Introduction
The nation of Angola is part of the southern region of the Sub-Saharan African Realm that was originally founded by small groups of hunter-gatherer Khoikhoi people. The tribes were small and were easily dispersed when northern factions such as the Bantu infiltrated the region late in the first millennium. The Bantu-speaking people brought ironwork, agricultural practices, and extensive trading to the region and which helped to establish precolonial kingdoms in Central Africa. Kingdoms were set up in settlements surrounding the mouth of the Congo River, the grasslands of the upper Kasai River and all along the coasts and interior of present-day Angola (Young, 2008). Over time, patterns of migration among the kingdoms produced the major ethnolinguistic groups of Angola—including the Bakongo, Mbundu, and Ovimbundu—as well as smaller groups such as the Nganguela, Lunda-Chokwe, Herero, Nyaneka-Humbe, and Ambo (Exhibit 1) (Young, 2008).
In the late 14th century, Diogo Cao, a Portuguese explorer sailed to the mouth of the Congo and encroached upon the lands inhabited by Kongo kingdoms. Cao and his Portuguese missionaries occupied the area and began spreading Catholicism throughout Angola (Young, 2008). The Portuguese and Kongo’s peaceful coexistence was short-lived as the Portuguese quickly turned violent and greedy. The Portuguese experienced resistance from many Africans such as the Bakogo and Queen Nzinga which prompted the arrival of Portuguese soldiers in Angola (Stapleton, 2013). During the first major military campaign (1574–1594), Portuguese conquistadores established dominance over African chiefs and had conquered all of the kingdoms along the coast of Angola by the middle of the seventeenth century.
Slavery existed in almost every kingdom in Angola and was a fundamental component of Angola’s economy and social structure due to transatlantic trade. Between the late sixteenth century and 1836, when Portugal officially abolished slave trafficking, it is estimated that four million people from the region were captured for the slave trade (Exhibit 2) (Young, 2008). Being that slave trade was such an integral part of Angola’s society, the official ban of trade only slowed the demand for slaves rather that ceasing trade entirely. Angola's economy stagnated from a lack of capital, driving Portuguese officials to continue to force Africans to work on government projects and plantations in need of labor (Young, 2008).
Following World War II, Angola’s economy boomed due to the rapid expansion of diamond mining and coffee production. The postwar era was filled with the creation of many nationalist political parties that had a uniform opposition to Portuguese monarchy but were hindered by their lack of unity. The Portuguese government encouraged emigration to Angola and the purchase of land, sparking African nationalism that resented Portuguese colonialism. Nationalist political parties joined with Portuguese opposition groups to rebel against the Portuguese monarchy and compete for dominance in Angola. Despite the nationalist groups who fought each other as much as they did the Portuguese, Portugal ceded independence to the people of Angola on November 11, 1975 (Young, 2008).
The independence movement was made up of three major groups – the MPLA (Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola), the FNLA (National Front for the Liberation of Angola) and UNITA (National Union for the Total Independence of Angola) (Young, 2008). Once independence had been achieved, the groups fought for internal power over Angola. It wasn’t until the end of the Cold War that genuine efforts were made to stop the fighting in Angola. In 1988, negotiations were successful and culminated into a ceasefire that was maintained by a United Nations peacekeeping force (Riding, 1991). However, fighting quickly resumed but in 2002, after 27 years of civil war, Angola was finally at peace.
Geographic Features
Angola is located in Southern Africa, between Namibia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Angola borders the South Atlantic Ocean and is located primarily in the low latitudes at 11.2027° S, 17.8739° E. Angola has a total land area of 1,246,700 square km, ranking 24th in size in the whole world. Comparatively, it is about eight times the size of Georgia; slightly less than twice the size of Texas (The World Factbook, 2018). Most of Angola lies on a plateau at 3,000 to 5,000 feet above sea level, rising from a narrow coastal plain where the capital of Luanda is located (Angola at a Glance, 1981).
