hemorrhagic fever, are diseases common in various parts of the country. Many regions of the country have high tuberculosis incidence rates and high HIV prevalence rates. Dengue fever, filariasis, leishmaniasis, and onchocerciasis (river blindness) are other insect-borne diseases that also occur in the region. Angola has one of the highest infant mortality rates and one of the lowest life expectancies in the world. On the other hand, Abortion in Angola is not allowed.

Education

Since independence, education has been free and compulsory for boys and girls between the ages of 6 and 9. In the school year of 2000, 1,178,485 students were enrolled in primary education. Enrollment rates in secondary and higher education were 19% and 1%, respectively. The government has promised to carry out a drastic increase in the literacy rate (estimated at almost 42%), but this collides with the lack of teachers and until 2002 the continuation of the civil conflict. In the years 2008 and 2009, very important investments were made in the primary education sector, both in terms of infrastructure and in the form of hiring thousands of teachers.

During most of the colonial mandate, education was not given special attention in Angola. In primary education there was a separation between regular schools, for whites, mestizos and blacks considered "civilized" (in a higher number than other races), and lower quality schools for the population considered "indigenous&#34.;, almost all in the hands of Catholic or Protestant missions. With the abolition of the Estatuto do Indigenato in 1962, this separation was abandoned and the “non-civilized” also passed to the status of citizen. In the cities the public schools opened their doors to all, and their number increased considerably. In rural areas, many public schools joined the missionary schools, but in these areas the quality of teaching continued to be lower than in urban areas.

After independence the only university in the country was the public Universidade Agostinho Neto (UAN), founded in 1976 as a successor to the "Universidade de Luanda" built in the late colonial period. From its headquarters in Luanda, the UAN went on to develop campuses in all major cities, comprising in the mid-2000s a total of about 40 faculties. In the 1980s the "Catholic University of Angola" 34;, property of the Catholic Church (Archdiocese of Luanda). When Angola moved from a Marxist-inspired one-party regime to a multi-party democracy in 1991, the possibility of founding more private universities opened up. Until 2010, almost 20 private universities were founded, mostly in Luanda, but also in Benguela and Lubango. In 2009 and 2010, the UAN was dismembered, which today includes only the Luanda campus and an extension ("pólo") in the province of Bengo. The other campuses have been transformed into autonomous regional universities: in Benguela the "Universidade Katyavala Bwila", in Cabinda the "Universidade 11 de Novembro", in Huambo the "Universidade José Eduardo dos Santos", in Lubango the "Universidade Mandume ya Ndemufayo", in Malange the "Universidade Lueij A'Konda", and in Uíge the "Universidade Kimpa Vita& #3. 4;. The level of all these universities would not be very high, and they did little scientific research.^{[citation needed]}

Children attending an outdoor class in Bié province.

Culture

Sculpture of the Yombe people (nineteenth century).

The culture of Angola is that of all the ethnic groups that exist in the country. Despite the Portuguese presence since the XVI century, and the colonial occupation since the beginning of the XX, the Angolan culture is mainly native, typical of the Bantu peoples, usually mixed with the Portuguese culture. The various ethnic communities have managed to maintain their own traditions and languages such as Umbundu, Kimbundu, Kikongo or Uchokwe.

The most relevant of the cultural manifestations of Angola are the remains of the Portuguese colonial constructions. In the capital Luanda, the fortresses of São Pedro and São Miguel can be distinguished. Between the 17th and 19th centuries, Angola was one of the most important bases of the slave trade. Mainly people of the Bantu ethnic group destined for the sugar cane plantations in Brazil were embarked there.

Among the current cultural manifestations, we must highlight the crafts of the Bantu, Quioco and Mbundu ethnic groups, and the war dance or Capoeira, exported and further developed in Brazil.

Miss Universe

Leila Lopes, on September 12, 2011, brought the title of Miss Universe for the first time to Angola.

Literature

Angolan literature has been developed mainly in Portuguese because it is a Lusophone country, although it is a multilingual country.

Agostinho Neto, the country's first president was also a well-known poet. Other relevant writers are Viriato da Cruz, Antonio Jacinto, Oscar Ribas, Ana Paula Ribeiro Tavares, Mario Antonio, José Eduardo Agualusa, Arlindo Barbeitos, Henrique Abranches, Pepetela, Botelho de Vasconcelos, Luandino Vieira and Ondjaki, one of the most renowned African authors today.

Luandino Vieira received the Camões award in 2006, but did not accept it or the $128,000 for "personal and intimate reasons."

Parties

Dance

In Angola there are different genres in music, meanings, forms and contexts, as a means of religious communication, healing, rituals, and even social intervention. It is not restricted to the traditional and popular scope of application, it is also visible through academic and contemporary languages. The constant presence of dance in everyday life is the product of a cultural context, appealing to the internalization of early rhythmic structures. This connection is strengthened with the participation of young people in different social celebrations, where dance has been decisive as a factor of integration and preservation of the identity and spirit of the community. After several centuries of the Portuguese colonization, in Angola there are mixtures with other cultures already present in Brazil, Mozambique and Cape Verde. Today Angola stands out for many different musical styles, the main ones being semba, kizomba and kuduro.

Sports

Basketball

Angola has a long tradition in basketball. In the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games he beat the Spanish team. In addition, it is twelve consecutive times champion of Africa, and the first professional league of the continent was created in the country.

Football

Supporters of the Angolan football team in Cologne, Germany.

The national team made history after qualifying for the 2006 World Cup, held in Germany, where it had a worthy performance by drawing with Mexico (0:0) and Iran (1:1), and a defeat with Portugal (0:1). Thus ending in third place in Group D (after Portugal and Mexico) and being eliminated. At the continental level, they have played in the African Cup of Nations 8 times, without having great success, since they reached the quarterfinals only 2 times. Girabola is the first division and the highest level competition in Angola. It was founded in 1979 and the 2 most winning teams are Petro de Luanda and Primeiro de Agosto, with 15 and 13 titles respectively.

Other sports

Angola won three silver medals at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Angola and Mozambique have the two most prominent roller hockey national teams in Africa. In 2013, the World Championship of this sport discipline was held in Luanda. The national sprinter who placed second, raised to three the number of silver medals he won in this Paralympic sporting event, whose closing ceremony took place at the Ninho de Pássaro (Bird's Nest) stadium. Sayovo clocked 50 seconds and 44 tenths, while the first qualified Brazilian Lucas Prado totaled 50.27. With these times, the Angolan athlete kept his Paralympic record beaten in Athens 2004 (50.03). Evalina Alexandre participated in the final of the 200 meters for the disabled with partial blindness (class t12) and qualified in principle, but an irregularity by her guide who, according to the organization, cut the finish line millimeters before the athlete, removed the runner from the podium.

Believed that Capoeira has its roots in Angola, this martial art was practiced by Angolan slaves brought to Brazil.