Portuguese Angola

Province of Angola
Província de Angola
1575–1975
Anthem: "Hymno Patriótico" (1808–34)
Patriotic Anthem

"Hino da Carta" (1834–1910)
Hymn of the Charter

"A Portuguesa" (1910–75)
The Portuguese
Portuguese West Africa in 1905–1975
Portuguese West Africa in 1905–1975
StatusColony of the Portuguese Empire (1575–1951)
Overseas province of Portugal (1951–1972)
State of the Portuguese Empire (1972–1975)
CapitalLuanda
Common languagesPortuguese (official)
Umbundu, Kimbundu, Kikongo, Chokwe
Religion
Roman Catholicism[1]
Protestantism
Traditional religions
Head of State 
• 1575–78
King Sebastian I of Portugal
• 1974–75
President Francisco da Costa Gomes
Governor General 
• 1575–1589
Paulo Dias de Novais[2]
• 1975
Leonel Alexandre Gomes Cardoso
Historical eraImperialism
• Establishment of Luanda
1575
• Independence of Angola
11 November 1975
CurrencyPortuguese real (1575–1911)
Portuguese escudo (1911–14)
Angolan escudo (1914–28; 1958–77)
Angolan angolar (1926–58)
ISO 3166 codeAO
Preceded by
Succeeded by
Kingdom of Kongo
Kingdom of Ndongo
Mbunda Kingdom
Lunda Empire
People's Republic of Angola
Democratic People's Republic of Angola
Republic of Cabinda
Today part ofAngola

In southwestern Africa, Portuguese Angola was a historical colony of the Portuguese Empire (1575–1951), the overseas province Portuguese West Africa[a] of Estado Novo Portugal (1951–1972), and the State of Angola of the Portuguese Empire (1972–1975). It became the independent People's Republic of Angola in 1975.

In the 16th and 17th century Portugal ruled along the coast and engaged in military conflicts with the Kingdom of Kongo, but in the 18th century Portugal gradually managed to colonise the interior highlands. Other polities in the region included the Kingdom of Ndongo, Kingdom of Lunda, and Mbunda Kingdom. Full control of the entire territory was not achieved until the beginning of the 20th century, when agreements with other European powers during the Scramble for Africa fixed the colony's interior borders.

  1. ^ James, Martin W. (2004). Historical Dictionary of Angola. Scarecrow Press. p. 140. ISBN 9780810865600.
  2. ^ as Captain-Governor


Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).