Angola has been plagued by civil war since its independence from Portugal in 1975. The Soviet-backed MPLA (Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola) organized a Marxist state that gained recognition as the government of Angola, but they were opposed by the rebel forces of UNITA (Total Independence of Angola), backed by the U.S. and China.
Civil war raged for the next twenty years. An estimated 50,000 people were killed.
A cease-fire lasted from May 1991 to October 1992, when UNITA refused to accept defeat in internationally monitored elections.
Fighting resumed until 1994, when a U.N.-mediated peace treaty ended the conflict. But according to the U.N., UNITA has failed to live up to its part of the agreement by refusing to demilitarize. Some observers fear UNITA leader Jonas Savimbi has been using the time to rebuild his forces and will eventually renew hostilities.
In April 1997 UNITA joined a government of national unity and agreed to hand over the territory it controlled. UNITA, however, did not follow through on the agreement and still controls about half of the country, including lucrative diamond mining assets.
Land and People | History |
| Travel | Financial | Weather
DEMOGRAPHICS
- Population:
- 10,623,994
- Average life span:
- 45 male, 50 female
- Average income (US$):
- $700
- GDP per capita (US$):
- $553
- Literacy:
- 42%
THE LAND AND ITS PEOPLE
- Capital:
- Luanda
- Size:
- 481,350 square miles (1,246,700 square km)
Three times the size of California
- Political leaders:
- President Jose Eduardo dos Santos; P.M. Fernando Franca van Dunem
- Government type:
- Republic
- Religions:
- Indigenous beliefs 47%; Roman Catholic 38%; Protestant 15%
- Languages:
- Portuguese (official); various Bantu languages
HISTORY
- To 1500s -- ruled by native Bantu peoples
- 1575 -- Portuguese found Luanda, establish an extensive slave trade, sending three million people to Brazil over 300 years.
- 1885 -- organized as an official Portuguese colony (Portuguese West Africa)
- 1961-1975 -- Angolans wage guerilla war for independence
- 1975 -- Portugal concedes independence
- 1975-1976 -- Civil war among three rival rebel groups
- 1976 -- Soviet-backed Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) organizes Marxist state that gains recognition as the government of Angola
- 1976-1994 -- Civil war between MPLA government and rebel UNITA forces backed by the U.S. and China. An estimated 50,000 people are killed
- 1994 -- Government and UNITA forces sign peace treaty.
- 1997 -- U.N. Security Council votes to impose sanctions on UNITA after slow demobilization of forces.
FINANCIAL
- Monetary unit:
- Readjusted Kwanza
CNN TRAVEL INFORMATION
CNN WEATHER INFORMATION
- Forecasts:
- Luanda
- Forecast and satellite maps:
- Africa forecast map
- Africa satellite image