ANGOLA
Geography People Government Economy Transportation Communications Defense Forces
ANGOLA
@Angola:Geography
Location: Southern Africa, bordering the South Atlantic Ocean, between
Namibia and Zaire
Map references: Africa
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ANGOLA - MAJOR CITIES
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Latitude, Internat'l Time
Population Longitude Phone Code Zone
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LUANDA 1,459,000 8.50S, 13.15E 244- GMT+1
Lubango 105,000 14.55S, 13.30E 244- GMT+1
Namibe 100,000 15.10S, 12.09E 244- GMT+1
Huambo 62,000 12.44S, 15.47E 244- GMT+1
Lobito 60,000 12.20S, 13.34E 244- GMT+1
Benguela 41,000 12.34S, 13.24E 244- GMT+1
Malanje 32,000 9.32S, 13.20E 244- GMT+1
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Area:
total area: 1,246,700 sq km
land area: 1,246,700 sq km
comparative area: slightly less than twice the size of Texas
Land boundaries: total 5,198 km, Congo 201 km, Namibia 1,376 km, Zaire
2,511 km, Zambia 1,110 km
Coastline: 1,600 km
Maritime claims:
exclusive fishing zone: 200 nm
territorial sea: 20 nm
International disputes: none
Climate: semiarid in south and along coast to Luanda; north has cool,
dry season (May to October) and hot, rainy season (November to April)
Terrain: narrow coastal plain rises abruptly to vast interior plateau
Natural resources: petroleum, diamonds, iron ore, phosphates, copper,
feldspar, gold, bauxite, uranium
Land use:
arable land: 2%
permanent crops: 0%
meadows and pastures: 23%
forest and woodland: 43%
other: 32%
Irrigated land: NA km2
Environment:
current issues: population pressures contributing to overuse of
pastures and subsequent soil erosion; desertification; deforestation
of tropical rain forest attributable to the international demand for
tropical timber and domestic use as a fuel; deforestation contributing
to loss of biodiversity; soil erosion contributing to water pollution
and siltation of rivers and dams; inadequate supplies of potable water
natural hazards: locally heavy rainfall causes periodic flooding on
the plateau
international agreements: party to - Law of the Sea; signed, but not
ratified - Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification
Note: Cabinda is separated from rest of country by Zaire
@Angola:People
Population: 10,069,501 (July 1995 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years: 45% (female 2,208,307; male 2,274,533)
15-64 years: 53% (female 2,641,259; male 2,685,543)
65 years and over: 2% (female 136,573; male 123,286) (July 1995 est.)
Population growth rate: 2.68% (1995 est.)
Birth rate: 45.05 births/1,000 population (1995 est.)
Death rate: 18.1 deaths/1,000 population (1995 est.)
Net migration rate: -0.15 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1995 est.)
Infant mortality rate: 142.1 deaths/1,000 live births (1995 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 46.28 years
male: 44.18 years
female: 48.49 years (1995 est.)
Total fertility rate: 6.42 children born/woman (1995 est.)
Nationality:
noun: Angolan(s)
adjective: Angolan
Ethnic divisions: Ovimbundu 37%, Kimbundu 25%, Bakongo 13%, mestico
(mixed European and Native African) 2%, European 1%, other 22%
Religions: indigenous beliefs 47%, Roman Catholic 38%, Protestant 15%
(est.)
Languages: Portuguese (official), Bantu and other African languages
Literacy: age 15 and over can read and write (1990 est.)
total population: 42%
male: 56%
female: 28%
Labor force: 2.783 million economically active
by occupation: agriculture 85%, industry 15% (1985 est.)
@Angola:Government
Note: Civil war has been the norm since independence from Portugal on
11 November 1975; a cease-fire lasted from 31 May 1991 until October
1992 when the insurgent National Union for the Total Independence of
Angola (UNITA) refused to accept its defeat in internationally
monitored elections and fighting resumed throughout much of the
countryside. The two sides signed another peace accord on 20 November
1994; the cease-fire is generally holding but most provisions of the
accord remain to be implemented.
