Angola

República de Angola

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National motto: Virtus Unita Fortior (Latin: Unity provides Strength)
Official language	Portuguese
Capital	Luanda
President	José Eduardo dos Santos
Prime Minister	Fernando da Piedade Dias dos Santos
Area  - Total  - % water	Ranked 22th 1,246,700 km² Negligible
Population  - Total (July est.)  - Density	Ranked 71th 10,766,500 8.6/km²
Independence	1976
Currency	Kwanza'''
Time zone	UTC +1
National anthem	Angola Avante
Internet TLD	.AO
Calling Code	244

Table of contents

1 History 2 Politics 3 Provinces 4 Geography 5 Economy 6 Demographics 7 Culture 8 Miscelleanous topics 9 Reference 10 External links

History

After a long war with Portuguese colonial forces, Angola became independent in 1975. Shortly after, a civil war broke out between MPLA, UNITA and FNLA. The later would retire from the conflict, leaving the marxist MPLA and the western backed UNITA to fight for power. In 1991, both factions agreed to turn Angola into a multiparty state but after the current president José Eduardo dos Santos of MPLA won UN supervised elections, UNITA claimed there was a fraud and fighting broke out again.

A 1994 peace accord (Lusaka protocol) between the government and UNITA provided for the integration of former UNITA insurgents into the government. A national unity government was installed in 1997, but serious fighting resumed in late 1998, rendering hundreds of thousands of people homeless. President José Eduardo dos Santos suspended the regular functioning of democratic instances due to the conflict.

On February 22nd 2002, Jonas Savimbi, the leader of UNITA was shot dead and a cease-fire was reached by the two factions. UNITA gave up its armed wing and assumed the role of major opposition party. Although the political situation of the country seems to be normalizing, president dos Santos still hasn't allowed regular democratic processes to occur. Among Angola's major problems are a serious humanitarian crisis (a result of the prolonged war), the abundance of mine fields, and the actions of guerrilla movements fighting for the independence of the northern enclave of Cabinda.

Politics

• List of political parties in Angola

Main Article: Provinces of Angola

Angola is divided into 18 provinces: Bengo, Benguela, Bié, Cabinda, Cuando Cubango, Cuanza Norte, Cuanza Sul, Cunene, Huambo, Huila, Luanda, Lunda Norte, Lunda Sul, Malanje, Moxico, Namibe, Uige, and Zaire.

Geography

Economy

Demographics

• List of Angolans

• List of writers from Angola

• Communications in Angola
• Transportation in Angola
• Military of Angola
• Foreign relations of Angola

• Much of the material in these articles comes from the CIA World Factbook 2000 and the 2003 U.S. Department of State website.

• Library of Congress Portals on the World - Angola
• CIA - The World Factbook -- Angola - CIA's Factbook on Angola

Community of Portuguese Language Countries (CPLP)
Angola | Brazil | Cape Verde | East Timor | Guinea-Bissau | Mozambique | Portugal | São Tomé and Príncipe

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