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159-857: MPLA victory [REDACTED] People's Republic of Angola / Republic of Angola [REDACTED]   Cuba (1975–1989) [REDACTED] SWAPO (1975–1989) [REDACTED] ANC (1975–1989) Executive Outcomes (1993–1995) [REDACTED] FLNC (1975–2001) [REDACTED]   Namibia (2001–2002) [REDACTED] Democratic People's Republic of Angola [REDACTED] FNLA (1976–1978) [REDACTED]   South Africa (1975–1989) [REDACTED]   Zaire (1975) [REDACTED] MPLA troops: [REDACTED] Cuban troops: [REDACTED] Soviet troops : [REDACTED] UNITA militants: [REDACTED] FNLA militants: [REDACTED] South African troops : The Angolan Civil War ( Portuguese : Guerra Civil Angolana )

318-677: A Marxist–Leninist one-party state . It embarked on an ambitious programme of nationalisation , and the domestic private sector was essentially abolished. Privately owned enterprises were nationalised and incorporated into a single umbrella of state-owned enterprises known as Unidades Economicas Estatais (UEE). Under the MPLA, Angola experienced a significant degree of modern industrialisation . However, corruption and graft also increased and public resources were either allocated inefficiently or simply embezzled by officials for personal enrichment. The ruling party survived an attempted coup d'état by

477-489: A November 1978 special communique, Portuguese troops were among the 20,000 MPLA troops that participated in a major offensive in central and southern Angola. The FNLA formed parallel to the MPLA and was initially devoted to defending the interests of the Bakongo people and supporting the restoration of the historical Kongo Empire . It rapidly developed into a nationalist movement, supported in its struggle against Portugal by

636-477: A camp in Damba , where 26% died. Under colonial law, black Angolans were forbidden from forming political parties or labour unions. The first nationalist movements did not take root until after World War II , spearheaded by a largely Westernised and Portuguese-speaking urban class, which included many mestiços . During the early 1960s they were joined by other associations stemming from ad hoc labour activism in

795-615: A coup against Neto. By the time he returned, Neto had grown suspicious of Alves' growing power and sought to neutralize him and his followers, the Nitistas. Neto called a plenum meeting of the Central Committee of the MPLA. Neto formally designated the party as Marxist-Leninist , abolished the Interior Ministry (of which Alves was the head), and established a Commission of Enquiry. Neto used the commission to target

954-531: A few settlements. In this context, they also moved further south along the coast and founded the "third bridgehead" of Moçâmedes . In the course of this expansion, they entered into conflict with several of the African political units. Territorial occupation only became a central concern for Portugal in the last decades of the 19th century, during the European powers' " Scramble for Africa ", especially following

1113-409: A half-litre tub of vanilla ice cream at the supermarket was reported to cost US$ 31. The higher import tariffs applied to hundreds of items, from garlic to cars. The stated aim was to try to diversify the heavily oil-dependent economy and nurture farming and industry, sectors that have remained weak. These tariffs have caused much hardship in a country where the average salary was US$ 260 per month in 2010,

1272-645: A large-scale military intervention nicknamed Operation Carlota in support of the MPLA. Cuba had initially provided the MPLA with 230 military advisers prior to the South African intervention. The Cuban intervention proved decisive in repelling the South African-UNITA advance. The FNLA were likewise routed at the Battle of Quifangondo and forced to retreat towards Zaire. The defeat of the FNLA allowed

1431-459: A massive influx of Bantu people who came from the north and east. The Bantu influx began around 500 BC, and some continued their migrations inside the territory well into the 20th century. They established a number of major political units, of which the most important was the Kongo Empire , whose centre was located in the northwest of what today is Angola and which stretched northwards into

1590-666: A meager $ 15 million-worth of non-military aid. American timidity during the war prompted a shift in Zaire's foreign policy towards greater engagement with France, which became Zaire's largest supplier of arms after the intervention. Neto and Mobutu signed a border agreement on 22 July 1977. John Stockwell , the CIA's station chief in Angola, resigned after the invasion, explaining in the April 1977 The Washington Post article "Why I'm Leaving

1749-547: A northerly counter current bringing moisture to the city: it has been shown clearly that weakness in the Benguela Current can increase rainfall about sixfold compared with years when that current is strong. A 2019 paper published in PLOS One estimated that under Representative Concentration Pathway 4.5 , a "moderate" scenario of climate change where global warming reaches ~2.5–3 °C (4.5–5.4 °F) by 2100,

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1908-465: A power base among a large expatriate community from related families, clans, and traditions. People on both sides of the border spoke mutually intelligible dialects and enjoyed shared ties to the historical Kingdom of Kongo. Though as foreigners skilled Angolans could not take advantage of Mobutu Sese Seko 's state employment programme, some found work as middlemen for the absentee owners of various lucrative private ventures. The migrants eventually formed

2067-598: A precedent for the bitter factional strife which would later ignite the Angolan Civil War . Throughout the war of independence, the three rival nationalist movements were severely hampered by political and military factionalism, as well as their inability to unite guerrilla efforts against the Portuguese. Between 1961 and 1975 the MPLA, UNITA, and the FNLA competed for influence in the Angolan population and

2226-404: A refinery is located in the city. Luanda has been ranked as one of the most expensive cities in the world for expatriates. The inhabitants of Luanda are mostly members of the ethnic Ambundu people. In recent decades of the 21st century, the number of ethnic Bakongo and Ovimbundu have also increased. Ethnic Europeans are mainly Portuguese. Luanda was the main host city for the matches of

2385-535: A reporter for The New York Times , revealed IA Feature to the public on 13 December 1975. Clark proposed an amendment to the Arms Export Control Act , barring aid to private groups engaged in military or paramilitary operations in Angola. The Senate passed the bill, voting 54–22 on 19 December 1975, and the House of Representatives passed the bill, voting 323–99 on 27 January 1976. Ford signed

2544-601: A result of protective tariffs , leading to increased development, and a wave of new Portuguese immigrants. Between 1939 and 1943, Portuguese army operations against the Mucubal, who they accused of rebellion and cattle-thieving, resulted in hundreds of Mucubal killed. During the campaign, 3,529 were taken prisoner, 20% of whom were women and children, and imprisoned in concentration camps. Many died in captivity from undernourishment, violence and forced labor. Around 600 were sent to Sao Tome and Principe . Hundreds were also sent to

2703-531: A skirmish in the Moxico province . UNITA and the MPLA consented to the Luena Memorandum of Understanding in April; UNITA agreed to give up its armed wing. With the elections in 2008 and 2012 , an MPLA-ruled dominant-party system emerged, with UNITA and the FNLA as opposition parties. Angola has a serious humanitarian crisis; the result of the prolonged war, of the abundance of minefields , and

2862-418: A thousand Cuban soldiers in the country. They were kept supplied by a massive airbridge carried out with Soviet aircraft. The persistent buildup of Cuban and Soviet military aid allowed the MPLA to drive its opponents from Luanda and blunt an abortive intervention by Zairean and South African troops, which had deployed in a belated attempt to assist the FNLA and UNITA. The FNLA was largely annihilated after

3021-425: Is Portuguese , although several Bantu languages are also used, chiefly Kimbundu , Umbundu , and Kikongo . The population of Luanda has grown dramatically in recent years, due in large part to war-time migration to the city, which is safe compared to the rest of the country. In 2006, however, Luanda saw an increase in violent crime, particularly in the shanty towns that surround the colonial urban core. There

