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AFRICA INDEX

 

ANGOLA

 

 

Flights and Travel: how to get and move to Angola

Climate: when to go to Angola

Tourist Attractions: what to visit in Angola

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ANGOLA
ANGOLA
 
Mirante de Lua, Parque Nacional da Kissama, Bengo, Angola
Namibe, Angola
Pungo-Andongo, Malanje, Angola
Baia Farta, Benguela, Angola
Mirante de Lua, Parque Nacional da Kissama, Bengo, Angola
Namibe, Angola
Pungo-Andongo, Malanje, Angola
Baia Farta, Benguela, Angola
 
Angola (República de Angola), is a presidential republic situated in southwestern Africa. Former Portuguese colony, is washed to the west from the Atlantic Ocean and is bordered to the north and north-east with the Democratic Republic of Congo, to the southeast with Zambia and to the south with Namibia. Angola, has for the capital Luanda, and is divided into 18 provinces, also includes Cabinda, enclave situated between the Republic of Congo (Brazzaville) and the Democratic Republic of Congo (Kinshasa).
 

The country has a coastal development along the Atlantic Ocean more than 1,600 km from the mouth of Zaire, to the north, and Cunene, in the south, three of the most important cities in the country are located along the Atlantic coast, the capital Luanda and the cities of Benguela and Lobito. Towards the north, the coastline is characterized by mild hills, further south in the correspondence of the capital, the coast is generally flat and uniform, here are the estuaries of rivers Cuanza and Bengo. In the area of Benguela the coast makes narrower and the mountains almost reach it, south of the city begins the area dominated by savannah, over the Serra do Neve begins the semi-desertic area that next to the city of Namibe and until the border with Namibia, it becomes real desert, forming the northern part of the Namib desert. The interior of the country, is characterized by a range of high plains, largely up to 500 km, which are covered with savanna and in the northern province of Cuanza-Norte of tropical forests. The largest of the Angolan highlands is the Bié Plateau, a harsh plateau, which occupies about two-thirds of the Angolan territory and which has an average altitude of 1,300 meters. To the west of Bié plateau, in the central part of the country, there are some mountain ranges (Serra do Chilengue, Serra do Humbe) where is the highest Angola mountain , the Morro de Moco, which reaches 2,620 meters. Most of the country's many rivers originate in central Angola, from these mountains, including the Kwanza and Cunene, which flow into the Atlantic, Kwango, which flows north into the river Congo, and finally, the Kwando and Kubango (that's the Angolan name of the Okavango), this is the longest river of Angola (975 km), which reaches the marshes of Okavango in northern Botswana. In the central plateau region is also Huambo, the capital of the province of the same name and the second most populous city in the country. On the eastern side, towards the interior of the African continent highlands down gently toward the basin of the Zambezi, the territory here is characterized by vast savannah. Regarding the economy, after 30 years of civil war, which has claimed an estimated one million deaths and four million refugees, the country is slowly trying to re-emerge from the abyss in which it was driven, rich in mineral and agricultural resources, now Angola economy is the fastest growing economy in Africa and one of the fastest in the world, it's based on oil (Angolan petroleum production is second only to Nigeria in African oil production), diamonds, iron, natural gas, gold, salt. Even agriculture would have considerable prospectives, there are cultivated cotton, bananas, palm oil, sugar cane, coffee, tobacco, corn, sesame, castor, sisal, rubber, breeding (cattle, sheep and goats), fisheries and the exploitation of timber. Not developed is tourism, but the country has its significant unspoiled landscapes that once rebuilt infrastructure needed (roads, hotels, etc.) will certainly make the country attractive for tourism. Significant natural attractions like Calandula waterfalls (Duque de Bragança) on the river Lucala, a tributary of the right of Cuanza, beautiful natural scenarios as Bié plateau, rocky area of Pungo Andongo, the desert south of Namibe, etc. 

Area: 1 246 700 sqkm. (Arable 2,8%, Pastures 43,3%, Forests and Woodlands 18,4%, Uncultivated and Unproductive 35,5%)

Population: 15 900 000 (2005 data) Black African 97% (Ovimbundu 37%, Kimbundu 25%, Bakongo 13%), Mestiços (mixed descendants of Europeans and Africans) 2%, European 1%.

State Capital: Luanda.

Languages: Official language is Portuguese. Regional languages are: Kongo, Chokwe, South Mbundu, Mbundu.

Religion: Roman Catholic 65%, Protestant 20%, Indigenous beliefs 10%.

Currency: Kwanza (AOA)

Time: UTC +1 hour.

 

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