Angola consists of three major geographic areas; an arid coastal lowland, hills and mountains that rise inland, and a vast plain known as the high plateau. The mostly flat coastal plain stretches inland for 30 to 100 miles into a string of hills and a series of scattered mountains (Angola Geography, n.d.). The highest point of the country, Morro de Moco, peaks at 8,592 ft (2,620 m), and is located in the Ahaggar Mountains. Angola's elevated high plateau rises 4,000 to 6,000 ft. (1,200 to 1,800 m), lies to the east of the hills and mountains and dominates Angola's terrain (Angola Geography, n.d.). The Zambezi, Cubango, and Cuanza Rivers along with several tributaries of the Congo River flow through Angola. The Kalandula Falls are one of the largest waterfalls in Africa and are located on the Lucala River.
According to The CIA World Factbook, most of the people of Angola live in the western half of the country which has about 1,600 km of coastline area (2018). Fishing is an important part of Angola’s agricultural economy, being that about 85% of Angola’s labor force works in the agriculture sector. Angola is ranked in the top ten for producers of fish in Africa due to the rich abundance of fish off Angola’s shores of the Atlantic Ocean. Additionally, about 45.6% of total population lives in urban areas and is growing at a rate of 4.6% annually. Luanda, the capital of Angola, is situated on the western coast of the country which is home to more than 5.5 million people (Young, 2008).
Additionally, as the Portuguese quickly discovered in exploring Angola, the land in the interior of the country has little agricultural potential due to the poor quality of the soil. Coffee, cassava, oil, iron, and diamonds are some of Angola’s major industries and can be found in the western part of the country which supports the majority of the population. The cold Benguela current affects the coastline of Angola, causing regular fog and mist, as the cold sea air hits the warmer air from the land (Angola, n.d.). However, the current brings many fish and marine animals who follow its nutrient-rich waters making the shores of Angola a prime spot for fishing.
• Discuss how the Geographic features affect the quality of life in the country. In your discussion include how the people interact with the environments? What is being done to protect the resources and the environment?
Foreign Relations and Women Rights
Angola’s history is filled with war and turmoil in dealing with foreign nations. Portugal, the Soviet Union and Cuba played major roles in exploiting and meddling in the affairs of Angola. The Marxist MPLA were backed by the Soviet Union and Cuba and exacerbated the civil war (Angola, n.d.). UNITA was supported by the United States and the white government of South Africa who aided in the independence of Angola in 1975 (French, 2002).
A month before Angolan independence, South Africa invaded on the Angola, and in response the MPLA received additional military aid from the Soviet Union and assistance from Cuba. In 1988 “negotiations between the warring factions and their international sponsors resulted in the withdrawal of Cuban and South African troops from Angola” (Young, 2008). In 1997 the Angolan military supported Laurent-Désiré Kabila in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Denis Sassou-Nguesso in the Republic of the Congo and may have backed a coup attempt in Zambia (Young, 2008).
Due to Angola’s war stricken nation, women’s rights and empowerment had been a neglected until the past ten years. In 2009, Angola’s government began to promote programs for gender equality and basic human rights in an effort to eliminate disparities in employment, land ownership, and health (White, 2018). Additionally, to target barriers to women’s empowerment, the government of Angola designed the Programme of Support to Gender and Women Promotion, Support to Victims of Violence, Valorization of the Family and Community Development and Rural Women Promotion.
Furthermore, beginning in 2013, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) contributed $1.2 million to Angola’s Basic Education – Triumphant Women and Youth Project. This project was created with the goal of teaching literacy and striving to eliminate illiteracy in Angola by 2025. In 2015 alone, around 500 Angolan women earned their two-year literacy diplomas (White, 2018). The Women and Youth Project has “provided 5,600 women with adult courses, while also increasing the enrollment rates of students in primary schools” (White, 2018). Through literacy and education, it is the hope that women will become much closer to ending gendered discrimination.