Angola (country), formerly Portuguese West Africa, officially Republic of Angola, independent state in southwestern Africa. Angola is bounded on the north and east by the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC, formerly Zaire), on the east by Zambia, on the south by Namibia, and on the west by the Atlantic Ocean. A small exclave, Cabinda, is located some 30 km (about 20 mi) to the north and is bounded on the north by the Republic of the Congo, on the east and south by the DRC, and on the west by the Atlantic Ocean. Angola has a coastline of about 1,600 km (about 990 mi) and a total area of 1,246,700 sq km (481,350 sq mi). The capital and largest city is Luanda.

Angola is the seventh largest country in Africa, covering an area greater than France and Spain combined.

Angola can be divided into three major regions. They are, from west to east, the coastal plain, a transition zone, and a vast inland plateau. The low-lying coastal plain varies from about 50 to 150 km (about 30 to 90 mi) in width. The transition zone, which consists of a series of terraces or escarpments, is about 150 km (about 90 mi) wide in the north, but diminishes to about 30 km (about 20 mi) in the center and south. To the east of this zone is the vast Angolan plateau, which covers approximately two-thirds of the country and has an average elevation of 1,000 to 1,520 m (3,300 to 5,000 ft). Higher elevations are reached in the mountains of the central section, which culminate in Mount Môco (2,620 m/8,596 ft), the country�s highest point.

Most of Angola�s rivers rise in the central mountains. Of the many rivers that drain to the Atlantic Ocean, the Cuanza and Cunene are the most important. Other major streams include the Kwango River, which drains north to the Congo River system, and the Kwando and Cubango Rivers, both of which drain generally southeast to the Okavango Delta in Botswana. Angola has no sizable lakes.

Angola has a tropical climate, with a dry season that lasts from September to April. The cool Benguela Current offshore moderates the temperatures of the coastal region and reduces the precipitation, especially in the south. Annual rainfall at Luanda is about 330 mm (about 13 in) and only 50 mm (about 2 in) at Namibe, which borders the Namib Desert. In the cooler central plateau, rainfall decreases from 1,500 mm (about 60 in) in the north to 750 mm (about 30 in) in the south.

Angola is rich in mineral resources, and further geological exploration is likely to add to the list of known mineral reserves. Among the most notable resources are petroleum, diamonds, iron ore, manganese, copper, uranium, phosphates, and salt.

Vegetation varies with the climate. Thick tropical rain forests are found in the north and in the Cabinda exclave. To the south the rain forests give way to savanna, lands of mixed trees and grasses, which in turn grade into grasslands on the south and east. Palm trees are found on much of the coast, and sparse desert vegetation grows south of Namibe. Forests cover a total of 56 percent (2000) of the country�s total area. Wildlife is as diverse as the vegetation and includes many of the larger African mammals, such as elephants, rhinoceroses, giraffes, hippopotamuses, zebras, antelope, lions, and gorillas. Also found are crocodiles and various birds and insects.

Population pressure and inadequate infrastructure have led to many environmental difficulties in Angola. Potable water is scarce, especially in the rural areas. Because food production has not kept pace with the country�s rapid population growth, much of the national food requirement is now imported. Poor agricultural practices have led to widespread soil erosion and desertification. Siltation of rivers and dams is a serious related problem. Deforestation, especially to supply the international tropical timber market, is rapidly decimating the limited tropical wet forests in the north and threatening biodiversity. A protected area system of parks and nature reserves exists but lacks funding. Only about 6.6 percent (1997) of the land is significantly protected, and logging, poaching, and agricultural encroachment are continuing threats.

The population of Angola is made up of more than 90 ethnic groups. Despite this diversity, five groups represent more than 90 percent of the population: Ovimbunda (37 percent); Mbundu (25 percent); Bakongo, or Kongo (15 percent); Lunda-Chokwe (8 percent); and Nganguela (6 percent). Before independence from Portugal was achieved in 1975, Angola had a community of approximately 400,000 Portuguese; more than 90 percent of these have since departed for Portugal.

The 2001 estimated population of Angola, including Cabinda, was 10,366,031. The overall population density was only 8 persons per sq km (22 per sq mi). Distribution, however, was uneven, with about 70 percent of the population concentrated in the north and along the coast. The rate of population increase was 2.2 percent annually in 2001. The population is overwhelmingly rural; only 34 percent of the people live in urban areas.

