Republic of Angola República de Angola (Portuguese) | |
|---|---|
Motto:
| |
| Anthem: "Angola Avante" (English: "Onwards Angola") | |
.svg)  _-_AGO_-_UNOCHA.svg) | |
| Capital and largest city | Luanda 8°50′S 13°20′E / 8.833°S 13.333°E |
| Official language | Portuguese |
| National languages | |
| Ethnic groups (2021)[1] | |
| Religion (2020)[2] |
|
| Demonym(s) | Angolan |
| Government | Unitary presidential republic |
| João Lourenço | |
| Esperança da Costa[3] | |
| Legislature | National Assembly |
| Formation | |
| 11 November 1975 | |
| 22 November 1976 | |
| 21 January 2010 | |
| Area | |
• Total | 1,246,700 km2 (481,400 sq mi) (22nd) |
• Water (%) | negligible |
| Population | |
• 2023 estimate | 37,290,193[4] (41st) |
• Density | 24.97/km2 (64.7/sq mi) (157th) |
| GDP (PPP) | 2023 estimate |
• Total |  $374.94 billion[5] (62nd) |
• Per capita | $9,800[5] (129th) |
| GDP (nominal) | 2023 estimate |
• Total | $113.29 billion[5] (61st) |
• Per capita | $2,400[5] (125th) |
| Gini (2018) | 51.3[6] high inequality |
| HDI (2022) | 0.591[7] medium (150th) |
| Currency | Angolan kwanza (AOA) |
| Time zone | UTC+1 (WAT) |
| Drives on | right |
| Calling code | +244 |
| ISO 3166 code | AO |
| Internet TLD | .ao |
Angola,[a] officially the Republic of Angola,[b] is a country on the west-central coast of Southern Africa. It is the second-largest Lusophone (Portuguese-speaking) country in both total area and population and is the seventh-largest country in Africa. It is bordered by Namibia to the south, the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the north, Zambia to the east, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west. Angola has an exclave province, the province of Cabinda, that borders the Republic of the Congo and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The capital and most populous city is Luanda.
Angola has been inhabited since the Paleolithic Age. After the Bantu expansion reached the region, states were formed by the 13th century and organised into confederations. The Kingdom of Kongo ascended to achieve hegemony among the other kingdoms from the 14th century. Portuguese explorers established relations with Kongo in 1483. To the south were the kingdoms of Ndongo and Matamba, with the Ovimbundu kingdoms further south, and the Mbunda Kingdom in the east.[8][9]
The Portuguese began colonising the coast in the 16th century. Kongo fought three wars against the Portuguese, ending in the Portuguese conquest of Ndongo. The banning of the slave trade in the 19th century severely disrupted Kongo's undiversified economic system and European settlers gradually began to establish their presence in the interior of the region. The Portuguese colony that became Angola did not achieve its present borders until the early 20th century and experienced the strong resistance from the native groups such as the Cuamato, the Kwanyama, and the Mbunda. After a protracted anti-colonial struggle (1961–1974), Angola achieved independence in 1975 as a one-party Republic, but the country descended into a devastating civil war the same year, between the ruling People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), backed by the Soviet Union and Cuba; the insurgent National Union for the Total Independence of Angola, an originally Maoist and later anti-communist group supported by the United States and South Africa; the militant organization National Liberation Front of Angola, backed by Zaire; and the Front for the Liberation of the Enclave of Cabinda seeking the independence of the Cabinda exclave, also backed by Zaire.
Since the end of the civil war in 2002, Angola has emerged as a relatively stable constitutional republic, and its economy is among the fastest-growing in the world, with China, the European Union, and the United States being the country's largest investment and trade partners.[10][11][12] However, the economic growth is highly uneven, with most of the nation's wealth concentrated in a disproportionately small part of the population as most Angolans have a low standard of living; life expectancy is among the lowest in the world, while infant mortality is among the highest.[13]
Angola is a member of the United Nations, African Union, the Community of Portuguese Language Countries, and the Southern African Development Community. As of 2023[update], the Angolan population is estimated at 37.2 million.[14] Angolan culture reflects centuries of Portuguese influence, namely the predominance of the Portuguese language and of the Catholic Church, intermingled with a variety of indigenous customs and traditions.
- ^ "Main ethnic groups in Angola 2021". Statista. Archived from the original on 10 March 2023. Retrieved 10 March 2023.
- ^ "Angola: Major World Religions (1900–2050)". The Association of Religion Data Archives. Archived from the original on 5 October 2022. Retrieved 8 October 2022.
- ^ Investidura do Presidente da República Archived 27 May 2023 at the Wayback Machine. Rádio Nacional de Angola. 15 September 2022.
- ^ "Angola". The World Factbook (2024 ed.). Central Intelligence Agency. Retrieved 22 June 2023.
- ^ a b c d "World Economic Outlook Database, October 2023 Edition. (Angola)". International Monetary Fund. 10 October 2023. Archived from the original on 18 October 2023. Retrieved 14 October 2023.
- ^ Gini index
- ^ "Human Development Report 2022" (PDF). United Nations Development Programme. 8 September 2022. Archived (PDF) from the original on 9 October 2022. Retrieved 8 September 2022.
- ^ Gordon, David M. (26 September 2018), "Kingdoms of South-Central Africa: Sources, Historiography, and History", Oxford Research Encyclopedia of African History, doi:10.1093/acrefore/9780190277734.013.146, ISBN 978-0-19-027773-4, retrieved 22 October 2024
- ^ Thornton, John K., ed. (2020), "The Development of States in West Central Africa to 1540", A History of West Central Africa to 1850, New Approaches to African History, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 16–55, ISBN 978-1-107-56593-7, retrieved 22 October 2024
- ^ Transparency and Accountability in Angola, Human Rights Watch, 13 April 2010, archived from the original on 6 October 2015, retrieved 1 April 2016
- ^ "Foreign import trade partners of Angola (2021)". The Observatory of Economic Complexity. Archived from the original on 29 December 2023. Retrieved 29 December 2023.
- ^ "Foreign export trade partners of Angola (2021)". The Observatory of Economic Complexity. Archived from the original on 29 December 2023. Retrieved 29 December 2023.
- ^ "Life expectancy at birth". World Fact Book. United States Central Intelligence Agency. 2014. Archived from the original on 20 January 2016. Retrieved 4 March 2010.
- ^ "Angola Population (2024) – Worldometer". worldometers.info. Archived from the original on 15 January 2024. Retrieved 15 January 2024.
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