Coordinates	28°36′36″N77°13′48″N
Native name	''República de Angola''
Conventional long name	Republic of Angola
Common name	Angola
Image coat	Coat of arms of Angola.svg
Symbol type	Insignia
National anthem	''Angola Avante!''(Portuguese)''Forward Angola!''
Capital	Luanda
Largest city	capital
Official languages	Portuguese
National languages	Kikongo, Chokwe, Umbundu, Kimbundu, Ganguela, Kwanyama
Ethnic groups	Ovimbundu, Ambundu, Bakongo, Lunda-Chokwe, Nyaneka-Nkhumbi, Ovambo, Ganguela, Xindonga, Herero, Khoisan
Demonym	Angolan
Government type	Presidential republic
Leader title1	President
Leader name1	José Eduardo dos Santos
Leader title2	Vice President
Leader name2	Fernando da Piedade Dias dos Santos
Sovereignty type	Independence
Established event1	from Portugal
Established date1	November 11, 1975
Established date5
Area rank	23rd
Area magnitude	1 E12
Area km2	1246700
Area sq mi	481354
Percent water	negligible
Population estimate	18,498,000
Population estimate year	2009
Population census	(scheduled for 2012)
Population density km2	14.8
Population density sq mi	38.4
Population density rank	199th
Gdp ppp	$107.310 billion
Gdp ppp year	2010
Gdp ppp per capita	$5,632
Gdp nominal	$85.312 billion
Gdp nominal year	2010
Gdp nominal per capita	$4,477
Gini	59
Gini year	2000
Gini category	high
Hdi	0.403
Hdi rank	146th
Hdi year	2010
Hdi category	low
Currency	Kwanza
Currency code	AOA
Time zone	WAT
Utc offset	+1
Time zone dst	''not observed''
Utc offset dst	+1
Drives on	right
Cctld	.ao
Calling code	+244
Footnote7	}}

Angola, officially the Republic of Angola (, ; Kikongo, Kimbundu, Umbundu: Repubilika ya Ngola), is a country in south-central Africa bordered by Namibia on the south, the Democratic Republic of the Congo on the north, and Zambia on the east; its west coast is on the Atlantic Ocean with Luanda as its capital city. The exclave province of Cabinda has borders with the Republic of the Congo and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

The Portuguese were present in some—mostly coastal—points of the territory of what is now Angola, from the 16th to the 19th century, interacting in diverse ways with the peoples that lived there. In the 19th century they slowly and hesitantly began to establish themselves in the interior. Angola as a Portuguese colony was not established before the end of the 19th century, and "effective occupation", as required by the Berlin Conference (1884) was achieved in the 1920s as with most African colonies. After independence, Angola was the scene of an intense civil war from 1975 to 2002. The country has vast mineral and petroleum reserves; however, its life expectancy and infant mortality rates are both among the worst-ranked in the world.

History

Early migrations and political units

Khoisan hunter-gatherers are the earliest known modern human inhabitants of the area. They were largely replaced by Bantu tribes during the Bantu migrations, though small numbers remain in parts of southern Angola to the present day. The Bantu came from the north, probably from somewhere near the present-day Republic of Cameroon. When they reached what is now Angola, they encountered the Khoisan, Bushmen and other groups considerably less technologically advanced than themselves, whom they easily dominated with their superior knowledge of metal-working, ceramics and agriculture. The establishment of the Bantu took many centuries and gave rise to various groups who took on different ethnic characteristics.

During this period of time, the Bantu established a number of political units ("kingdoms", "empires") in most parts of what today is Angola. The best known of these is the Kingdom of the Kongo that had its centre in the northwest of contemporary Angola, but included important regions in the west of present day Democratic Republic of the Congo and Republic of Congo as well as in southern Gabon. It established trade routes with other trading cities and civilizations up and down the coast of southwestern and West Africa and even with the Great Zimbabwe Mutapa Empire, but engaged in little or no transoceanic trade.

Portuguese presence on the coast

The geographical areas now designated as Angola entered into contact with the Portuguese in the late 15th century, concretely in 1483, when Portugal established relations with the Kongo State, which stretched from modern Gabon in the north to the Kwanza River in the south. In this context, they established a small trade post at the port of Mpinda, in Soyo. The Portuguese explorer Paulo Dias de Novais founded Luanda in 1575 as "São Paulo de Loanda", with a hundred families of settlers and four hundred soldiers. Benguela, a Portuguese fort from 1587 which became a town in 1617, was another important early settlement they founded and ruled. The Portuguese would establish several settlements, forts and trading posts along the coastal strip of current-day Angola, which relied on slave trade, commerce in raw materials, and exchange of goods for survival. The African slave trade provided a large number of black slaves to Europeans and their African agents. For example, in what is now Angola, the Imbangala economy was heavily focused on the slave trade. European traders would export manufactured goods to the coast of Africa where they would be exchanged for slaves. Within the Portuguese Empire, most black African slaves were traded to Portuguese merchants who bought them to sell as cheap labour for use on Brazilian agricultural plantations. This trade would last until the first half of the 19th century. According to John Iliffe, "Portuguese records of Angola from the 16th century show that a great famine occurred on average every seventy years; accompanied by epidemic disease, it might kill one-third or one-half of the population, destroying the demographic growth of a generation and forcing colonists back into the river valleys."

