Angola

Angola is a country in southwest Africa. It is almost four times the size of Germany, but Germany has four times as many inhabitants. The capital is Luanda with almost seven million inhabitants. In the north, on the Atlantic Ocean, lies the small province of Cabinda. It also belongs to Angola, but lies outside the country proper and is therefore an exclave.

Angola is located in the tropics. While the north and the coast receive a lot of rain, the southwest is very dry and rather desert-like. In between there is a highland. Angola has a young population with many children and young people. The official language is Portuguese. In addition, many indigenous languages are spoken. Half of the people are Catholics, but there are also many followers of free churches.

The name of the country comes from the title "Ngola", which was given to the kings of Ndongo. They ruled over one of many kingdoms in the Congo River area. It perished in the 16th century. At that time, Portuguese landed on the coast and took possession of these kingdoms. Angola was a Portuguese colony until the state became independent in 1975.

Immediately after that, a bloody civil war began. Communist groups fought groups that sided with the West in the Cold War. The communist side was stronger, but the war did not end until 2002. Since then, the former war opponents have participated in democracy. However, there is still a great deal of corruption in politics.

Because of the civil war, there is little industry in Angola. However, the country has rich oil deposits as well as diamonds and minerals, which are extracted in mines in the northeast. Angola is one of the countries that sells a great deal of oil abroad, i.e., exports it. A large part of the population works in agriculture. They raise cattle and goats and cultivate fields. However, this is not enough to feed them, so a lot of food has to be imported into the country.