Angola, officially the Republic of Angola, 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 was first settled by San hunter-gatherer societies before the northern domains came under the rule of Bantu states such as Kongo and Ndongo. In the 15th century, Portuguese colonists began trading, and a settlement was established at Luanda during the 16th century. Portugal annexed territories in the region which were ruled as a colony from 1655, and Angola was incorporated as an overseas province of Portugal in 1951. After the Angolan War of Independence, which ended in 1974 with an army mutiny and leftist coup in Lisbon, Angola achieved independence in 1975 through the Alvor Agreement. After independence, Angola entered a long period of civil war that lasted until 2002.
Benguela is a province of Angola, situated in the west of the country. It lies on the Atlantic Ocean, and borders the provinces of Cuanza Sul, Namibe, Huila, and Huambo. The province has an area of 39,826 square kilometres (15,377 sq mi) and its capital is Benguela. According to the 2014 census, there were 2,231,385 inhabitants in the province. The current governor of Benguela is Isaac dos Anjos.
Huambo, formerly Nova Lisboa, is the third-most populous city in Angola, after the capital city Luanda and Lubango, with a population of 595,304 in the city and a population of 713,134 in the municipality of Huambo. The city is the capital of the province of Huambo and is located about 220 km E from Benguela and 600 km SE from Luanda. Huambo is a main hub on the Caminho de Ferro de Benguela (CFB), which runs from the port of Lobito to the Democratic Republic of the Congo's southernmost province, Katanga. Huambo is served by the Albano Machado Airport.
Malanje is the capital city of Malanje Province in Angola, with a population of 455,000, and a municipality, with a population of 506,847. Projected to be the thirteenth fastest growing city on the African continent between 2020 and 2025, with a 5.17% growth. It is located 380 kilometres (240 mi) east of Angola's capital Luanda. Near it are the spectacular Calandula waterfalls, the rock formations of Pungo Andongo, and the Capanda Dam. The climate is mainly humid, with average temperatures between 20 and 24 °C and rainfall 900 to 130 millimetres in the rainy season.
The Agostinho Neto University is the largest public university of Angola, based in Luanda and in the nearby city of Talatona, in Angola. In the academic year 2005–06, 68 licensing courses were ministered by the university: 18 in Bachelor's and 15 in master's degrees, involving areas of scientific knowledge in the faculties, institutes, and higher learning schools. It is one of seven public universities in Angola. Until 2009 the Agostinho Neto University was the country's only public university, and had campuses in all its major cities. In 2009 it was split up, with its campuses outside Luanda becoming six autonomous universities, located in Benguela, Cabinda, Huambo, Lubango, Malange, and Uíge. Agostinho Neto University is now one of the seven regional university among others, serving Luanda Province and Bengo Province. It remains the largest university in Angola.
The 2010 Africa Cup of Nations, also known as the Orange Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, was the 27th Africa Cup of Nations, the biennial football championship of Africa (CAF). It was held in Angola, where it began on 10 January 2010 and concluded on 31 January.
Rail transport in Angola consists of three separate Cape gauge lines that do not connect: the northern Luanda Railway, the central Benguela Railway, and the southern Moçâmedes Railway. The lines each connect the Atlantic coast to the interior of the country. A fourth system once linked Gunza and Gabala but is no longer operational.
Angola–Portugal relations are the bilateral relations between Angola and Portugal. Relations between the two are intrinsically tied because of the Portuguese Empire with Angola under Portuguese rule from 1575–1975.
Slavery in Angola existed since the late 15th century when Portugal established contacts with the peoples living in what is the Northwest of the present country, and founded several trade posts on the coast. A number of those peoples, like the Imbangala and the Mbundu, were active slave traders for centuries. In the late 16th century, Kingdom of Portugal's explorers founded the fortified settlement of Luanda, and later on minor trade posts and forts on the Cuanza River as well as on the Atlantic coast southwards until Benguela. The main component of their trading activities consisted in a heavy involvement in the Atlantic slave trade. Slave trafficking was abolished in 1836 by the Portuguese authorities.
The Bailundo revolt was an insurrection launched by the Ovimbundu kingdom of Bailundo and its allies against the Portuguese Empire. The revolt was prompted by the sudden decline of the price of root rubber, pitting the indigenous population against European immigrants and aboriginal loyalists. The revolt lasted between 1902 and 1904, ending in a Portuguese victory.
António Paulo Kassoma is an Angolan politician. He was named Prime Minister of Angola in September 2008 and remained in office until the new constitution replaced this function in February 2010. Kassoma then served as President of the National Assembly of Angola from 2010 to 2012. On August 27, 2016 Kassoma was named Party Secretary of the People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola.
In the 1900s in Angola the colonial economy expanded despite domestic unrest.
In southwestern Africa, Portuguese Angola was a historical colony of the Portuguese Empire (1575–1951), the overseas province Portuguese West Africa of Estado Novo Portugal (1951–1972), and the State of Angola of the Portuguese Empire (1972–1975). It became the independent Angola in 1975.
The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Luanda, Angola.
Events in the year 2013 in Angola. The country had a population of 19,183,590.
João Manuel Gonçalves Lourenço is an Angolan politician who has served as the 3rd president of Angola since 26 September 2017. Previously, he was Minister of Defence from 2014 to 2017. In September 2018, he became the Chairman of the People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), the ruling party. He was the party's Secretary-General from 1998 to 2003.
1979 Girabola was the annual national Angola football (soccer) tournament, Girabola, held in 1979. It was the first national championship organized after Angola achieved independence in 1975. Due to the Angolan Civil War this was the first tournament that included teams from all Angolan provinces. By then, there were only sixteen provinces. Later on, the province of Lunda was split in two: Lunda Norte and Lunda Sul and Bengo was also created.