Luanda, the capital, has a population (1995 estimate) of 2.1 million. Other major cities are Huambo, Benguela, the port of Lobito, and Lubango.

Portuguese is the official language. More than 90 percent of the population speaks Bantu languages, the most important of which are Kimbundu, Umbundu, and Kikongo (see African Languages: The Niger-Congo Family). Before independence an estimated 2.2 million Roman Catholics, including most of the 400,000 Portuguese, lived in Angola, as well as a smaller number of Protestants. In the early 1990s most of the population professed Christian beliefs; many also practiced traditional religions.

In principle, education is free and compulsory for children between the ages of 7 and 15. However, under colonial rule education was sporadic and not well-supported, and the adult literacy rate was only 15 percent at independence. With national independence came educational reforms, including instruction in indigenous languages and a national literacy campaign. Under these changes, primary school enrollment jumped from about 300,000 in 1973 to 989,443 in the 1991-1992 school year. Higher education was also emphasized; enrollment reached 6,300, with most of those students attending Angola�s only university, Agostinho Neto University (1963) in Luanda. By 1990 the literacy rate had been increased to 42 percent. The rate for men (56 percent) has been consistently higher than that for women. A lack of teachers and effects of the long-running civil conflict have hindered further educational gains.

Angola�s economy has suffered severe setbacks since independence. The shortage of skilled workers after the departure of the Portuguese and the devastation from the long-running civil war have hampered economic growth. The upsurge in fighting that occurred in the 1990s severely disrupted agricultural production, leading to famine conditions in many parts of Angola and a dependence on food relief from international organizations.

Angola�s economy grew in the late 1980s, averaging 11.3 percent growth in gross domestic product (GDP) between 1985 and 1988. The economy declined through the 1990s, however. In 1999 GDP was $8.5 billion, or about $690 per person. The total labor force was estimated at 5.7 million in 1999, of which 75 percent were engaged in agriculture.

Cultivated fields and plantations constitute only 2.8 percent of Angola�s total area. The leading export crop, coffee, is grown in the northern part of the country; annual output has dropped from about 15,000 metric tons in the late 1980s to 3,960 tons in 2000. The leading subsistence crop is cassava, or manioc (3.1 million metric tons). Other major crops include sugarcane (330,000 metric tons), fruits such as bananas (423,000), and corn (428,045). Also important are vegetables, cotton, palm products, and sisal. Livestock raising, mostly in the south, remains a subsistence activity and suffers from the presence of the tsetse fly.

The rich rain forests of Cabinda and the northwest furnished 6 million cu m (229 million cu ft) of roundwood for fuel and industrial purposes in 1999. Because of the cool Benguela Current, the waters off the coast of Angola are particularly rich in marine life. Fishing has thus been a traditionally important activity; in 1997 the total catch was 72,189 metric tons, primarily mackerel and sardines. Namibe and Lobito are the principal fishing ports.

Petroleum accounts for 90 percent of national exports by value. Most production is from the offshore fields of Cabinda, which were first exploited in the 1960s. The total output of crude petroleum in 1999 was 280 million barrels. Diamonds remain the second most important mineral. Output in 1996 was 4.0 million carats; nearly all were of gem quality. Iron ore, formerly the third most important mineral, has not been produced commercially since 1975 because the mines were partially destroyed during the civil war. Production of salt and natural gas has continued, despite the disruption of the war.

The development of the industrial sector has been limited. The principal manufactured products are beverages and processed foods, such as refined sugar, fish meal, flour, and beer. Other products include textiles, cement, glass, and chemicals. Petroleum refineries are located in Cabinda and at Luanda.

Angola has great hydroelectric potential in the numerous streams that descend from the central plateau. Hydroelectric plants have been constructed on the Cuanza, Cunene, Dande, and Catumbela rivers. The total production of electric energy in 1999 was 1.5 billion kilowatt-hours, 75 percent of which was generated from hydroelectric plants. At present Angola�s power production potential exceeds its needs.

The basic unit of currency is the new kwanza (3 new kwanza equal U.S.$1; 1999 average). The new kwanza replaced the kwanza in 1990 and was continually devalued in the 1990s as the Angolan economy suffered from civil unrest. The National Bank of Angola is the central bank and bank of issue and functions as the state treasury. All commercial and foreign banks were nationalized in 1975; however in 1991 the government gradually began reducing its stake in them.