3180-503: Is a sizable minority population of European origin, especially Portuguese (about 260,000), as well as Brazilians . In recent years, mainly since the mid-2000s, immigration from Portugal has increased due to greater opportunities present in Angola's booming economy. There is a sprinkling of immigrants from other African countries as well, including a small expatriate South African community. A small number of people of Luanda are of mixed race — European/Portuguese and native African. Over

3339-445: Is around 53% of the total land area, equivalent to 66,607,380 hectares (ha) of forest in 2020, down from 79,262,780 hectares (ha) in 1990. In 2020, naturally regenerating forest covered 65,800,190 hectares (ha) and planted forest covered 807,200 hectares (ha). Of the naturally regenerating forest 40% was reported to be primary forest (consisting of native tree species with no clearly visible indications of human activity) and around 3% of

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3498-401: Is growing constantly - and in addition, increasingly beyond the official city limits and even provincial boundaries. Luanda is the seat of a Roman Catholic archbishop. It is also the location of most of Angola's educational institutions, including the private Catholic University of Angola and the public University of Agostinho Neto . It is also the home of the colonial Governor's Palace and

3657-520: Is one of the world's most expensive cities for resident foreigners. In Mercer’s cost of living index, Luanda was ranked as top of the list due to the extremely high costs of goods and security. Luanda sits above Seoul , Geneva and Shanghai in the rankings. These costs have fueled rampant inequality in the city. Skyscrapers are left barren as the price of oil drops. New import tariffs imposed in March 2014 made Luanda even more expensive. As an example,

3816-452: Is taking place. Large investment (domestic and international), along with strong economic growth, has dramatically increased construction of all economic sectors in the city of Luanda. In 2007, the first modern shopping mall in Angola was established in the city at Belas Shopping mall. Luanda is the starting point of the Luanda railway that goes due east to Malanje. The civil war left

3975-518: Is the capital and largest city of Angola . It is Angola's primary port , and its major industrial, cultural and urban centre. Located on Angola's northern Atlantic coast, Luanda is Angola's administrative centre , its chief seaport, and also the capital of the Luanda Province . Luanda and its metropolitan area is the most populous Portuguese-speaking capital city in the world and the most populous Lusophone city outside Brazil . In 2020

4134-789: 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 has been inhabited since

4293-589: Is thus reasonable to talk of Angola as a defined territorial entity from this point onwards. In 1961, the FNLA and the MPLA, based in neighbouring countries, began a guerrilla campaign against Portuguese rule on several fronts. The Portuguese Colonial War , which included the Angolan War of Independence , lasted until the Portuguese regime's overthrow in 1974 through a leftist military coup in Lisbon . When

4452-665: Is widely considered a Cold War proxy conflict , as the Soviet Union and the United States, with their respective allies Cuba and South Africa , assisted the opposing factions. The conflict became closely intertwined with the Second Congo War in the neighbouring Democratic Republic of the Congo and the South African Border War . Land mines still litter the countryside and contribute to

4611-465: The 1884 Berlin Conference . Several military expeditions were organized as preconditions for obtaining territory, which roughly corresponded to present-day Angola. By 1906, about 6% of that territory was effectively occupied, and the military campaigns had to continue. By the mid-1920s, the limits of the territory were finally fixed, and the last "primary resistance" was quelled in the early 1940s. It

4770-410: The 2010 African Cup of Nations . Portuguese explorer Paulo Dias de Novais founded Luanda on 25 January 1576 as "São Paulo da Assumpção de Loanda". He had brought one hundred families of settlers and four hundred soldiers. Most of the Portuguese community lived within the fort. Several sources from as early as the 17th century called the city "St. Paul de Leonda". In 1618, the Portuguese built

4929-481: The Atlantic slave trade continued until after Brazil's independence in the 1820s. Despite Portugal's territorial claims in Angola, its control over much of the country's vast interior was minimal. In the 16th century Portugal gained control of the coast through a series of treaties and wars. Life for European colonists was difficult and progress was slow. John Iliffe notes that "Portuguese records of Angola from

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5088-531: The Caribbean . In addition, Benguela developed commerce in ivory , wax , and honey , which they bought from Ovimbundu caravans which fetched these goods from among the Ganguela peoples in the eastern part of what is now Angola. Nonetheless, the Portuguese presence on the Angolan coast remained limited for much of the colonial period. The degree of real colonial settlement was minor, and, with few exceptions,

5247-590: The Carnation Revolution in Lisbon on April 25, 1974, with the advent of independence and the start of the Angolan Civil War (1975–2002), most of the white Portuguese Luandans left as refugees, principally for Portugal, however many travelled over land to South Africa . The large numbers of skilled technicians among the force of Cuban soldiers sent in to support the Popular Movement for

5406-733: The Congolese National Liberation Front (FNLC) invaded the Shaba Province (modern-day Katanga Province) in Zaire from eastern Angola on 7 March 1977. The FNLC wanted to overthrow Mobutu, and the MPLA government, suffering from Mobutu's support for the FNLA and UNITA, did not try to stop the invasion. The FNLC failed to capture Kolwezi , Zaire's economic heartland, but took Kasaji and Mutshatsha. The Zairean army (the Forces Armées Zaïroises )

5565-490: The Estádio da Cidadela (the "Citadel Stadium"), Angola's main stadium, with a total seating capacity of 60,000. Luanda has a hot semi-desert climate ( Köppen : BSh ), bordering upon a hot desert climate ( BWh ). The climate is warm to hot but surprisingly dry, owing to the cool Benguela Current , which prevents moisture from easily condensing into rain. Frequent fog prevents temperatures from falling at night even during

5724-472: The Kongo Empire , maintaining a continuous presence in its territory and enjoying considerable cultural and religious influence after that. In 1575, Portugal established a settlement and fort called Saint Paul of Luanda on the coast south of the Kongo Empire, in an area inhabited by Ambundu people. Another fort, Benguela , was established on the coast further south, in a region inhabited by ancestors of

5883-521: The Kwanza River in the south. The Portuguese established their primary early trading post at Soyo , which is now the northernmost city in Angola apart from the Cabinda exclave . Paulo Dias de Novais founded São Paulo de Loanda ( Luanda ) in 1575 with a hundred families of settlers and four hundred soldiers. Benguela was fortified in 1587 and became a township in 1617. An authoritarian state,

6042-655: The Kwanza River . In the 17th century, the Imbangala became the main rivals of the Mbundu in supplying slaves to the Luanda market. In the 1751, between 5,000 and 10,000 slaves were annually sold. By this time, Angola, a Portuguese colony, was in fact like a colony of Brazil, paradoxically another Portuguese colony. A strong degree of Brazilian influence was noted in Luanda until the Independence of Brazil in 1822. In

6201-539: The Maoist -oriented Communist Organisation of Angola (OCA) in 1977, which was suppressed after a series of bloody political purges left thousands of OCA supporters dead. The MPLA abandoned its former Marxist ideology at its third party congress in 1990, and declared social democracy to be its new platform. Angola subsequently became a member of the International Monetary Fund ; restrictions on

6360-550: The Mbunda Kingdom in the east. The Portuguese began colonising the coast in the 16th century. Kongo fought three wars against the Portuguese, ending in the Portuguese conquest of Ndongo. The banning of the slave trade in the 19th century severely disrupted Kongo's undiversified economic system and European settlers gradually began to establish their presence in the interior of the region. The Portuguese colony that became Angola did not achieve its present borders until