The Portuguese gradually took control of the coastal strip during the 16th century by a series of treaties and wars forming the Portuguese colony of Angola. Taking advantage of the Portuguese Restoration War, the Dutch occupied Luanda from 1641 to 1648, where they allied with local peoples, consolidating their colonial rule against the remaining Portuguese resistance. In 1648, a fleet under the command of Salvador de Sá retook Luanda for Portugal and initiated a conquest of the lost territories, which restored Portugal to its former possessions by 1650. Treaties regulated relations with Kongo in 1649 and Njinga's Kingdom of Matamba and Ndongo in 1656. The conquest of Pungo Andongo in 1671 was the last major Portuguese expansion from Luanda outwards, as attempts to invade Kongo in 1670 and Matamba in 1681 failed. Portugal also expanded its territory behind the colony of Benguela to some extent, but until the 19th century the inroads from Luanda and Benguela were very limited, and Portugal had neither the intention nor the means to carry out a large scale territorial occupation and colonization.

Delimitation and occupation of Angola

The process resulted in few gains until the 1880s. Development of the hinterland began after the Berlin Conference in 1885 fixed the colony's borders, and British and Portuguese investment fostered mining, railways, and agriculture based on various forced labour systems. Full Portuguese administrative control of the hinterland did not occur until the beginning of the 20th century. In 1951, the colony was designated as an overseas province, called Overseas Province of Angola. Portugal had a presence in Angola for nearly five hundred years, and the population's initial reaction to calls for independence was scarce. More overtly political organisations first appeared in the 1950s, instigated by the USSR, and began to make organised demands for self determination, especially in international forums such as the Non-Aligned Movement.

The Portuguese regime, meanwhile, refused to accede to ths demands for independence, provoking an armed conflict that started in 1961 when black guerrillas attacked both white and black civilians in cross-border operations in northeastern Angola. The war came to be known as the Colonial War. In this struggle, the principal protagonists were the MPLA (Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola), founded in 1956, the FNLA (National Front for the Liberation of Angola), which appeared in 1961, and UNITA (National Union for the Total Independence of Angola), founded in 1966. After many years of conflict that lead to the weakening of all the insurgent parties, Angola gained its independence on 11 November 1975, after the 1974 coup d'état in Lisbon, Portugal, which overthrew the Portuguese regime headed by Marcelo Caetano.

Portugal's new revolutionary leaders began in 1974 a process of political change at home and accepted its former colonies' independence abroad. In Angola, a fight for the conquest of power broke out immediately between the three nationalist movements. The events prompted a mass exodus of Portuguese citizens, creating up to 300 000 destitute Portuguese refugees—the ''retornados''. The new Portuguese government tried to mediate an understanding between the three competing movements, and succeeded in agreeing, on paper, to form a common government, but in the end non of them respected the commitments made, and the issue was resolved by military force.

Independence and civil war

After independence in November 1975, Angola faced a devastating civil war which lasted several decades and claimed millions of lives and refugees. Following negotiations held in Portugal, itself under severe social and political turmoil and uncertainty due to the April 1974 revolution, Angola's three main guerrilla groups agreed to establish a transitional government in January 1975.

Within two months, however, the FNLA, MPLA and UNITA were fighting each other and the country was well on its way to being divided into zones controlled by rival armed political groups. The superpowers were quickly drawn into the conflict, which became a flash point for the Cold War. The United States, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and South Africa supported the FNLA and UNITA. The Soviet Union and Cuba supported the MPLA.

During most of this period, 1975–1990, the MPLA organised and maintained a socialist dictatorial regime, as well as a centrally planned cleptocratic economy. Despite the ongoing civil war, the model functioned to a certain degree, although it was foreseeable that it would eventually fail in face of UNITA opposition.

