Angola Education

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Education

 
In principle, education is free and compulsory for children between the ages of 7 and 15. Each year in the mid-1980s approximately 930,000 pupils were enrolled in primary schools, 157,000 were enrolled in secondary schools, and 4500 were enrolled at the country's one university, the University Agostinho Neto (1976) in Luanda. The government has pledged a campaign to drastically reduce the illiteracy rate, but is hampered by the lack of teachers and ongoing civil conflict. Education was not well served under colonial rule; only about 20 to 30 percent of the adult population is literate.

Angola, formerly Portuguese West Africa, officially Republic of Angola, independent state in southwestern Africa, bounded on the north and east by the Republic of Zaire, on the east by Zambia, on the south by Namibia, and on the west by the Atlantic Ocean. A small exclave, Cabinda, is located some 30 km (19 miles) to the north and is bounded on the north by the Republic of the Congo, on the east and south by Zaire, and on the west by the Atlantic Ocean. Angola has a coastline of more than 1650 km (1025 miles) and a total area of 1,246,700 sq km (481,354 sq miles).

Land and Resources

 
Angola is the seventh largest country in Africa, covering an area more than twice as large as France and the Low Countries combined.

Physiographic Regions

The country can be divided into three major regions. They are, from west to east, the coastal plain, a transition zone, and a vast inland plateau. The low-lying coastal plain varies from about 50 to 150 km (about 30 to 90 miles) in width. The transition zone, which consists of a series of terraces or escarpments, is about 150 km (about 90 miles) wide in the north, but diminishes to about 30 km (19 miles) in the center and south. To the east of this zone is the vast Angolan plateau, which covers approximately two-thirds of the country and has an average elevation of 1000 to 1520 m (3300 to 5000 ft). Higher elevations are reached in the mountains of the central section, which culminate in Mount Moco (2620 m/8597 ft), the country's highest point.

Rivers and Lakes

Most of the country's rivers rise in the central mountains. Of the many rivers that drain to the Atlantic Ocean, the Cuanza and Cunene are the most important. Other major streams include the Cuango (Kwango) River, which drains north to the Congo River system, and the Kwando (Cuando) and Cubango rivers, both of which drain generally southeast to the Okavango Swamp. Angola has no sizable lakes.

Climate

Angola has a tropical climate, with a dry season that lasts from September to April. The cool Benguela Current offshore moderates the temperatures of the coastal region and reduces the precipitation, especially in the south. Annual rainfall at Luanda is 338 mm (13 in) and only 51 mm (2 in) at Namibe, which borders the Namib Desert. In the cooler central plateau, rainfall decreases from 1500 mm (about 60 in) in the north to 750 mm (about 30 in) in the south.

Mineral Resources

Angola is rich in mineral resources, and further geological exploration is likely to add to the list of known mineral reserves. Among the most notable resources are petroleum, diamonds, iron ore, manganese, copper, uranium, phosphates, and salt.

Vegetation and Animal Life

 
Vegetation varies with the climate. Thick tropical rain forests are found in the north and in the Cabinda exclave. To the south the rain forests give way to savanna, lands of mixed trees and grasses, which in turn grade into grasslands on the south and east. Palm trees are found on much of the coast, and sparse desert vegetation grows south of Namibe. Wildlife is as diverse as the vegetation and includes many of the larger African mammals, such as elephant, rhinoceros, giraffe, hippopotamus, zebra, antelope, lion, and gorilla. Also found are crocodile and a diversity of birdlife and insects.

Population

The population of Angola is made up of more than 90 ethnic groups. Despite this diversity, the four most important groups represent about three-fourths of the total population. These are the Mbundu in central and southern Angola, the Bakongo, or Kongo, in the northwest, the Kimbundu in the north and center, and the Chokwe-Lunda in the east. Prior to independence in 1975, Angola had a community of approximately 400,000 Portuguese; more than 90 percent of these have since departed for Portugal.

Population Characteristics

 
The total population of Angola, including Cabinda, is 9,545,235 (1993 estimate). The overall population density is only about 8 people per sq km (about 20 per sq miles). Distribution, however, is uneven, with about 70 percent of the population concentrated in the north and along the coast. The natural rate of population increase was about 3 percent annually in the late 1980s. The population is overwhelmingly rural; only about one-third of the people live in urban areas.

Principal Cities

The capital and chief city is Luanda, with a population of 1.2 million (1988 estimate). Other major cities are (1983 estimate) Huambo (203,000), Benguela (155,000), the port of Lobito (150,000), and Lubango (105,000).

Language and Religion

Portuguese is the official language. More than 90 percent of the population speaks Bantu languages, the most important of which are Kimbundu, Umbundu, and Kikongo (see AFRICAN LANGUAGES: THE NIGER-KORDOFANIAN FAMILY). Before independence an estimated 2.2 million Roman Catholics, including most of the 400,000 Portuguese, lived in the country, as well as a smaller number of Protestants. By the late 1980s about 53 percent of the population was Christian, and the remainder adhered to traditional religions.

