Angola

Geography

Location: Southern Africa, bordering the South Atlantic Ocean, between Namibia and Zaire

Map references: Africa

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

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.)

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

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

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

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)