In 1999 imports totaled $1.8 billion and exports $3.4 billion. The chief imports are textiles, foodstuffs, heavy machinery, and iron and steel. Petroleum is by far the largest export in value; other products include coffee, diamonds, sisal, fish, and palm oil. Since Angola�s independence, the United States has replaced Portugal as the country�s leading destination for exports. Other export destinations are France, Germany, The Netherlands, and Brazil. Portugal remains the leading source for imports, followed by Belgium-Luxembourg (which conduct their foreign trade as a single entity), Brazil, the United States, France, Germany, and Spain.

Angola�s road system consists of about 51,429 km (31,956 mi) of roads, of which about one-tenth are paved. The road network is inadequate for so large an area and is supplemented by a relatively well-developed internal air service, provided by the country�s national airline. Total operated railroad track is about 2,950 km (about 1,835 mi). The principal line, the Benguela Railroad, links mineral-rich Zambia and the Katanga Region of the DRC with the Atlantic port of Lobito. Because of guerrilla activity, it was closed to international traffic from 1975 to 1980 and has since operated sporadically. The country�s chief ports are the cities of Lobito, Luanda, and Namibe.

Under a constitution promulgated in 1975 and subsequently amended, Angola was, until the early 1990s, a single-party republic governed by the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola-Labor Party (Movimento Popular de Libertação de Angola-Partido de Trabalho), generally referred to as the MPLA. Legislative powers were nominally exercised by the indirectly elected National People�s Assembly, but the MPLA was the government�s major policymaking body, and its chairman served as president of the republic.

Under a 1991 peace accord between the MPLA and the guerrilla organization opposing the government, the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (União Nacional para a Independência Total de Angola, or UNITA), Angola held its first multiparty elections for president and for a new 220-seat parliament in September 1992. Jose Eduardo dos Santos, the MPLA incumbent, was reelected president. The MPLA took 129 of the legislature�s seats, while UNITA took 70. However, UNITA rejected the results of the election, and a scheduled runoff was delayed indefinitely. UNITA resumed its war against the government until 1994, when another peace agreement outlined a power-sharing arrangement between the two parties. After several delays, MPLA and members of UNITA formed a coalition government in April 1997.

Angola is divided into 18 provinces, each governed by a commissioner appointed by the president. These provinces are further divided into councils and communes. During the civil war, UNITA had control over large areas of Angola. After the creation of a coalition government in 1997, control over these parts of the country began to be transferred back to the government.

The country�s dominant political party originated in 1956 as the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA). In 1977 it was reorganized as a Marxist-Leninist Party and renamed the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola-Labor Party; in April 1991 it formally renounced its Marxist orientation. Its rival, founded in 1966, is UNITA, which waged ongoing guerrilla warfare against the MPLA beginning in 1975, when Angola became independent. Numerous smaller parties also exist, including the Angolan Democratic Forum, the Democratic Renewal Party, the National Front for the Liberation of Angola (Frente Nacional de Libertação de Angola, or FNLA), and the Angola Youth, Worker, Peasant Alliance Party.

Practically all that is known of the early history of Angola is that the Stone Age hunters and gatherers of the region were displaced by metalworking Bantu as early as the 7th century ad. The country was on the migration routes of peoples from the north and east, which resulted in considerable mixture of populations. Thus, the culture of the Lunda, on the Kasai River in the east, affected the Chokwe to the extent that they are now known as the Lunda-Chokwe; similarly, the Bakongo, at the time of their migration into northern Angola, put their stamp on the preexisting local chiefdoms.

When the Portuguese arrived in 1483, seeking the legendary kingdom of Prester John, as well as precious metals, they found the realm of the Bakongo well established. The ruler of the state welcomed the newcomers, and in 1491 Portuguese traders and missionaries bearing gifts were sent to the court of Manikongo (�king�) Nzinga Nkuwu, who converted to Christianity. Also converting was the succeeding manikongo, Afonso I, who also accepted Portuguese guidance in the administration of his realm. The Portuguese, however, were more interested in profit from a booming trade in slaves than in either missionary work or spreading European civilization. The slave traffic, aided by local chiefs, gradually undermined the authority of the manikongo, and 25 years after Afonso�s death the state succumbed to the onslaught of the Jaga, a fierce group of nomads from the east.