6519-711: The National Front for the Liberation of Angola (FNLA), having fought the MPLA with UNITA during the Angolan War of Independence , played almost no role in the Civil War. Additionally, the Front for the Liberation of the Enclave of Cabinda (FLEC), an association of separatist militant groups, fought for the independence of the province of Cabinda from Angola. With the assistance of Cuban soldiers and Soviet support,

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6678-510: The Ovimbundu of central Angola, who constituted about one-third of the country's population, but the organization also had roots among several less numerous peoples of eastern Angola. UNITA was founded in 1966 by Jonas Savimbi , who until then had been a prominent leader of the FNLA. During the anti-colonial war, UNITA received some support from the People's Republic of China. With the onset of

6837-477: The Ovimbundu people. Neither of these Portuguese settlement efforts was launched for the purpose of territorial conquest. Both gradually came to occupy and farm a broad area around their initial bridgeheads (in the case of Luanda, mostly along the lower Kwanza River ). Their main function was in the Atlantic slave trade . Slaves were bought from African intermediaries and sold to Portuguese colonies in Brazil and

6996-531: The Paleolithic Age . After the Bantu expansion reached the region, states were formed by the 13th century and organised into confederations. The Kingdom of Kongo ascended to achieve hegemony among the other kingdoms from the 14th century. Portuguese explorers established relations with Kongo in 1483. To the south were the kingdoms of Ndongo and Matamba , with the Ovimbundu kingdoms further south, and

7155-558: The Republic of the Congo , and Gabon . It established trade routes with other city-states and civilisations up and down the coast of southwestern and western Africa. Its traders even reached Great Zimbabwe and the Mutapa Empire , although the kingdom engaged in little or no trans-oceanic trade. To its south lay the Kingdom of Ndongo , from which the area of the later Portuguese colony was sometimes known as Dongo . Next to that

7314-579: The SWAPO and the MPLA in the mid-1970s, and regularly raised the issue of UNITA in political discussions between the two movements. Cuban logistics were primitive, relying on a few aging commercial aircraft, small cargo ships, and large fishing vessels to support a major, long-range military operation. In early September 1975, the Cuban merchant ships Viet Nam Heroico , Isla Coral , and La Plata , loaded with troops, vehicles, and 1,000 tons of gasoline, crossed

7473-623: The Soviet Union and Cuba ; the insurgent National Union for the Total Independence of Angola , an originally Maoist and later anti-communist group supported by the United States and South Africa ; the militant organization National Liberation Front of Angola , backed by Zaire ; and the Front for the Liberation of the Enclave of Cabinda seeking the independence of the Cabinda exclave, also backed by Zaire. Since

7632-469: The Soviet Union . Cuba became the MPLA's strongest ally, sending significant combat and support personnel contingents to Angola. This support, as well as that of several other countries of the Eastern Bloc , e.g. East Germany, was maintained during the Civil War. Yugoslavia provided financial military support for the MPLA, including $ 14 million in 1977, as well as Yugoslav security personnel in

7791-630: The United Arab Republic . The MPLA attempted to move its headquarters from Conakry to Léopoldville in October 1961, renewing efforts to create a common front with the FNLA, then known as the Union of Angolan Peoples (UPA) and its leader Holden Roberto . Roberto turned down the offer. When the MPLA first attempted to insert its own insurgents into Angola, the cadres were ambushed and annihilated by UPA partisans on Roberto's orders—setting

7950-550: The United Nations on 23 June 1976. Zambia forbade UNITA from launching attacks from its territory on 28 December 1976 after Angola under MPLA rule became a member of the United Nations. According to Ambassador William Scranton , the United States abstained from voting on the issue of Angola becoming a UN member state "out of respect for the sentiments expressed by its [our] African friends". About 1,500 members of

8109-524: The cosmopolitan city of Luanda was not affected by the Portuguese Colonial War (1961–1974); economic growth and development in the entire region reached record highs during this period. In 1982, a report called Luanda the "Paris of Africa". By the time of Angolan independence in 1975, Luanda was a modern city with the majority of its population being African, but also dominated by a strong minority of white Portuguese origin. After

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8268-465: The highlands , between the Kwanza and Lucala rivers, was nominally a possession of the Kingdom of Kongo . But in the 16th century it was seeking greater independence. Modern Angola was populated predominantly by nomadic Khoi and San peoples prior to the first Bantu migrations . The Khoi and San peoples were hunter-gatherers , rather than practicing pastoralism or cultivation of crops. In

8427-723: The 16th century show that a great famine occurred on average every seventy years; accompanied by epidemic disease, it might kill one-third or one-half of the population, destroying the demographic growth of a generation and forcing colonists back into the river valleys". During the Portuguese Restoration War , the Dutch West India Company occupied the principal settlement of Luanda in 1641, using alliances with local peoples to carry out attacks against Portuguese holdings elsewhere. A fleet under Salvador de Sá retook Luanda in 1648; reconquest of

8586-612: The 19th century, still under Portuguese rule, Luanda experienced a major economic revolution. The slave trade was abolished in 1836, and in 1844, Angola's ports were opened to foreign shipping. By 1850, Luanda was one of the greatest and most developed Portuguese cities in the vast Portuguese Empire outside Continental Portugal , full of trading companies, exporting (together with Benguela ) palm and peanut oil , wax, copal , timber, ivory, cotton, coffee, and cocoa , among many other products. Maize, tobacco, dried meat , and cassava flour are also produced locally. The Angolan bourgeoisie

8745-419: The 2022 IPCC Sixth Assessment Report , Luanda is one of 12 major African cities ( Abidjan , Alexandria , Algiers , Cape Town , Casablanca , Dakar , Dar es Salaam , Durban , Lagos , Lomé , Luanda and Maputo ) which would be the most severely affected by the future sea level rise . It estimates that they would collectively sustain cumulative damages of USD 65 billion under RCP 4.5 and USD 86.5 billion for

8904-578: The Active Revolt during Angola's War of Independence. Factionalism within the MPLA became a major challenge to Neto's power by late 1975 and Neto gave Alves the task of once again clamping down on dissent. Alves shut down the Cabral and Henda Committees while expanding his influence within the MPLA through his control of the nation's newspapers and state-run television. Alves visited the Soviet Union in October 1976, and may have obtained Soviet support for

9063-578: The Atlantic Ocean. Thus, at Soyo , at the mouth of the Congo River , the average annual temperature is about 26 °C, but it is under 16 °C at Huambo on the temperate central plateau. The coolest months are July and August (in the middle of the dry season), when frost may sometimes form at higher altitudes. The Angolan government is composed of three branches of government: executive, legislative and judicial. The executive branch of

9222-528: The Atlantic and sailed to Angola. The United States held a secret, high-level talk with Cuba to express its consternation over Cuba's actions, but this had little effect. The Cuban troops landed in early October. On 7 November, Cuba began a thirteen-day airlift of a 650-man special forces battalion. The Cubans used old Bristol Britannia turboprop aircraft, making refueling stops in Barbados, Guinea-Bissau, and

9381-611: The CIA" that he had warned Secretary of State Henry Kissinger that continued American support for anti-government rebels in Angola could provoke a war with Zaire. He also said that covert Soviet involvement in Angola came after, and in response to, U.S. involvement. The FNLC invaded Shaba again on 11 May 1978, capturing Kolwezi in two days. While the Carter Administration had accepted Cuba's insistence on its non-involvement in Shaba I, and therefore did not stand with Mobutu,

9540-527: The Congo joined the Cubans on 12 November. The Soviet leadership expressly forbade the Cubans from intervening in Angola's civil war, focusing the mission on containing South Africa. In 1975 and 1976 most foreign forces, with the exception of Cuba, withdrew. The last elements of the Portuguese military withdrew in 1975 and the South African military withdrew in February 1976. Cuba's troop force in Angola increased from 5,500 in December 1975 to 11,000 in February 1976. Sweden provided humanitarian assistance to both