Ceasefire with UNITA

On February 22, 2002, after the MPLA regime come to terms with the USA, Jonas Savimbi, the leader of UNITA, was killed in combat with government troops. A cease-fire was reached by the two factions shortly afterwards. UNITA gave up its armed wing and assumed the role of major opposition party, although in the knowledge that in the present regime a legitimate democratic election is impossible. Although the political situation of the country began to stabilize, President Dos Santos has so far refused to institute regular democratic processes, UNITA head officials being given senior positions in top level companies. Among Angola's major problems are a serious humanitarian crisis (a result of the prolonged war), the abundance of minefields, the continuation of the political, and to a much lesser degree, military activities in favour of the independence of the northern exclave of Cabinda, carried out in the context of the protracted Cabinda Conflict by the Frente para a Libertação do Enclave de Cabinda, but most of all, the dilapidation of the country's rich mineral resources by the established cleptocratic regime. While most of the internally displaced have now settled around the capital, in the so called "Musseques", the general situation for Angolans remains desperate.

Politics

Angola's motto is ''Virtus Unita Fortior'', a Latin phrase meaning "Virtue is stronger when united." The executive branch of the government is composed of the President, the Vice-Presidents and the Council of Ministers. For decades, political power has been concentrated in the Presidency.

Governors of the 18 provinces are appointed by and serve at the pleasure of the president. The Constitutional Law of 1992 establishes the broad outlines of government structure and delineates the rights and duties of citizens. The legal system is based on Portuguese and customary law but is weak and fragmented, and courts operate in only 12 of more than 140 municipalities. A Supreme Court serves as the appellate tribunal; a Constitutional Court with powers of judicial review has not been constituted until 2010, despite statutory authorization.

After the end of the Civil War the regime came under pressure from within as well as from the international environment, to become more democratic and less authoritarian. Its reaction was to operate a number of changes without substantially changing its character.

Parliamentary elections held on 5 September 2008, announced MPLA as the winning party with 81% of votes. The closest opposition party was UNITA with 10%. These elections were the first since 1992 and were described as only partly free but certainly not as fair. A White Book on the elections in 2008 lists up all irregularities surrounding the Parliamentary elections of 2008.

Angola scored poorly on the 2008 Ibrahim Index of African Governance. It was ranked 44 from 48 sub-Saharan African countries, scoring particularly badly in the areas of Participation and Human Rights, Sustainable Economic Opportunity and Human Development. The Ibrahim Index uses a number of different variables to compile its list which reflects the state of governance in Africa.

The new constitution, adopted in 2010, further sharpened the authoritarian character of the regime. In the future, there will be no presidential elections: the president and the vice-president of the political party which comes out strongest in the parliamentary elections become automatically president and vice-president of Angola. Through a variety of mechanisms, the state president controls all the other organs of the state, so that the principle of the division of power is not maintained. As a consequence, Angola has no longer a presidential system, in the sense of the systems existing e.g. in the USA or in France. In terms of the classifications used in constitutional law, its regime falls now in the same category as the "cesarist" monarchy of Napoléon Bonaparte in France, as António de Oliveira Salazar's "corporatist" system established by the Portuguese constitution of 1933, as the Brazilian military dictatorship based on the constitution of 1967/69, or as several authoritarian regimes in contemporary Africa.

Military

The Angolan Armed Forces (AAF) is headed by a Chief of Staff who reports to the Minister of Defense. There are three divisions—the Army (Exército), Navy (Marinha de Guerra, MGA), and National Air Force (Força Aérea Nacional, FAN). Total manpower is about 110,000. Its equipment includes Russian-manufactured fighters, bombers, and transport planes. There are also Brazilian-made EMB-312 Tucano for training role, Czech-made L-39 for training and bombing role, Czech Zlin for training role and a variety of western made aircraft such as C-212\Aviocar, Sud Aviation Alouette III, etc. A small number of AAF personnel are stationed in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (Kinshasa) and the Republic of the Congo (Brazzaville).

Police

The National Police departments are: Public Order, Criminal Investigation, Traffic and Transport, Investigation and Inspection of Economic Activities, Taxation and Frontier Supervision, Riot Police and the Rapid Intervention Police. The National Police are in the process of standing up an air wing, which will provide helicopter support for police operations. The National Police are also developing their criminal investigation and forensic capabilities. The National Police has an estimated 6,000 patrol officers, 2,500 Taxation and Frontier Supervision officers, 182 criminal investigators and 100 financial crimes detectives and around 90 Economic Activity Inspectors.

The National Police have implemented a modernization and development plan to increase the capabilities and efficiency of the total force. In addition to administrative reorganization; modernization projects include procurement of new vehicles, aircraft and equipment, construction of new police stations and forensic laboratories, restructured training programs and the replacement of AKM rifles with 9 mm UZIs for police officers in urban areas.