Names:
conventional long form: Republic of Angola
conventional short form: Angola
local long form: Republica de Angola
local short form: Angola
former: People's Republic of Angola
Digraph: AO
Type: transitional government nominally a multiparty democracy with a
strong presidential system
Capital: Luanda
Administrative divisions: 18 provinces (provincias, singular -
provincia); Bengo, Benguela, Bie, Cabinda, Cuando Cubango, Cuanza
Norte, Cuanza Sul, Cunene, Huambo, Huila, Luanda, Lunda Norte, Lunda
Sul, Malanje, Moxico, Namibe, Uige, Zaire
Independence: 11 November 1975 (from Portugal)
National holiday: Independence Day, 11 November (1975)
Constitution: 11 November 1975; revised 7 January 1978, 11 August
1980, 6 March 1991, and 26 August 1992
Legal system: based on Portuguese civil law system and customary law;
recently modified to accommodate political pluralism and increased use
of free markets
Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal
Executive branch:
chief of state: President Jose Eduardo DOS SANTOS (since 21 September
1979)
head of government: Prime Minister Marcolino Jose Carlos MOCO (since 2
December 1992)
cabinet: Council of Ministers; appointed by the president
Legislative branch: unicameral
National Assembly (Assembleia Nacional): first nationwide, multiparty
elections were held 29-30 September 1992 with disputed results
Judicial branch: Supreme Court (Tribunal da Relacao)
Political parties and leaders: Popular Movement for the Liberation of
Angola (MPLA), led by Jose Eduardo DOS SANTOS, is the ruling party and
has been in power since 1975; National Union for the Total
Independence of Angola (UNITA), led by Jonas SAVIMBI, is a legal party
despite its history of armed resistance to the government; five minor
parties have small numbers of seats in the National Assembly
Other political or pressure groups: Cabindan State Liberation Front
(FLEC), N'ZITA Tiago, leader of largest faction (FLEC-FAC)
note: FLEC is waging a small-scale, highly factionalized, armed
struggle for the independence of Cabinda Province
Member of: ACP, AfDB, CCC, CEEAC (observer), ECA, FAO, FLS, G-77,
GATT, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO,
INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOC, IOM, ITU, NAM, OAS (observer), OAU, SADC, UN,
UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO
Diplomatic representation in US:
chief of mission: Ambassador Jose Goncalves Martins PATRICIO
embassy: 1819 L Street NW, Washington, DC 20036, Suite 400
telephone: [1] (202) 785-1156
FAX: [1] (202) 785-1258
US diplomatic representation:
chief of mission: Ambassador Edmund T. DE JARNETTE
embassy: 32 Rua Houari Boumedienne, Miramar, Luanda
mailing address: C.P. 6484, Luanda; American Embassy, Luanda,
Department of State, Washington, D.C. 20521-2550 (pouch)
telephone: [244] (2) 345-481, 346-418
FAX: [244] (2) 347-884
Flag: two equal horizontal bands of red (top) and black with a
centered yellow emblem consisting of a five-pointed star within half a
cogwheel crossed by a machete (in the style of a hammer and sickle)
Economy
Overview: Subsistence agriculture provides the main livelihood for
80%-90% of the population but accounts for less than 15% of GDP. Oil
production is vital to the economy, contributing about 60% to GDP.
Despite the signing of a peace accord in November 1994 between the
Angola government and the UNITA insurgents, sporadic fighting
continues and many farmers remain reluctant to return to their fields.
As a result, much of the country's food requirements must still be
imported. Angola has rich natural resources - notably gold, diamonds,
and arable land, in addition to large oil deposits - but will need to
observe the cease-fire, implement the peace agreement, and reform
government policies if it is to achieve its potential.
National product: GDP - purchasing power parity - $6.1 billion (1994
est.)
National product real growth rate: -1% (1994 est.)
National product per capita: $620 (1994 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 20% average per month (1994 est.)
Unemployment rate: 15% with considerable underemployment (1993 est.)
Budget:
revenues: $928 million
expenditures: $2.5 billion, including capital expenditures of $963
million (1992 est.)