9699-482: The Congo before landing in Luanda. The troops traveled as "tourists," carrying machine guns in briefcases. They packed 75mm cannons, 82mm mortars, and small arms into the aircraft's cargo holds. On 14 October, four South African columns totaling 3,000 troops launched Operation Savannah in an attempt to capture Luanda from the south. The Cubans suffered major reversals, including one at Catofe, where South African forces surprised them and caused numerous casualties. However,

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9858-491: The Congo to the south. Angola has a favorable coastline for maritime trade, with four natural harbors: Luanda, Lobito, Moçâmedes, and Porto Alexandre. These natural indentations contrast with Africa's typical coastline of rocky cliffs and deep bays. Angola's capital, Luanda , lies on the Atlantic coast in the northwest of the country. Angola had a 2018 Forest Landscape Integrity Index mean score of 8.35/10, ranking it 23rd globally out of 172 countries. In Angola forest cover

10017-407: The Cubans ultimately halted the South African advance by 26 November. Later, another 4,000 South African soldiers entered southern Angola to establish a buffer zone along the Namibian border. The MPLA received support from 3,000 Katangan exiles, a Mozambican battalion, 3,000 East German personnel, and 1,000 Soviet advisors. The pivotal intervention came from 18,000 Cuban troops, who defeated the FNLA in

10176-429: The FNLA and UNITA. Zaire, in a bid to install a pro- Kinshasa government and thwart the MPLA's drive for power, deployed armored cars, paratroopers, and three infantry battalions to Angola in support of the FNLA. Within three weeks, South African and UNITA forces had captured five provincial capitals, including Novo Redondo and Benguela . In response to the South African intervention, Cuba sent 18,000 soldiers as part of

10335-552: The FNLA began massing large numbers of troops in northern Angola in an attempt to gain military superiority. Meanwhile, the MPLA began securing control of Luanda, a traditional Ambundu stronghold. Sporadic violence broke out in Luanda over the next few months after the FNLA attacked the MPLA's political headquarters in March 1975. The fighting intensified with street clashes in April and May, and UNITA became involved after over two hundred of its members were massacred by an MPLA contingent that June. An upswing in Soviet arms shipments to

10494-412: The FNLA with the intention of making a bid for political power upon their envisaged return to Angola. A largely Ovimbundu guerrilla initiative against the Portuguese in central Angola from 1966 was spearheaded by Jonas Savimbi and the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA). It remained handicapped by its geographic remoteness from friendly borders, the ethnic fragmentation of

10653-401: The FNLA, was mainly composed of Ovimbundu people , Angola's largest ethnic group, from the Bié Plateau . Since its formation in the 1950s, the MPLA's main social base has been among the Ambundu people and the multiracial intelligentsia of cities such as Luanda , Benguela and Huambo . During its anti-colonial struggle of 1962–1974, the MPLA was supported by several African countries and

10812-405: The FNLC massacred 80 Europeans and 200 Africans. In one instance, the FNLC killed 34 European civilians who had hidden in a room. The FNLC retreated to Zambia, vowing to return to Angola. The Zairean army then forcibly evicted civilians along Shaba's border with Angola. Mobutu, wanting to prevent any chance of another invasion, ordered his troops to shoot on sight. U.S.-mediated negotiations between

10971-434: The FNLC. The counter-invasion force pushed the last of the militants, along with numerous refugees, into Angola and Zambia in April 1977. Mobutu accused the MPLA, Cuban and Soviet governments of complicity in the war. While Neto did support the FNLC, the MPLA government's support came in response to Mobutu's continued support for Angola's FNLA. The Carter Administration , unconvinced of Cuban involvement, responded by offering

11130-425: The Ford administration could use diplomacy to campaign against foreign aid to the communist MPLA, refuse to take sides in factional fighting, or increase support for the FNLA and UNITA. He warned that supporting UNITA would not sit well with Mobutu Sese Seko , the president of Zaire. Dick Clark , a Democratic Senator from Iowa , discovered the operation during a fact-finding mission in Africa, but Seymour Hersh ,

11289-406: The French government, declared the independence of the Republic of Cabinda from Paris . The FNLA and UNITA forged an alliance on 23 November, proclaiming their own coalition government, the Democratic People's Republic of Angola , based in Huambo with Holden Roberto and Jonas Savimbi as co-presidents , and José Ndelé and Johnny Pinnock Eduardo as co-Prime Ministers . In early November 1975,

11448-456: The Kingdom of Kongo after the death of António I. Much of the stability and access to iron ore and charcoal necessary for gunsmiths to maintain the arms industry was disrupted. From then on, in this period almost every Kongolese citizen was in danger of being enslaved. Many Kongolese subjects were adroit in making guns, and they were enslaved to have their skills available to colonists in

11607-427: The Kingdom of Kongo was highly centralised around its monarch and controlled neighbouring states as vassals . It had a strong economy, based on the industries of copper , ivory , salt , hides , and, to a lesser extent, slaves . The transition from a feudal system of slavery to a capitalist one with Portugal would prove crucial to the history of the Kingdom of Kongo. As relations between Kongo and Portugal grew in

11766-486: The Liberation of Angola ( MPLA ) government in the Angolan Civil War were able to make a valuable contribution to restoring and maintaining basic services in the city. In the following years, however, slums called musseques —which had existed for decades—began to grow out of proportion and stretched several kilometres beyond Luanda's former city limits as a result of the decades-long civil war, and because of

11925-560: The Lomba River in September and laid siege to Cuito Cuanavale for months until 12,000 Cuban troops broke the blockade in March 1988. On 26 June, South African forces engaged Cuban forces at Techipa, killing several Cuban troops. In response, Cuba launched an air strike on SADF positions the following day, killing nearly a dozen South African troops. Both sides promptly withdrew to prevent further escalation of hostilities. President of

12084-537: The MPLA and Zairean governments led to a peace accord in 1979 and an end to support for insurgencies in each other's respective countries. Zaire temporarily cut off support to the FLEC, the FNLA and UNITA, and Angola forbade further activity by the FNLC. By the late 1970s, Interior Minister Nito Alves had become a powerful member of the MPLA government. Alves had successfully put down Daniel Chipenda 's Eastern Revolt and

12243-453: The MPLA and its rivals accepted material assistance from the Soviet Union or the People's Republic of China , the former harboured strong anti-imperialist views and was openly critical of the United States and its support for Portugal. This allowed it to win important ground on the diplomatic front, soliciting support from nonaligned governments in Morocco , Ghana , Guinea , Mali , and

12402-583: The MPLA influenced a decision by the Central Intelligence Agency to likewise provide substantial covert aid to the FNLA and UNITA. In August 1975, the MPLA requested direct assistance from the Soviet Union in the form of ground troops. The Soviets declined, offering to send advisers but no troops; however, Cuba was more forthcoming and in late September dispatched nearly five hundred combat personnel to Angola, along with sophisticated weaponry and supplies. By independence, there were over

12561-492: The MPLA managed to win the initial phase of conventional fighting, oust the FNLA from Luanda , and become the de facto Angolan government. The FNLA disintegrated, but the U.S.- and South Africa-backed UNITA continued its irregular warfare against the MPLA government from its base in the east and south of the country. The 27-year war can be divided roughly into three periods of major fighting – from 1975 to 1991, 1992 to 1994 and from 1998 to 2002 – with fragile periods of peace. By

