Angola
By: Elise Carmichael
Physical Geography
- Country on Africa's Southwest coast.
- The Congo River and the Democratic Republic of the Congo separate it from the rest of the country.
-Forms part of the large inland plateau of Southern Africa.
- Angola also consists chiefly of hilly grasslands, but a rocky desert covers the South.
- Land gradually rises from the interior to the west, where it drops sharply to a narrow coastal plain.
- Most of the coastal plain has little natural vegetation and tropical forests grow in the north.
- Many rivers and more than 900 miles of coast line.
- Cunene and Cuanza, serve as waterways to the interior.
- Temperatures in the coastal plain region average about 70 degrees F (21 degrees C) in January and about 60 degrees F (16 degrees C) in June.
- From 40 to 60 in (100 to 500 centimeters) of rain falls annually on the Northern Coast and in most of the interior. Only about 2 in. of rain falls yearly in the desert.
Imperalism and Influence from Imperalism
- The National Assembly, the country's legislature, makes the laws.
- The people of Angola elect the National Assembly.
- Head of the party with a majority in the National Assembly becomes president.
- Angola became independent in November 1975.
- Parts had been ruled by Portuguese for most of the period since the 1500's.
- Between 1975 and the early 2000's, Angola was torn apart by the brutal civil war.
- A cease-fire was signed in 2002.
Ethnicity and Cultural Geography
-Angola's people belong to several ethnic groups, including the Ovimbundu, the Mbundu, the kongo, and the Luanda-Chokwe.
- Before the nation became independent, more than 400,000 Europeans and Mestizos lived in Angola, and during the civil war in 1975 most Europeans fled.
- Most Angolans speak one of the Bantu language but some also speak Portuguese, the official language.
- The two many religions that are shared in Angola are Christians, and mostly Roman Catholics.
- They have traditional beliefs based on the worship of ancestors and spirits.
Current Events
- When Angola had their devastating 27-year civil war it left them in a basket case. The economy and infrastructure were in tatters. Health and education systems barley existed.
- Since then the Portuguese colony has grown rapidly thanks to oil.
- The economy expanded by more than 10% a year, making it seem one of the most buoyant in the world. Making Angola's GDP the fifth biggest in Africa.
- During and after a downturn in 2009 and 2010, caused by a crash in oil prices, Angolan policymakers were confident that the economy would quickly recover. But, with oil output more or less stagnant since 2009, when it dropped to about 1.8m b/d, the government had been forced to lower its expectations.
- Most foreign analysts reckon that predictions by Sonangoi, the state oil company, that production will return to 2m b/d next year are unrealistic. Many think that 5% GDP growth will be Angola's lot for the time being.