The Portuguese, meanwhile, had extended their reach southward to the area around and south of present Luanda, over which they soon claimed colonial authority; it was the title of the local ruler, ngola, that became the name of the country. Portugal appointed royal governors who tried to impose their will on the population, but foreign rule was stubbornly resisted. Prolonged warfare ensued, while slave raids helped to keep the country in continuous turmoil. In addition, the Jaga overran the area after they had devastated the Bakongo, and in the middle of the 17th century, Luanda, founded by the Portuguese in 1575, was temporarily taken by the Dutch. Practically no European settlement was attempted during this time, owing to the much greater profits to be made in the slave trade; by 1845 there were still only 1800 Europeans in all of Angola. The slave trade went on almost uninterrupted throughout the 19th century. By the end of that time an estimated 3 million people had been taken and sold off across the Atlantic to North and South America.

Portugal did not gain full control over the country�s interior until the early 20th century. After that it was governed under the so-called regime do indigenato, an invidious system of economic exploitation, educational neglect, and political repression that remained in force until 1961. In 1951 Angola�s official status was changed from colony to overseas province; soon after, a policy of accelerated European settlement was adopted�the futile attempt of the colonial power to stave off the inevitable. During the 1950s a nationalist movement grew rapidly, and in 1961 a guerrilla war against the Portuguese was initiated.

The nationalists, however, were split into three rival groups: the National Front for the Liberation of Angola (Frente Nacional de Libertação de Angola, or FNLA), the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (Movimento Popular de Libertação de Angola, or MPLA), and the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (União Nacional para a Independência Total de Angola, or UNITA). All three had armed forces in the field, but none made much headway until the revolution in Portugal in April 1974 (see Portugal: History). After that, the whole Portuguese colonial empire began to fall apart. The new Lisbon regime agreed to a transfer of power, and on November 11, 1975, Angola became independent. Two governments claimed to represent the new nation, one formed by the MPLA in Luanda, the other by UNITA and FNLA in Huambo. The ensuing civil war assumed international overtones: the MPLA was armed by the USSR and aided by Cuban troops, while some Western powers and South Africa allied themselves with the FNLA/UNITA coalition and its leader, Jonas Savimbi. By early 1976 the MPLA had gained the upper hand, and its government, with MPLA leader Agostinho Neto as president, was gradually recognized throughout the world.

Neto died in 1979, and leadership of the nation was assumed by José Eduardo dos Santos. Although the FNLA surrendered to the government in 1984, UNITA continued to wage guerrilla warfare against the MPLA, supported militarily by South Africa and the United States. South Africa was also battling the Angolan government over control of Namibia. In August 1988 a peace agreement was reached between Angola, South Africa, and Cuba that granted independence to Namibia and ended Cuban and South African military involvement in the Angolan civil war. The U.S. government continued to send aid to UNITA, but also pushed forward diplomatic efforts to end the conflict. In March 1991 the two sides signed a peace accord providing for a cease-fire and the legalization of all political parties by May. President dos Santos called for multiparty elections to be held in September 1992, and a United Nations (UN) peacekeeping force maintained order.

Tensions and small skirmishes arose just before the election, however. When the MPLA emerged with the majority of seats in parliament (129 of 220) and dos Santos received 49.6 percent of the vote, Savimbi rejected the results as fraudulent, refused to participate in the runoff election, and resumed the war at an even deadlier level. In 1993 the United States and other foreign powers officially ended their support of the warring factions. Daily relief flights by the UN World Food Program were required to avert mass starvation throughout the country, as most of Angola�s resources went toward weapons and other war costs. By the end of 1994 an estimated 3.6 million Angolans were war refugees, and 500,000 people had been killed.

In November 1994 UNITA leaders and government representatives signed a peace accord in Lusaka, Zambia, that became known as the Lusaka Protocol. In May 1995 a UN mediator succeeded in bringing dos Santos and Savimbi to Lusaka to meet face to face. There they signed the accord, which called for a cease-fire, the demobilization and integration into the Angolan army of UNITA troops, and the creation of a coalition government. The UN undertook the task of enforcing the agreement, the third since war broke out in 1975, by agreeing to send 7,000 peacekeeping troops to Angola in 1995. The demobilization of UNITA troops progressed slowly.