12720-751: The MPLA to consolidate power over the capital Luanda . Agostinho Neto , the leader of the MPLA, declared the independence of the Portuguese Overseas Province of Angola as the People's Republic of Angola on 11 November 1975. UNITA declared Angolan independence as the Social Democratic Republic of Angola based in Huambo , and the FNLA declared the Democratic Republic of Angola based in Ambriz . FLEC, armed and backed by

12879-609: The MPLA. After the Carnation Revolution in Lisbon and the end of the Angolan War of Independence , the parties of the conflict signed the Alvor Accords on 15 January 1975. In July 1975, the MPLA violently forced the FNLA out of Luanda, and UNITA voluntarily withdrew to its stronghold in the south. By August, the MPLA had control of 11 of the 15 provincial capitals, including Cabinda and Luanda . South Africa intervened on 23 October, sending between 1,500 and 2,000 troops from Namibia into southern Angola in order to support

13038-580: The New World, where they worked as blacksmiths, ironworkers, and charcoal makers. The Portuguese established several other settlements, forts and trading posts along the Angolan coast, principally trading in Angolan slaves for plantations . Local slave dealers provided a large number of slaves for the Portuguese Empire , usually in exchange for manufactured goods from Europe. This part of

13197-433: The Nitistas, and ordered the commission to issue a report of its findings in March 1977. Alves and Chief of Staff José Van-Dunem, his political ally, began planning a coup d'état against Neto. Angola 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

13356-721: The Ovimbundu, and the isolation of peasants on European plantations where they had little opportunity to mobilise. During the late 1950s, the rise of the Marxist–Leninist Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) in the east and Dembos hills north of Luanda came to hold special significance. Formed as a coalition resistance movement by the Angolan Communist Party , the organisation's leadership remained predominantly Ambundu and courted public sector workers in Luanda . Although both

13515-662: The Portuguese depended on assistance from the British Royal Navy and what became known as the Blockade of Africa to enforce their ban on the slave trade. This coincided with a series of renewed military expeditions into the bush. By the mid-nineteenth century Portugal had established its dominion as far north as the Congo River and as far south as Mossâmedes . Until the late 1880s, Portugal entertained proposals to link Angola with its colony in Mozambique but

13674-428: The Portuguese did not interfere by means other than commercial in the social and political dynamics of the native peoples. There was no real delimitation of territory; Angola, to all intents and purposes, did not yet exist. In the 19th century, the Portuguese began a more serious program of advancing into the continental interior. They wanted a de facto overlordship that allowed them to establish commercial networks and

13833-665: The Province was enlarged by the addition of two additional municipalities transferred from Bengo Province , namely Icolo e Bengo, and Quiçama. Excluding these additions, the five municipalities comprise Greater Luanda: Two new municipalities have been created within Greater Luanda since 2017: Talatona and Kilamba-Kiaxi The city of Luanda is divided in six urban districts: Ingombota , Angola Quiluanje, Maianga, Rangel, Samba and Sambizanga. In Samba and Sambizanga, more high-rise developments are to be built. The capital Luanda

13992-570: The South African government warned Savimbi and Roberto that the South African Defence Force (SADF) would soon end operations in Angola despite the failure of the coalition to capture Luanda and therefore secure international recognition for their government. Savimbi, desperate to avoid the withdrawal of South Africa, asked General Constand Viljoen to arrange a meeting for him with Prime Minister of South Africa John Vorster , who had been Savimbi's ally since October 1974. On

14151-544: The U.S. government now accused Castro of complicity. This time, when Mobutu appealed for foreign assistance, the U.S. government worked with the French and Belgian militaries to beat back the invasion, the first military cooperation between France and the United States since the Vietnam War. The French Foreign Legion took back Kolwezi after a seven-day battle and airlifted 2,250 European citizens to Belgium, but not before

14310-734: The United States Gerald Ford approved covert aid to UNITA and the FNLA through Operation IA Feature on 18 July 1975, despite strong opposition from officials in the State Department and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Ford told William Colby , the Director of Central Intelligence , to establish the operation, providing an initial US$ 6 million. He granted an additional $ 8 million on 27 July and another $ 25 million in August. Two days before

14469-435: The annual Luanda International Jazz Festival , since 2009. The city is home to numerous museums, including: Other monuments in the city include: Around one-third of Angolans live in Luanda, 53% of whom live in poverty. Living conditions in Luanda are poor for most of the people, with essential services such as safe drinking water and electricity still in short supply, and severe shortcomings in traffic conditions. Luanda

14628-489: The authoritarian system and the aristocracy. If several villagers were deemed guilty of a crime, it became relatively common for the whole village to be enslaved. The resulting chaos and internal conflict from Garcia II's reign would lead into that of his son and successor, António I . He was killed in 1665 by Portuguese at the Battle of Mbwila 1665, together with a substantial proportion of the aristocracy. The colonists were expanding their power. War broke out more widely in

14787-632: The bill into law on 9 February 1976. Even after the Clark Amendment became law, then- Director of Central Intelligence , George H. W. Bush , refused to concede that all U.S. aid to Angola had ceased. According to foreign affairs analyst Jane Hunter, Israel stepped in as a proxy arms supplier for South Africa after the Clark Amendment took effect. Israel and South Africa established a longstanding military alliance, in which Israel provided weapons and training, as well as conducting joint military exercises. The U.S. government vetoed Angolan entry into

14946-657: The brokering of a ceasefire pending negotiations for Angolan independence. Encouraged by the Organisation of African Unity , Holden Roberto, Jonas Savimbi, and MPLA chairman Agostinho Neto met in Mombasa in early January 1975 and agreed to form a coalition government. This was ratified by the Alvor Agreement later that month, which called for general elections and set the country's independence date for 11 November 1975. All three factions, however, followed up on

15105-422: The capacity of the city, especially because much of its infrastructure (water, electricity, roads etc.) had become obsolete and degraded. Luanda has been undergoing major road reconstruction in the 21st century, and new highways are planned to improve connections to Cacuaco , Viana , Samba , and the new airport. Major social housing is also being constructed to house those who reside in slums, which dominate

15264-424: The ceasefire by taking advantage of the gradual Portuguese withdrawal to seize various strategic positions, acquire more arms, and enlarge their militant forces. The rapid influx of weapons from numerous external sources, especially the Soviet Union and the United States, as well as the escalation of tensions between the nationalist parties, fueled a new outbreak of hostilities. With tacit American and Zairean support

15423-418: The city has been undergoing a major reconstruction. Many new large developments are taking place that will alter its cityscape significantly. Industries present in the city include the processing of agricultural products, beverage production, textile, cement, new car assembly plants, construction materials, plastics, metallurgy, cigarettes and shoes. The city is also notable as an economic centre for oil, and

15582-606: The civil war, the United States decided to support UNITA and considerably augmented their aid to UNITA in the following decades. In the latter period, UNITA's main ally was the apartheid regime of South Africa . Angola, like most African countries, became constituted as a nation through colonial intervention. Angola's colonial power was Portugal, which was present and active in the territory, in one way or another, for over four centuries. The original population of this territory were dispersed Khoisan groups. These were absorbed or pushed southwards, where residual groups still exist, by

15741-495: The climate of Luanda in the year 2050 would most closely resemble the current climate of Guatemala City . The annual temperature would increase by 0.7 °C (1.3 °F), the temperature of the coldest month by 0.4 °C (0.72 °F), and the temperature of the warmest month by 0.1 °C (0.18 °F). According to Climate Action Tracker , the current warming trajectory appears consistent with 2.7 °C (4.9 °F), which closely matches RCP 4.5. Moreover, according to