Economy
Angola's economy has suffered severe setbacks since independence. The shortage of skilled workers after the departure of the Portuguese, and the devastation of the civil war (1975-1976) along with continuing guerrilla activity, halted economic growth. Production of nearly all goods except crude petroleum either remained stagnant or declined. An upsurge of guerrilla activity in the 1980s and early 1990s severely disrupted agricultural production.

National Output and Labor

In the late 1980s Angola had an annual gross domestic product (GDP) of $4.7 billion; the annual GDP per capita was about $600. The total labor force in the mid-1980s was estimated at 3.7 million, of which more than 70 percent was engaged in agriculture.

Agriculture

Arable land constitutes only about 2.8 percent of Angola's total area. Less than one-sixth of this land is under permanent cultivation. The leading export crop, coffee, is grown in the northern part of the country; annual output in the late 1980s was about 15,000 metric tons. The leading subsistence crop is cassava, or manioc (2 million metric tons). Other major crops include sugarcane (330,000 metric tons), bananas (280,000), and corn (270,000). Also important are vegetables, cotton, palm products, and sisal. Livestock raising, mostly in the south, remains a subsistence activity and suffers from the presence of the tsetse fly.

Forestry and Fishing

 
The rich rain forests of Cabinda and the northwest furnished about 5.1 million cu m (about 180 million cu ft) a year of roundwood for fuel and industrial purposes in the late 1980s. Because of the cool Benguela Current, the waters off the coast of Angola are particularly rich in marine life. Fishing has thus been a traditionally important activity; in the late 1980s the total yearly catch was about 81,000 metric tons, primarily mackerel and sardines. Namibe and Lobito are the principal fishing ports.

Mining

Petroleum accounts for some 90 percent of national exports by value. Most production is from the offshore fields of Cabinda, which were first worked in the 1960s. The total annual output of crude petroleum in the mid-1980s was 11.4 million metric tons. Diamonds remain the second most important mineral; annual output in the late 1980s was 240,000 carats. Iron ore, formerly the third most important mineral, has not been produced commercially since 1975 because the mines were destroyed during the civil war. Production of salt and natural gas has continued, despite the disruption of the war.

Manufacturing

The development of the industrial sector has been limited. The principal manufactured products are beverages and processed foods, such as refined sugar, fishmeal, flour, and beer. Other products include textiles, cement, glass, and chemicals. Petroleum refineries are located in Cabinda and at Luanda.

Energy

 
Angola has great hydroelectric potential in the numerous streams that descend from the central plateau. Hydroelectric plants have been constructed on the Cuanza, Cunene, Dande, and Catumbela rivers. The total production of electric energy in the late 1980s was 1.8 billion kilowatt-hours, of which some 75 percent was generated from hydroelectric plants. At present Angola's power production exceeds its needs.

Currency and Banking

The basic unit of currency is the kwanza, which replaced the Angolan escudo in 1977 and was devalued in 1991 (35,000 kwanza equal U.S.$1; 1993). The National Bank of Angola is the central bank and bank of issue and functions as the state treasury. All commercial and foreign banks were nationalized in 1975.

Foreign Trade

 
In the late 1980s yearly imports totaled $1.4 billion and annual exports $2 billion. The chief imports were textiles, foodstuffs, heavy machinery, and iron and steel. Petroleum accounted for some 90 percent of the exports, which have traditionally included coffee, diamonds, sisal, fish, and palm oil. Since Angola's independence, Portugal has been replaced as the country's leading trading partner by the United States, Cuba, Brazil, and the republics of the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR).

Transportation

 
Angola's road system consists of about 73,900 km (about 45,900 miles) of roads, of which 51 percent are paved. The road network is inadequate for so large an area and is supplemented by a relatively well-developed internal air service, provided by the country's national airline. Total railroad trackage is about 2800 km (about 1740 miles). The principal line, the Benguela Railroad, links mineral-rich Zambia and the Shaba province of Zaire with the Atlantic port of Lobito. Because of guerrilla activity, it was closed to international traffic from 1975 to 1980 and has since operated sporadically. The country's chief ports are the cities of Lobito, Luanda, and Namibe.

Government

Under a constitution promulgated in 1975 and subsequently amended, Angola was a single-party republic governed by the Popular Liberation Movement of Angola-Labor Party (Movimento Popular de Libertação de Angola-Partido de Trabalho), generally referred to as MPLA. Legislative powers were nominally exercised by the indirectly elected National People's Assembly, but the MPLA was the government's major policymaking body, and its chairman served as president of the republic. Under a 1991 peace accord between the MPLA and the guerrilla organization opposing the government, the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (União Nacional para a Independência Total de Angola, or UNITA), Angola held multiparty elections for president and for a new 220-seat parliament in September 1992.

Local Government

Angola is divided into 18 provinces, which are further divided into councils and communes. Each level of local government has a direct representative of the MPLA. However, large areas of the country are controlled by UNITA.

