Country Information on Angola 

Terrain

Angola is the seventh largest country in Africa. The country can be divided into three large geographic areas: the coastline, the plateau and the highlands in the centre of the country. Mount Moco (2,620 m) is the country's highest peak. The source of most rivers is in central Angola. The largest rivers are the Kuanza and the Kunene, which flow into the Atlantic. Other large rivers are the Kwango, which flows north into the Congo, and the Kwando and the Kubango which both flow south east into the Okavango Basin in Botswana.

Climate

Angola has a tropical climate. The dry season lasts from September to April. The cold Benguela current along the coast of Angola makes the temperature at the coast cooler and reduces precipitation, especially in the south.

Fauna/Flora

Dense tropical rainforests are found in the north and in the Cabinda exclave. To the south, the rainforests lead to savannah, which turns into grasslands in the south and east. Palm trees are found along the coast and desert vegetation grows south of Namibe.

Angola's wildlife is as diverse as its vegetation and includes many of the large African mammals, such as elephants, rhinoceroses, giraffes, zebras, antelopes, lions, gorillas, crocodiles and many species of birds and insects.

History/Politics

In 1483, the Portuguese came to Angola in search of precious metals. Soon afterwards, with the help of the local rulers, they established a booming slave trade and started the process of conversion to Christianity. Portugal did not manage to bring the whole country under its control until the beginning of the 20th century. This resulted in the development of the "regime do indigenato," a system based on economic exploitation and political repression that remained in force until 1961.

In 1951, Angola was officially declared an overseas province; however, there were still aspirations for independence and in 1961 a guerrilla war against Portuguese colonial rule started. The Angolan independence movement was made up of three rival groups, none of which had much success until after the revolution in Portugal in April 1974, when the Portuguese colonial empire began to disintegrate. Angola finally gained its independence on 11 November 1975; however, two rival governments claimed the right to represent the new nation and a civil war ensued, lasting several years.

At the beginning of 1976, the MPLA (Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola) gained the upper hand and formed a government with Agostinho Neto as its President. The government was gradually recognized internationally. After Neto's death in 1979, Minister José Eduardo dos Santos took over the leadership, but the armed conflict continued. A comprehensive peace plan was made in August 1988 and the government agreed to a ceasefire that would be maintained by a United Nations peacekeeping force. The MPLA won the multi-party elections in September 1992 and José Eduardo dos Santos was elected President. UNITA (National Union for the Total Independence of Angola), the opposition party, refused to acknowledge the results of the elections and again resorted to the use of arms.

This led to a mass exodus of more than a million refugees in 1993. The new UN peace agreement that had been made in Lusaka (Zambia) in 1994 did not bring an end to the conflict either. It had developed into one of the world's worst civil wars. In 1996, the two parties at war reached an agreement and in April 1997 they agreed to form a government of unity. However, in 2000, conflicts between the government and UNITA flared up again. After the fall of the UNITA leader, Jonas Savimbi, in February 2002, both sides agreed to a ceasefire, and the end of 27 years of civil war was declared four months later.

The current challenges facing the government of Angola are the reconstruction of the road infrastructure and the reintegration of the thousands of refugees who want to return to their country following the war.

Economy

Since independence and as a result of internal conflicts, Angola's economy has suffered serious setbacks. In the 1980s and early 1990s, the civil war intensified to the extent that agricultural production radically decreased. About 2.8% of Angola is arable land; however, only a sixth of this land is farmed regularly. Coffee is the most important export product and grows in the northern part of the country; nevertheless its production, along with that of all other produce, greatly decreased as a result of the war. The main product consumed is manioc.

Other important products are sugar cane, bananas and maize, as well as vegetables, cotton, palm products and sisal. In the South, cattle farming takes place. Angola is rich in oil (90% of the country's exports), diamonds, iron ore, manganese, copper, uranium, phosphates, and salt.

The development of the industrial sector is limited. However, the most important industrial products are beverages and foodstuff such as sugar, flour, fish meal, beer; as well as textiles, cement, glass and chemical products. The inflation rate was 115% in 2003 and the unemployment rate was estimated to be 50%.

Culture

As with most African art, Angola's wooden masks and sculptures are not merely aesthetic creations. They play an important role in cultural rituals, representing life and death, the passage from childhood to adulthood, the celebration of a new harvest and the marking of the hunting season. Angolan artisans work with wood, ivory, malachite or ceramics. Each ethnic group in Angola has its own unique artistic traits.

Perhaps the single most famous piece of Angolan art is the Cokwe thinker, a masterpiece of harmony and symmetry of line. The Chokwe-Lunda in the north-eastern part of Angola are also known for their extraordinary sculpture work.