15900-724: The completely dry months from May to October. Luanda has an annual rainfall of 405 millimetres (15.9 in), but the variability is among the highest in the world, with a co-efficient of variation above 40 percent. The climate is largely influenced by the offshore Benguela current. The current gives the city a surprisingly low humidity despite its tropical latitude, which makes the hotter months considerably more bearable than similar cities in Western/Central Africa. Observed records since 1858 range from 55 millimetres (2.2 in) in 1958 to 851 millimetres (33.5 in) in 1916. The short rainy season in March and April depends on

16059-886: The continued political agitation in favour of the independence of the exclave of Cabinda (carried out in the context of the protracted Cabinda conflict by the FLEC ). While most of the internally displaced have now squatted around the capital, in musseques ( shanty towns ) the general situation for Angolans remains desperate. A drought in 2016 caused the worst food crisis in Southern Africa in 25 years, affecting 1.4 million people across seven of Angola's eighteen provinces. Food prices rose and acute malnutrition rates doubled, impacting over 95,000 children. José Eduardo dos Santos stepped down as President of Angola after 38 years in 2017, being peacefully succeeded by João Lourenço , Santos' chosen successor. Some members of

16218-527: The country and diplomatic training for Angolans in Belgrade . The United States Ambassador to Yugoslavia wrote of the Yugoslav relationship with the MPLA and remarked, " Tito clearly enjoys his role as patriarch of guerrilla liberation struggle." Agostinho Neto , MPLA's leader during the civil war, declared in 1977 that Yugoslav aid was constant and firm and described the help as extraordinary. According to

16377-522: The country, the national economy began to sink into depression . The South African government initially became involved in an effort to counter the Chinese presence in Angola, which was feared might escalate the conflict into a local theatre of the Cold War . In 1975, South African Prime Minister B.J. Vorster authorized Operation Savannah , which began as an effort to protect engineers constructing

16536-456: The dam at Calueque after unruly UNITA soldiers took over. The dam, paid for by South Africa, was felt to be at risk. The South African Defence Force (SADF) dispatched an armoured task force to secure Calueque. From this, Operation Savannah escalated; no formal government was in place and thus, no clear lines of authority. The South Africans came to commit thousands of soldiers to the intervention and ultimately clashed with Cuban forces assisting

16695-420: The decisive Battle of Quifangondo , although UNITA managed to withdraw its civil officials and militia from Luanda and seek sanctuary in the southern provinces. From there, Savimbi continued to mount a determined insurgent campaign against the MPLA. Between 1975 and 1991, the MPLA implemented an economic and political system based on the principles of scientific socialism , incorporating central planning and

16854-525: The dos Santos family were later linked to high levels of corruption. In July 2022, ex-president José Eduardo dos Santos died in Spain. In August 2022, the ruling party, MPLA, won another majority and President Lourenço won a second five-year term in the election . However, the election was the tightest in Angola's history. At 1,246,700 km (481,400 sq mi), Angola is the world's twenty-second largest country – comparable in size to Mali, or twice

17013-466: The early 16th century, trade between the kingdoms also increased. Most of the trade was in palm cloth, copper, and ivory, but also increasing numbers of slaves. Kongo exported few slaves, and its slave market had remained internal. But, following the development of a successful sugar-growing colony after Portuguese settlement of São Tomé , Kongo became a major source of slaves for the island's traders and plantations. Correspondence by King Afonso documents

17172-579: The early 20th century and experienced the strong resistance from the native groups such as the Cuamato, the Kwanyama , and the Mbunda . After a protracted anti-colonial struggle (1961–1974), Angola achieved independence in 1975 as a one-party Republic , but the country descended into a devastating civil war the same year, between the ruling People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), backed by

17331-477: The end of the civil war in 2002, Angola has emerged as a relatively stable constitutional republic , and its economy is among the fastest-growing in the world, with China , the European Union , and the United States being the country's largest investment and trade partners. However, the economic growth is highly uneven, with most of the nation's wealth concentrated in a disproportionately small part of

17490-557: The fighting between the Portuguese government and local forces, supported to varying degrees by the Portuguese Communist Party . The National Front for the Liberation of Angola (FNLA) recruited from Bakongo refugees in Zaire . Benefiting from particularly favourable political circumstances in Léopoldville , and especially from a common border with Zaire, Angolan political exiles were able to build up

17649-407: The first millennium BC, they were displaced by Bantu peoples arriving from the north, most of whom likely originated in what is today northwestern Nigeria and southern Niger . Bantu speakers introduced the cultivation of bananas and taro , as well as maintenance of large cattle herds, to Angola's central highlands and the Luanda plain. Due to a number of inhibiting geographic factors throughout

17808-462: The forest area was found within protected areas. For the year 2015, 100% of the forest area was reported to be under public ownership . Like the rest of tropical Africa, Angola experiences distinct, alternating rainy and dry seasons. In the north, the rainy season may last for as long as seven months—usually from September to April, with perhaps a brief slackening in January or February. In

17967-580: The fortress called Fortaleza São Pedro da Barra , and they subsequently built two more: Fortaleza de São Miguel (1634) and Forte de São Francisco do Penedo (1765–66). Of these, the Fortaleza de São Miguel is the best preserved. Luanda was Portugal's bridgehead from 1627, except during the Dutch rule of Luanda , from 1640 to 1648, as Fort Aardenburgh. The city served as the centre of slave trade to Brazil from c.  1550 to 1836. The slave trade

18126-674: The government is composed of the President, the vice-presidents and the Council of Ministers. The legislative branch comprises a 220-seat unicameral legislature, the National Assembly of Angola , elected from multi-member province-wide and nationwide constituencies using party-list proportional representation . For decades, political power has been concentrated in the presidency. After 38 years of rule, in 2017 President dos Santos stepped down from MPLA leadership. The leader of

18285-473: The government of Mobutu Sese Seko in Zaire . During 1974, the FNLA was also briefly supported by the People's Republic of China ; but the aid was quickly withdrawn since China mainly supported the UNITA during the Angolan War of Independence . The United States refused to support the FNLA during the movement's war against Portugal, a NATO member but agreed during the civil war. UNITA's main social basis were

18444-461: The head of the intelligence service, Apolinário José Pereira. Both are considered allies of former president Dos Santos. He also removed Isabel dos Santos , daughter of the former president, as head of the country's state oil company Sonangol . In August 2020, José Filomeno dos Santos , son of Angola's former president, was sentenced for five years in jail for fraud and corruption. Luanda Luanda (/luˈændə, -ˈɑːn-/, Portuguese: [luˈɐ̃dɐ])

18603-430: The high-emission scenario RCP 8.5 by the year 2050. Additionally, RCP 8.5 combined with the hypothetical impact from marine ice sheet instability at high levels of warming would involve up to 137.5 billion USD in damages, while the additional accounting for the "low-probability, high-damage events" may increase aggregate risks to USD 187 billion for the "moderate" RCP4.5, USD 206 billion for RCP8.5 and USD 397 billion under

18762-406: The high-end ice sheet instability scenario. Since sea level rise would continue for about 10,000 years under every scenario of climate change, future costs of sea level rise would only increase, especially without adaptation measures. The inhabitants of Luanda are primarily members of African ethnic groups, mainly Ambundu , Ovimbundu , and Bakongo . The official and the most widely used language