Political Parties

 
The country's dominant political party originated in 1956 as the Popular Liberation Movement of Angola (MPLA). In 1977 it was reorganized as a Marxist-Leninist party and renamed the Popular Liberation Movement of Angola-Labor Party; in April 1991 it formally renounced its Marxist orientation. Its rival, founded in 1966, is UNITA, which has waged guerrilla warfare against the MPLA ever since 1975, when Angola became independent.

History

About all that is known of the early history of Angola is that the Stone Age hunters and gatherers of the region were replaced by metalworking Bantu as early as the 7th century AD. The country was on the migration routes of peoples from the north and east, which resulted in considerable admixture of populations. Thus, the culture of the Lunda, on the Kasai River in the east, affected the Chokwe to the extent that they are now known as the Lunda-Chokwe; similarly, the Kongo, at the time of their migration into northern Angola, put their stamp on the preexisting local chiefdoms.

Advent of Europeans

 
When the Portuguese arrived in 1483, seeking the legendary kingdom of Prester John, as well as precious metals, they found the realm of the Kongo well established. The ruler of the state welcomed the newcomers, and in 1491 Portuguese traders and missionaries bearing gifts were sent to the court of Manikongo (“king”) Nzinga Nkuwu (reigned about 1482-1505), who converted to Christianity, as did the succeeding manikongo, Afonso I (reigned 1505-1543), who also accepted Portuguese guidance in the administration of his realm. The Portuguese, however, were more interested in profit from a booming trade in slaves than in either missionary work or spreading European civilization. The slave traffic, aided by local chiefs, gradually undermined the authority of the manikongo, and 25 years after Afonso's death the state succumbed to the onslaught of the Jaga, a fierce group of nomads from the east.

Native Resistance

 
The Portuguese, meanwhile, had extended their reach southward to the area around and south of present Luanda, over which they soon claimed colonial authority; it was the title of the local ruler, ngola, that became the name of the country. Portugal appointed royal governors who tried to impose their will on the population, but foreign rule was stubbornly resisted. Prolonged warfare ensued, while slave raids helped to keep the country in continuous turmoil. In addition, the Jaga overran the area after they had devastated the Kongo, and in the middle of the 17th century, Luanda, founded by the Portuguese in 1575, was temporarily taken by the Dutch. Practically no European settlement was attempted during this time, owing to the much greater profits to be made in the slave trade; by 1845 there were still only 1800 Europeans in all of Angola. The slave trade went on almost uninterrupted throughout the 19th century. By that time an estimated 3 million people had been exported.
Portugal did not gain full control over the country's interior until the early 20th century. After that it was governed under the so-called regime do indigenato, an invidious system of economic exploitation, educational neglect, and political repression that remained in force until 1961. In 1951 Angola's official status was changed from colony to overseas province; soon after, a policy of accelerated European settlement was adopted—the futile attempt of the colonial power to stave off the inevitable. During the 1950s a nationalist movement grew rapidly, and in 1961 a guerrilla war against the Portuguese was initiated.

War and Independence

 
The nationalists, however, were split into three rival groups: the National Front for the Liberation of Angola (Frente Nacional de Libertação de Angola, or FNLA), the Popular Liberation Movement of Angola (Movimento Popular de Libertação de Angola, or MPLA), and the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (União Nacional para a Independência Total de Angola, or UNITA). All three had armed forces in the field, but none made much headway until the revolution in Portugal in April 1974. After that, the whole Portuguese colonial empire began to fall apart. The new Lisbon regime agreed to a transfer of power, and on November 11, 1975, Angola became independent. Two governments claimed to represent the new nation, one formed by the MPLA in Luanda, the other by UNITA in Huambo. The ensuing civil war assumed international overtones: the MPLA was armed by the USSR and aided by Cuban troops, while some Western powers and South Africa allied themselves with UNITA and its leader, Jonas Savimbi. By early 1976 the MPLA had gained the upper hand, and its government, with MPLA leader Agostinho Neto as president, was gradually recognized throughout the world.
Neto died in 1979, and leadership of the nation was assumed by José Eduardo dos Santos. Guerrilla warfare continued, often bolstered by South African forces that forayed into Angola in pursuit of Namibian insurgents. In August 1988 negotiators for Angola, South Africa, and Cuba agreed to a comprehensive peace plan that included independence for Namibia. In May 1991 the last Cuban troops left Angola and the central government signed a cease-fire agreement with UNITA, to be supervised by United Nations (UN) peacekeepers. In the multiparty elections held in September 1992 the MPLA won 129 of 220 seats in a newly constituted parliament, and UNITA won 70. Pending a runoff, dos Santos led in presidential voting over Savimbi. UNITA rejected the election results, however, and renewed its guerrilla campaign. In early 1993, after the fighting between government and UNITA forces intensified, more than 1 million refugees fled their homes, and the UN threatened to withdraw its peacekeeping force. Peace negotiations between the government and UNITA, begun in Zambia early in 1994, have failed to resolve the conflict, which remains one of the world's deadliest civil wars.

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