Angola is located in southwestern Africa. It is bordered by Congo (Brazzaville) and Congo (Democratic Republic of the Congo) in the north, Zambia in the east, Namibia in the south, and the Atlantic Ocean in the west, with a coastline of 1,650 kilometers. Most of the region is a savannah climate, the average annual temperature of 22 ℃; the southern part of the subtropical climate.
Historically, it was divided into four kingdoms, Congo, Ndongo, Matamba and Lunda. 1482, the Portuguese colonial flotilla arrived for the first time, and the city of Luanda was established in 1576. At the Berlin Conference of 1884-1885, Angola was made a Portuguese colony, and in 1922 the Portuguese occupied the entire territory of Angola, and in 1951 the Portuguese transformed Angola into a Portuguese "Overseas Province" under the rule of a governor. In the 1950s, Angola established three national liberation organizations: the People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), the Front for the National Liberation of Angola (FNLA), and the Uni?o Nacional para a Independência Total de Angola (UNITA), and in the 1960s they launched armed struggles for national independence. On January 15, 1975, the three organizations reached the Avol Agreement on the independence of Angola with the Portuguese Government, and on January 31, 1975, they formed a transitional government together with the Portuguese authorities***. Soon after, an armed conflict broke out between MPLA, UNITA and FSLN and the Transitional Government was dissolved. On November 11 of the same year, the MPLA proclaimed the establishment of the Angolan People's **** and State, with Agostinho Neto as President.
Angola was in a state of civil war for a long time after independence. Under the impetus of Portugal, the United States and the former Soviet Union, on May 31, 1991, the government of Angola and the opposition UNITA, led by Savimbi, signed the Bicesse Peace Accords.In August 1992, the Parliament of Angola decided to change the name of the country to the State of Angola***.In September, Angola held its first multi-party general election. The MPLA won the parliamentary election and took the lead in the presidential election. UNITA refused to accept the results of the election, and Angola relapsed into civil war; in February 2002, UNITA leader Savimbi was killed by government forces, and on April 4, the government and UNITA signed a cease-fire agreement, ending 27 years of civil war. The 27-year-long civil war ended, and a comprehensive peace was realized, starting a period of post-war recovery and reconstruction.
The country has a market economy and an industrial and agricultural base, but years of war have severely affected its economic development and damaged its infrastructure. The oil industry was the mainstay of the national economy, and after peace was achieved in 2002, post-war reconstruction was in full swing. 2005 The economy was running smoothly, and the pace of recovery accelerated, with development in all sectors. The government took a series of reform measures, giving priority to infrastructure projects that were of national importance, implementing economic restructuring and stabilizing the macroeconomic situation, while accelerating the privatization of state-owned enterprises, encouraging the development of the private sector, and increasing investment in infrastructure reconstruction. The main difficulty facing economic development is a serious shortage of capital.
Gross domestic product (2004): 20.1 billion dollars.
Gross national income per capita (2004): $1,030.
GDP growth rate (2004): 11.2 percent.
Name of currency: Kwanza (Kz).
Exchange rate (September 2005): 1 US dollar = 89.2 kwanzas.
Inflation rate (2004): 31 percent.
Unemployment rate (2003): 54%.
(Sources: World Bank, International Monetary Fund, and official Angolan estimates)
Resources Rich in oil, gas, and minerals. Proven oil reserves are 12.5 billion barrels and natural gas reserves amount to 7 trillion cubic meters. Major minerals include diamonds, iron, phosphate, copper, manganese, lead, tin, zinc, tungsten, gold, quartz, marble and granite. The preliminary proven diamond reserves are nearly 200 million carats, 1.7 billion tons of iron ore, nearly 100 million tons of manganese ore and 200 million tons of phosphate. Forests cover an area of 53 million hectares, producing valuable timber such as ebony, African white sandalwood and rosewood. Hydraulic and marine resources are relatively rich.
Industry and mining oil and diamond mining is the pillar industry of the national economy. 2005 oil industry output value accounted for 50% of GDP, annual crude oil production of 435.2 million barrels, ranking second in Africa, the current daily production of 1.2 million barrels of oil. Anne is the world's seventh largest diamond-producing country and the fourth largest diamond-producing country, with a production of nearly 6.1 million carats of raw diamonds in 2004, with an output value of about 800 million dollars. Other major industries include cement, building materials production, vehicle renovation, textiles and garments, and food and fish processing.
Agriculture The land is fertile and the rivers are densely populated, so the natural conditions for the development of agriculture are favorable. The agricultural population accounts for about 65% of the country's population. The northern part of the country is a cash-crop producing area, where coffee, sisal, sugarcane, cotton, peanuts and other crops are mainly grown. The central plateau and the southwestern region are food-producing areas, mainly planting maize, cassava, rice, wheat, potatoes, beans and other crops. 2004-2005 cereal production was 1.904 million tons. Grain is not self-sufficient, and in 2005 there was a shortage of 625,000 tons.