Exports: $3 billion (f.o.b., 1993 est.)
commodities: oil, diamonds, refined petroleum products, gas, coffee,
sisal, fish and fish products, timber, cotton
partners: US, France, Germany, Netherlands, Brazil
Imports: $1.6 billion (f.o.b., 1992 est.)
commodities: capital equipment (machinery and electrical equipment),
food, vehicles and spare parts, textiles and clothing, medicines,
substantial military deliveries
partners: Portugal, Brazil, US, France, Spain
External debt: $11.7 billion (1994 est.)
Industrial production: growth rate NA%; accounts for about 60% of GDP,
including petroleum output
Electricity:
capacity: 620,000 kW
production: 1.9 billion kWh
consumption per capita: 189 kWh (1993)
Industries: petroleum; mining - diamonds, iron ore, phosphates,
feldspar, bauxite, uranium, and gold; fish processing; food
processing; brewing; tobacco; sugar; textiles; cement; basic metal
products
Agriculture: cash crops - bananas, sugarcane, coffee, sisal, corn,
cotton, cane, manioc, tobacco; food crops - cassava, corn, vegetables,
plantains; livestock production accounts for 20%, fishing 4%, forestry
2% of total agricultural output
Illicit drugs: increasingly used as a transshipment point for cocaine
destined for Western Europe
Economic aid:
recipient: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-89), $265 million;
Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments
(1970-89), $1.105 billion; Communist countries (1970-89), $1.3
billion; net official disbursements (1985-89), $750 million
Currency: 1 new kwanza (NKz) = 100 lwei
Exchange rates: new kwanza (NKz) per US$1 - 900,000 (official rate 25
April 1995), 1,900,000 (black market rate 6 April 1995), 600,000
(official rate 10 January 1995), 90,000 (official rate 1 June 1994),
180,000 (black market rate 1 June 1994); 7,000 (official rate 16
December 1993), 50,000 (black market rate 16 December 1993); 3,884
(July 1993); 550 (April 1992); 90 (November 1991); 60 (October 1990)
Fiscal year: calendar year
@Angola:Transportation
Railroads:
total: 3,189 km; note - limited trackage in use because of landmines
still in place from the civil war; majority of the Benguela Railroad
also closed because of civil war
narrow gauge: 2,879 km 1.067-m gauge; 310 km 0.600-m gauge
Highways:
total: 73,828 km
paved: bituminous-surface 8,577 km
unpaved: crushed stone, gravel, improved earth 29,350 km; unimproved
earth 35,901 km
Inland waterways: 1,295 km navigable
Pipelines: crude oil 179 km
Ports: Ambriz, Cabinda, Lobito, Luanda, Malogo, Namibe, Porto Amboim,
Soyo
Merchant marine:
total: 12 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 63,776 GRT/99,863 DWT
ships by type: cargo 11, oil tanker 1
Airports:
total: 289
with paved runways over 3,047 m: 4
with paved runways 2,438 to 3,047 m: 9
with paved runways 1,524 to 2,437 m: 12
with paved runways 914 to 1,523 m: 6
with paved runways under 914 m: 93
with unpaved runways over 3,047 m: 1
with unpaved runways 2,438 to 3,047 m: 5
with unpaved runways 1,524 to 2,438 m: 33
with unpaved runways 914 to 1,523 m: 126
@Angola:Communications
Telephone system: 40,300 telephones; 4.1 telephones/1,000 persons;
high frequency radio used extensively for military links; telephone
service limited mostly to government and business use
local: NA
intercity: limited system of wire, microwave radio relay, and
troposcatter routes
international: 2 INTELSAT (Atlantic Ocean) earth stations
Radio:
broadcast stations: AM 17, FM 13, shortwave 0
radios: NA
Television:
broadcast stations: 6
televisions: NA
@Angola:Defense Forces
Branches: Army, Navy, Air and Air Defense Forces, National Police
Force
Manpower availability: males age 15-49 2,315,717; males fit for
military service 1,166,082; males reach military age (18) annually
100,273 (1995 est.)
Defense expenditures: exchange rate conversion - $1.1 billion, 31% of
GDP (1993)