year: calendar year
- Communications
Highways: 96 km
Telecommunications: international digital microwave network; international landline circuits to France and Spain; stations—1 AM, no FM, no TV; 17,700 telephones
- Defense Forces
Note: defense is the responsibility of France and Spain
——————————————————————————
Country: Angola
- Geography
Total area: 1,246,700 km2; land area: 1,246,700 km2
Comparative area: slightly less than twice the size of Texas
Land boundaries: 5,198 km total; 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
Disputes: civil war since independence on 11 November 1975
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: 2% arable land; NEGL% permanent crops; 23% meadows and pastures; 43% forest and woodland; 32% other
Environment: locally heavy rainfall causes periodic flooding on plateau; desertification
Note: Cabinda is separated from rest of country by Zaire
- People
Population: 8,534,483 (July 1990), growth rate 2.9% (1990)
Birth rate: 47 births/1,000 population (1990)
Death rate: 20 deaths/1,000 population (1990)
Net migration rate: 2 migrants/1,000 population (1990)
Infant mortality rate: 158 deaths/1,000 live births (1990)
Life expectancy at birth: 42 years male, 46 years female (1990)
Total fertility rate: 6.7 children born/woman (1990)
Nationality: noun—Angolan(s); adjective—Angolan
Ethnic divisions: 37% Ovimbundu, 25% Kimbundu, 13% Bakongo, 2% Mestico, 1% European
Religion: 47% indigenous beliefs, 38% Roman Catholic, 15% Protestant (est.)
Language: Portuguese (official); various Bantu dialects
Literacy: 41%
Labor force: 2,783,000 economically active; 85% agriculture, 15% industry (1985 est.)
Organized labor: about 450,695 (1980)
- Government
Long-form name: People's Republic of Angola
Type: Marxist people's republic
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)
Constitution: 11 November 1975; revised 7 January 1978 and 11 August 1980
Legal system: based on Portuguese civil law system and customary law, but being modified along socialist lines
National holiday: Independence Day, 11 November (1975)
Executive branch: president, chairman of the Council of Ministers,
Council of Ministers (cabinet)
Legislative branch: unicameral National People's Assembly
Judicial branch: Supreme Court (Tribunal da Relacao)
Leaders:
Chief of State and Head of Government—President Jose Eduardo dos
SANTOS (since 21 September 1979)
Political parties and leaders: only party—Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola-Labor Party (MPLA-Labor Party), Jose Eduardo dos Santos; National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA), lost to the MPLA with Cuban military support in immediate postindependence struggle, now carrying out insurgency
Suffrage: universal adult at age NA
Elections: none held to date
Member of: ACP, AfDB, CCC, FAO, G-77, GATT (de facto), ICAO, IFAD, ILO,
IMO, INTELSAT, ITU, NAM, OAU, SADCC, UN, UNESCO, UNICEF, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WMO
Diplomatic representation: none
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 only 10–20% of GDP. Oil production is the most lucrative sector of the economy, contributing about 50% to GDP. In recent years, however, the impact of fighting an internal war has severely affected the economy and food has to be imported.
GDP: $5.0 billion, per capita $600; real growth rate 9.2% (1988 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): NA%
Unemployment rate: NA%
Budget: revenues NA; expenditures $2.7 billion, including capital expenditures of NA (1986 est.)
Exports: $2.9 billion (f.o.b., 1989 est.); commodities—oil, coffee, diamonds, sisal, fish and fish products, timber, cotton; partners—US, USSR, Cuba, Portugal, Brazil
Imports: $2.5 billion (f.o.b., 1989 est.); commodities—capital equipment (machinery and electrical equipment), food, vehicles and spare parts, textiles and clothing, medicines; substantial military deliveries; partners—US, USSR, Cuba, Portugal, Brazil
External