18921-482: The inroads from Luanda and Benguela were very limited. Hamstrung by a series of political upheavals in the early 1800s, Portugal was slow to mount a large scale annexation of Angolan territory. The slave trade was abolished in Angola in 1836, and in 1854 the colonial government freed all its existing slaves. Four years later, a more progressive administration appointed by Portugal abolished slavery altogether. However, these decrees remained largely unenforceable, and

19080-405: The institution was prohibited. At the start of the Angolan Civil War in 1975, most of the white Portuguese left as refugees, principally migrating to Portugal. Luanda's population increased greatly from internal refugees fleeing the war, but its infrastructure was inadequate to handle the increase. This also caused the exacerbation of slums, or musseques , around Luanda. In the 21st century,

19239-497: The international community. The Soviet Union and Cuba became especially sympathetic towards the MPLA and supplied that party with arms, ammunition, funding, and training. They also backed UNITA militants until it became clear that the latter was at irreconcilable odds with the MPLA. The collapse of Portugal's Estado Novo government following the 1974 Carnation Revolution suspended all Portuguese military activity in Africa and

19398-588: The kingdom was due to the salient issue of the slave trade, which had become an increasingly violent struggle. There was a constant need for slaves for the kings and queens to sell in exchange for foreign commodities, the absence of which would prevent them from having any influence with European powers such as Portugal and eventually the Dutch Republic . Kongolese kings needed this influence to garner support from European powers for quelling internal rebellions. The situation became increasingly complicated during

19557-511: The landscape of Luanda. A large Chinese firm has been given a contract to construct the majority of replacement housing in Luanda. The Angolan minister of health recently stated poverty in Angola will be overcome by an increase in jobs and the housing of every citizen. Luanda is divided into two parts, the Baixa de Luanda (lower Luanda, the old city) and the Cidade Alta (upper city or

19716-504: The last decades, a significant Chinese community has formed, as has a much smaller Vietnamese community. Among the places of worship , several are predominantly Christian churches and congregations: As the economic and political center of Angola, Luanda is similarly the epicenter of Angolan culture. The city is home to numerous cultural institutions, including the Sindika Dokolo Foundation . The city hosts

19875-418: The latest year for which data was available. However, the average salary in the booming oil industry was over 20 times higher at US$ 5,400 per month. Manufacturing includes processed foods , beverages , textiles , cement and other building materials, plastic products, metalware, cigarettes , and shoes/clothes. Petroleum (found in nearby off-shore deposits) is refined in the city, although this facility

20034-694: The market economy were also reduced in an attempt to draw foreign investment. By May 1991 it reached a peace agreement with UNITA, the Bicesse Accords , which scheduled new general elections for September 1992. When the MPLA secured a major electoral victory, UNITA objected to the results of both the presidential and legislative vote count and returned to war. Following the election, the Halloween massacre occurred from 30 October to 1 November, where MPLA forces killed thousands of UNITA supporters. On 22 February 2002, government troops killed Savimbi in

20193-507: The national currency of nzimbu shells , which could be traded for slaves. These could be sold to gain international currency. As the slave trade was the only commodity in which Europeans were interested in the region during the 16th and 17th centuries, the Kongo economy was unable to diversify or later industrialise outside of sectors in which slavery was involved, such as the arms industry . The increased production and sale of guns within

20352-411: The new part). The Baixa de Luanda is situated next to the port, and has narrow streets and old colonial buildings. However, new constructions have by now covered large areas beyond these traditional limits, and a number of previously independent nuclei — like Viana — were incorporated into the city. Until 2011, the former Luanda Province comprised what now forms five municipalities . In 2011

20511-511: The night of 10 November, the day before the formal declaration of independence, Savimbi secretly flew to Pretoria to meet Vorster. In a reversal of policy, Vorster not only agreed to keep his troops in Angola through November, but also promised to withdraw the SADF only after the OAU meeting on 9 December. While Cuban officers led the mission and provided the bulk of the troop force, 60 Soviet officers in

20670-531: The north and UNITA in the south, concluding the conventional war by 12 February 1976. In Cabinda, the Cubans launched a series of successful operations against the FLEC separatist movement. By March 1977, the MPLA controlled enough of the country to permit Castro to pay a state visit. However, in May, Nito Alves and José Jacinto Van-Dúnem attempted an unsuccessful coup against Agostinho Neto. Cuban troops helped defeat

20829-445: The ongoing civilian casualties. Angola's three rebel movements had their roots in the anti-colonial movements of the 1950s. The MPLA was primarily an urban-based movement in Luanda and its surrounding area. It was largely composed of Mbundu people . By contrast, the other two major anti-colonial movements, the FNLA and UNITA, were rural groups. The FNLA primarily consisted of Bakongo people from Northern Angola. UNITA, an offshoot of

20988-618: The population as most Angolans have a low standard of living ; life expectancy is among the lowest in the world , while infant mortality is among the highest . Angola is a member of the United Nations , African Union , the Community of Portuguese Language Countries , and the Southern African Development Community . As of 2023 , the Angolan population is estimated at 37.2 million. Angolan culture reflects centuries of Portuguese influence, namely

21147-408: The population reached more than 8.3 million inhabitants (a third of Angola's population). Among the oldest colonial cities of Africa, Luanda was founded in January 1576 as São Paulo da Assunção de Loanda by Portuguese explorer Paulo Dias de Novais , being occasionally called "Leonda" or "St Paul de Leonda" by non-portuguese sources. The city served as the centre of the slave trade to Brazil before

21306-526: The power of the monarchy. He also established a royal monopoly on some trade. To govern the growing slave trade, Afonso and several Portuguese kings claimed a joint monopoly on the external slave trade. The slave trade increasingly became Kongo's primary, and arguably sole, economic sector . A major obstacle for the Kingdom of Kongo was that slaves were the only commodity for which the European powers were willing to trade. Kongo lacked an effective international currency . Kongolese nobles could buy slaves with

21465-503: The predominance of the Portuguese language and of the Catholic Church , intermingled with a variety of indigenous customs and traditions. The name Angola comes from the Portuguese colonial name Reino de Angola ('Kingdom of Angola'), which appeared as early as Paulo Dias de Novais 's 1571 charter. The toponym was derived by the Portuguese from the title ngola , held by the kings of Ndongo and Matamba . Ndongo in

21624-529: The program's approval, Nathaniel Davis , the Assistant Secretary of State, told Henry Kissinger , the Secretary of State , that he believed maintaining the secrecy of IA Feature would be impossible. Davis correctly predicted the Soviet Union would respond by increasing involvement in the Angolan conflict, leading to more violence and negative publicity for the United States. When Ford approved

21783-430: The program, Davis resigned. John Stockwell , the CIA's station chief in Angola, echoed Davis' criticism saying that success required the expansion of the program, but its size already exceeded what could be hidden from the public eye. Davis' deputy, former U.S. ambassador to Chile Edward Mulcahy , also opposed direct involvement. Mulcahy presented three options for U.S. policy towards Angola on 13 May 1975. Mulcahy believed

21942-413: The purchase and sale of slaves within the country. His accounts also detail which slaves captured in war were given or sold to Portuguese merchants. Afonso continued to expand the kingdom of Kongo into the 1540s, expanding its borders to the south and east. The expansion of Kongo's population, coupled with Afonso's earlier religious reforms, allowed the ruler to centralize power in his capital and increase

