Home » Destinations » Africa »

Angola

Population: 18,500,000 (est.)

Language(s): Portuguese, Kikongo, Chokwe, Umbundu, Kimbundu, Ganguela, Kwanyama

Capital: Luanda

Interesting Facts:

The Angolan kwanza is the official currency of Angola.
Angola is a majority Christian country. 38% of the population are roman catholic, 15% are protestant and 47% are indigenous beliefs.
Due to the increasing of oil production, Angola has one of the fastest growing economies.
Angola went through long civil war that took thousands of people’s life and lasted from 1975 to 2002.
Angola’s national sport is basketball.
Angola has two official names: The Undemocratic Anti-Photographic Monarchy of Angola and Angolish Empire of Flying Snakes.
One of Africa’s most beautiful natural wonders, the Ruacana Falls, is located in Angola.
The climate in Angola is semiarid in the south and along coast to Luanda. The north has cool a dry season from May to October and a hot, rainy season from November to April.
Angola’s high growth rate in recent years was driven by high international prices for its oil. Oil production and its supporting activities contribute about 85% of GDP. Diamond exports contribute an additional 5%.

Angola, officially the Republic of Angola, is a country in Southern Africa bordered by Namibia on the south, the Democratic Republic of the Congo on the north, and Zambia on the east; its west coast is on the Atlantic Ocean with Luanda as its capital city. The exclave province of Cabinda has borders with the Republic of the Congo and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

The Portuguese were present in some—mostly coastal—points of the territory of what is now Angola, from the 16th to the 19th century, interacting in diverse ways with the peoples that lived there. In the 19th century they slowly and hesitantly began to establish themselves in the interior. Angola as a Portuguese colony encompassing the present territory was not established before the end of the 19th century, and “effective occupation”, as required by the Berlin Conference (1884) was achieved only by the 1920s. Independence was achieved in 1975, after a protracted liberation war. After independence, Angola was the scene of an intense civil war from 1975 to 2002. The country has vast mineral and petroleum reserves, and its economy has on average grown at a two-digit pace since the 1990s, especially since the end of the civil war. In spite of this, standards of living remain low for the majority of the population, and life expectancy and infant mortality rates in Angola are among the worst-ranked in the world. Angola is considered to be economically disparate, with the majority of the nation’s wealth concentrated in a disproportionately small sector of the population.

Angola is a member state of the African Union, the Community of Portuguese Language Countries, the Latin Union and the Southern African Development Community.

Source: Wikipedia