Fishery The fishery industry is rich in resources. The fishery industry is an important industry in the country, employing about 50,000 people, and the total amount of fish caught in 2004 was 230,000 tons. The natural conditions of the fisheries are good and they can be operated all year round. Most small and medium-sized fishing companies have been privatized.
Transportation Transportation is mainly by road. Transportation facilities have been severely damaged by years of civil war. The Angolan government estimates that it will take about 10 billion dollars to repair and rebuild.
Roads: 73,000 kilometers, of which 18,000 kilometers are asphalt and the rest are sand and gravel, with a total length of 25,000 kilometers of main lines.
Railways: total mileage of 2,800 kilometers, with three main lines, Benguela, Namibe and Luanda-Maranje. The Benguela Railway, with a total length of 1,350 kilometers, connects with the railroad in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), which used to be one of the main lines of railroad transportation in Southern Africa. Due to years of war, only part of the line is currently kept in operation.
Water transport: the total tonnage of the maritime fleet is more than 100,000 tons, and the main ports of Luanda, Lobito and Namibe can dock 10,000-ton cargo ships. 2004, the port of Luanda loaded and unloaded 3.1 million tons of gross weight of goods, and the volume of cargo accounted for 70% of the country's total imports and exports.
Air transportation: Angolan Airlines is a member of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and ranks fifth in Africa in terms of air passenger and cargo traffic. There are 32 airports in the country***. Luanda International Airport is capable of taking off and landing large passenger planes and has regular flights to Portugal, France, Britain, Belgium, Russia, Brazil, as well as to Congo Brazzaville, Congo (DRC), Gabon, Cape Verde, Ethiopia, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Namibia, and S?o Tomé and Príncipe.
Telecommunications Telecommunications are relatively backward. As of June 2005, there were 1 million cell phone subscribers, or 8% of the population, and fewer than 100,000 fixed-line telephone subscribers, a penetration rate of less than 1%.In 2001, Angola announced that it would relinquish the state's monopoly on telecommunications and privatize up to 40% of its services. The main telecoms companies are the state-run Angola Telecom (ANGOLA TELECOM) and the privately owned UNITEL. In 2004, UNITEL had revenues of US$240 million, 540,000 subscribers, and 65% of the country's business.
Finance In 2003, fiscal revenues amounted to US$3.378 billion and fiscal expenditures to US$4.276 billion, resulting in a fiscal deficit of US$898 million.
At the end of 2004, foreign exchange reserves amounted to 1.368 billion U.S. dollars, and the total foreign debt was 10.5 billion U.S. dollars.
Foreign Trade In 2005, foreign trade totaled about US$29 billion. Foreign trade in recent years is as follows (in billions of dollars):
2002 2003 2004 2005
Exports 84.6 92.4 130 200
Imports 39.7 40.8 52 90
Difference 44.9 51.6 78 110
In 2004, the main export products were Petroleum, diamonds, the main imports are consumer goods, raw materials and machinery and equipment, automobiles and spare parts, etc. Imports are mainly from Portugal (19.2% of the total imports of the year), South Africa (12.6%), Brazil (7.6%), China (6.5%), Belgium (5.9%).
Foreign capital is mainly concentrated in the oil industry, diamond mining, public **** engineering, construction, fishing and processing industries. In recent years to attract foreign direct investment in Africa among the highest countries, in 2003 for 1.4 billion U.S. dollars, ranked second in Africa. The main investor countries are the United States, France, Italy, Belgium, the United Kingdom, Portugal, Japan, Brazil, South Africa, South Korea and so on.
Foreign Aid In 2001, the country received 268 million U.S. dollars in foreign aid. Bilateral aid was mainly provided by the United States, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Portugal and so on. Multilateral aid came mainly from the European Union, the International Development Association, the United Nations Children's Fund, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the United Nations Development Programme and other organizations.
People's Life Wage rates are set by the state. The national minimum monthly wage is approximately US$50. Administrative, technical, and managerial staff are paid twice as much as workers' wages. Cadres and workers are entitled to one month's paid vacation per year. Medical care is free throughout the country. According to the statistics of Angola's Ministry of Health in 2002, there are 8 national hospitals, 103 provincial hospitals, 277 health centers, and 1,716 medical stations in the country***, with a national average of 0.46 doctors, 11.27 nursing staff, and 0.79 beds per 1,000 people.
An is one of the world's least developed countries as determined by the United Nations. According to the Global Human Development Report published by the United Nations Development Program in 2002, the human development index of Ann was 0.403%, ranking 161st in the world. Life expectancy is 40.1 years, the population growth rate is 2.8%, and the birth rate is 5.1%; the mortality rate of children under the age of 5 was 250 per thousand in 2003. According to the figures published by the media, in 2003, 68% of the population lived below the poverty line; more than 20,000 people died of malaria; and the number of people infected with AIDS exceeded 1 million, accounting for 8.6% of the total population.