Democratic People's Republic of Angola

Not to be confused with the internationally recognised, MPLA-dominated People's Republic of Angola.
Democratic People's Republic of Angola
República Popular Democrática de Angola
1975–1976
1979–2002
Emblem[1] of
Emblem[1]
The greatest territorial extent controlled by UNITA
The greatest territorial extent controlled by UNITA
StatusUnrecognized government.
CapitalHuambo (de jure)
Jamba (de facto)
Common languagesPortuguese
GovernmentUnitary two-party diarchic provisional government (1975–1976)

Unitary one-party socialist provisional government (1979–1992)

Unitary provisional government (1992–2002)
Co-president 
• 1975–1976
Holden Roberto and Jonas Savimbi
President 
• 1979–2002
Jonas Savimbi
• 2002
Paulo Lukamba Gato
Historical eraCold War
• RPDA proclaimed
11 November 1975
• RPDA suppressed
11 February 1976
• RPDA reestablished
1979
• RPDA dissolution
4 April 2002
Preceded by		 Succeeded by
1975:
Overseas Province
of Angola
1979:
People's Republic
of Angola
1976:
People's Republic
of Angola
2002:
Republic of
Angola
Today part ofAngola

The Democratic People's Republic of Angola (Portuguese: República Popular Democrática de Angola), also referred to as Free Angola (Portuguese: Angola Livre)[2][3] or the Free Land of Angola (Portuguese: Terra Livre de Angola),[4] was a rival government to that of the People's Republic of Angola during the nation's civil war.

It was declared by the FNLA and UNITA in the city of Huambo. It was formed during the dawn of Angolan independence, in November 1975, though by February 1976, its FNLA forces had been largely defeated by the MPLA of the People's Republic of Angola.[5] The Democratic People's Republic, at first, was inspired by Maoism and the Chinese Revolution, including an explicit mention of the construction of socialism in its program, but later moved towards anti-communist positions.[6] It was initially supported by the People's Republic of China and, later, by South Africa and United States.[7]

  1. ^ UNITA, Identity of a Free Angola. UNITA. 1985.
  2. ^ "UNITA União Nacional pela Independência Total de Angola".
  3. ^ "UNITA Uniao Nacional para a Independecia Total de Angola".
  4. ^ https://www.marxists.org/subject/africa/periodicals/kwacha/kwacha-67.pdf [bare URL PDF]
  5. ^ Africa South of the Sahara 2004. Europa Publications Limited. 2003. p. 40. ISBN 9781857431834. Retrieved 2018-06-03.
  6. ^ Saba, Paul (February 15, 1976). "Superpowers, Out of Angola!". marxists.org.
  7. ^ "Angola – INDEPENDENCE AND THE RISE OF THE MPLA GOVERNMENT". countrystudies.us. Retrieved 2018-06-03.