22101-536: The rebels. In May 1978, South Africa initiated Operation Reindeer, during which an airstrike on a Cuban convoy resulted in the loss of 150 Cuban troops. By July 1978, Cuba had suffered 5,600 casualties in its African wars (Angola and Ethiopia), including 1,000 killed in Angola and 400 killed against Somali forces in the Ethiopian Ogaden. In 1987, 6,000 South African soldiers reentered the Angolan war, clashing with Cuban forces. They defeated four MPLA brigades at

22260-468: The rest of the territory was completed by 1650. New treaties with the Kongo were signed in 1649; others with Njinga 's Kingdom of Matamba and Ndongo followed in 1656. The conquest of Pungo Andongo in 1671 was the last major Portuguese expansion from Luanda, as attempts to invade Kongo in 1670 and Matamba in 1681 failed. Colonial outposts also expanded inward from Benguela, but until the late 19th century

22419-447: The rise of deep social inequalities due to large-scale migration of civil war refugees from other Angolan regions. For decades, Luanda's facilities were not adequately expanded to handle this huge increase in the city's population. After 2002, with the end of the civil war and high economic growth rates fuelled by the wealth provided by the increasing oil and diamond production, major reconstruction started. Luanda has also become one of

22578-548: The rule of Garcia II , who needed the assistance of the Dutch military to drive out the Portuguese from Luanda , in spite of the fact that Portugal was Kongo's primary slave trading partner. By the early 17th century, the supply of foreign slaves captured by the Kongolese externally was waning. The government began to approve the enslavement of freeborn Kongolese citizens for relatively minor infractions, nearly any disobeying of

22737-409: The rural workforce. Portugal's refusal to address increasing Angolan demands for self-determination provoked an armed conflict, which erupted in 1961 with the Baixa de Cassanje revolt and gradually evolved into a protracted war of independence that persisted for the next twelve years. Throughout the conflict, three militant nationalist movements with their own partisan guerrilla wings emerged from

22896-493: The size of France or of Texas. It lies mostly between latitudes 4° and 18°S , and longitudes 12° and 24°E . Angola borders Namibia to the south, Zambia to the east, the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the north-east and the South Atlantic Ocean to the west. The coastal exclave of Cabinda in the north has borders with the Republic of the Congo to the north and with the Democratic Republic of

23055-505: The south of the territory, and the north of present-day Namibia , lay the Kwanyama kingdom, along with minor realms on the central highlands. All these political units were a reflection of ethnic cleavages that slowly developed among the Bantu populations and were instrumental in consolidating these cleavages and fostering the emergence of new and distinct social identities. At the end of the 15th century, Portuguese settlers made contact with

23214-464: The south, the rainy season begins later, in November, and lasts until about February. The dry season ( cacimbo ) is often characterized by a heavy morning mist. In general, precipitation is higher in the north, but at any latitude it is greater in the interior than along the coast and increases with altitude. Temperatures fall with distance from the equator and with altitude and tend to rise closer to

23373-399: The territory of Angola, namely harshly traversable land, hot/humid climate, and a plethora of deadly diseases, intermingling of pre-colonial tribes in Angola had been rare. After settlement of the migrants, a number of political entities developed. The best-known of these was the Kingdom of Kongo , based in Angola. It extended northward to what are now the Democratic Republic of the Congo ,

23532-448: The time the MPLA achieved victory in 2002, between 500,000 and 800,000 people had died and over one million had been internally displaced . The war devastated Angola's infrastructure and severely damaged public administration, the economy, and religious institutions. The Angolan Civil War was notable due to the combination of Angola's violent internal dynamics and the exceptional degree of foreign military and political involvement. The war

23691-451: The timeline for independence became known, most of the roughly 500,000 ethnic Portuguese Angolans fled the territory during the weeks before or after that deadline. Portugal left behind a newly independent country whose population was mainly composed of Ambundu, Ovimbundu, and Bakongo peoples. The Portuguese that lived in Angola accounted for the majority of the skilled workers in public administration, agriculture, and industry; once they fled

23850-584: The west of the present Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the south and west of the contemporary Republic of Congo and even the southernmost part of Gabon . Also of historical importance were the Ndongo and Matamba kingdoms to the south of the Kongo Empire, in the Ambundu area. Additionally, the Lunda Empire occupied a portion of north-eastern Angola in the south-east of the present-day DRC. In

24009-465: The winning party at the parliamentary elections in August 2017 would become the next president of Angola. The MPLA selected the former Defense Minister João Lourenço as Santos' chosen successor. In what has been described as a political purge to cement his power and reduce the influence of the Dos Santos family, Lourenço subsequently sacked the chief of the national police, Ambrósio de Lemos, and

24168-493: The world's most expensive cities. The central government supposedly allocates funds to all regions of the country, but the capital region receives the bulk of these funds. Since the end of the Angolan Civil War (1971–2002), stability has been widespread in the country, and major reconstruction has been going on since 2002 in those parts of the country that were damaged during the civil war. Luanda has been of major concern because its population had multiplied and had far outgrown

24327-638: Was a civil war in Angola , beginning in 1975 and continuing, with interludes, until 2002. The war began immediately after Angola became independent from Portugal in November 1975. It was a power struggle between two former anti-colonial guerrilla movements, the communist People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) and the anti-communist National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA). The MPLA and UNITA had different roots in Angolan society and mutually incompatible leaderships, despite their shared aim of ending colonial rule. A third movement,

24486-416: Was blocked by British and Belgian opposition. In this period, the Portuguese came up against different forms of armed resistance from various peoples in Angola. The Berlin Conference in 1884–1885 set the colony's borders, delineating the boundaries of Portuguese claims in Angola, although many details were unresolved until the 1920s. Trade between Portugal and its African territories rapidly increased as

24645-580: Was born by this time. In 1889, Governor Brito Capelo opened the gates of an aqueduct which supplied the city with water, a formerly scarce resource, laying the foundation for major growth. Throughout Portugal's dictatorship, known as the Estado Novo , Luanda grew from a town of 61,208 with 14.6% of those inhabitants being white in 1940, to a wealthy cosmopolitan major city of 475,328 in 1970 with 124,814 Europeans (26.3%) and around 50,000 mixed race inhabitants (10.5%). Like most of Portuguese Angola ,

24804-411: Was conducted mostly with the Portuguese colony of Brazil; Brazilian ships were the most numerous in the port of Luanda. This slave trade also involved local merchants and warriors who profited from the trade. During this period, no large scale territorial conquest was intended by the Portuguese; only a few minor settlements were established in the immediate hinterland of Luanda, some on the last stretch of

24963-581: Was defeated without difficulty and the FNLC continued to advance. On 2 April, Mobutu appealed to William Eteki of Cameroon , Chairman of the Organization of African Unity , for assistance. Eight days later, the French government responded to Mobutu's plea and airlifted 1,500 Moroccan troops into Kinshasa . This force worked in conjunction with the Zairean army, the FNLA and Egyptian pilots flying French-made Zairean Mirage fighter aircraft to beat back

25122-474: Was repeatedly damaged during the Angolan Civil War of 1975–2002. Luanda has an excellent natural harbour; the chief exports are coffee , cotton , sugar , diamonds , iron , and salt . The city also has a thriving building industry, an effect of the nationwide economic boom experienced since 2002, when political stability returned with the end of the civil war. Economic growth is largely supported by oil extraction activities, although great diversification

25281-409: Was the Kingdom of Matamba . The lesser Kingdom of Kakongo to the north was later a vassal of the Kingdom of Kongo. The people in all of these states spoke Kikongo as a common language. Portuguese explorer Diogo Cão reached the area in 1484. The previous year, the Portuguese had established relations with the Kingdom of Kongo , which stretched at the time from modern Gabon in the north to

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