Administrative divisions

Angola is divided into eighteen provinces (''províncias'') and 163 municipalities. The provinces are:

Bengo Benguela Bié Cabinda Cuando Cubango Cuanza Norte Cuanza Sul Cunene Huambo

Huila Luanda Lunda Norte Lunda Sul Malanje Moxico Namibe Uíge Zaire

Exclave of Cabinda

With an area of approximately , the Northern Angolan province of Cabinda is unique in being separated from the rest of the country by a strip, some wide, of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) along the lower Congo river. Cabinda borders the Congo Republic to the north and north-northeast and the DRC to the east and south. The town of Cabinda is the chief population center.

According to a 1995 census, Cabinda had an estimated population of 600,000, approximately 400,000 of whom live in neighboring countries. Population estimates are, however, highly unreliable. Consisting largely of tropical forest, Cabinda produces hardwoods, coffee, cocoa, crude rubber and palm oil. The product for which it is best known, however, is its oil, which has given it the nickname, "the Kuwait of Africa". Cabinda's petroleum production from its considerable offshore reserves now accounts for more than half of Angola's output. Most of the oil along its coast was discovered under Portuguese rule by the Cabinda Gulf Oil Company (CABGOC) from 1968 onwards.

Ever since Portugal handed over sovereignty of its former overseas province of Angola to the local independence groups (MPLA, UNITA, and FNLA), the territory of Cabinda has been a focus of separatist guerrilla actions opposing the Government of Angola (which has employed its military forces, the FAA—Forças Armadas Angolanas) and Cabindan separatists. The Cabindan separatists, FLEC-FAC, announced a virtual Federal Republic of Cabinda under the Presidency of N'Zita Henriques Tiago. One of the characteristics of the Cabindan independence movement is its constant fragmentation, into smaller and smaller factions, in a process which although not totally fomented by the Angolan government, is undoubtedly encouraged and duly exploited by it.

Transport

Transport in Angola consists of:

Three separate railway systems totalling 2,761 km (1,715 mi)

of highway of which is paved

1,295 navigable inland waterways

Eight major sea ports

243 airports, of which 32 are paved.

Travel on highways outside of towns and cities in Angola (and in some cases within) is often not best advised for those without four-by-four vehicles. Whilst a reasonable road infrastructure has existed within Angola, time and the war have taken their toll on the road surfaces, leaving many severely potholed, littered with broken asphalt. In many areas drivers have established alternate tracks to avoid the worst parts of the surface, although careful attention must be paid to the presence or absence of landmine warning markers by the side of the road. The Angolan government has contracted the restoration of many of the country's roads. The road between Lubango and Namibe, for example, was completed recently with funding from the European Union, and is comparable to many European main routes. Progress to complete the road infrastructure is likely to take some decades, but substantial efforts are already being made in the right directions.

Geography

At , Angola is the world's twenty-third largest country (after Niger). It is comparable in size to Mali and is nearly twice the size of the US state of Texas, or five times the area of the United Kingdom. It lies mostly between latitudes 4° and 18°S, and longitudes 12° and 24°E.

Angola is bordered by Namibia to the south, Zambia to the east, the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the north-east, and the South Atlantic Ocean to the west. The exclave of Cabinda also borders the Republic of the Congo to the north. Angola's capital, Luanda, lies on the Atlantic coast in the northwest of the country.

Climate

Angola's average temperature on the coast is in the winter and in the summer. It has two seasons; dry season (May to October) and hot rainy season (November to April).

Economy

Angola has a rich subsoil heritage, from diamonds, oil, gold, copper, as well as a rich wildlife (dramatically impoverished during the civil war), forest, and fossils. Since independence, oil and diamonds have been the most important economic resource. Smallholder and plantation agriculture have dramatically dropped because of the Angolan Civil War, but have begun to recover after 2002. The transformation industry that had come into existence in the late colonial period collapsed at independence, because of the exodus of most of the ethnic Portuguese population, but has begun to reemerge (with updated technologies), partly because of the influx of new Portuguese entrepreneurs. Similar developments can be verified in the service sector.

Overall, Angola's economy has undergone a period of transformation in recent years, moving from the disarray caused by a quarter century of civil war to being the fastest growing economy in Africa and one of the fastest in the world, with an average GDP growth of 20 percent between 2005 and 2007. During 2001–2010 Angola has the world's biggest Annual average GDP growth with 11.1 percent. In 2004, China's Eximbank approved a $2 billion line of credit to Angola. The loan is being used to rebuild Angola's infrastructure, and has also limited the influence of the International Monetary Fund in the country.

The Economist reported in 2008 that diamonds and oil make up 60 percent of Angola's economy, almost all of the country's revenue and are its dominate exports. Growth is almost entirely driven by rising oil production which surpassed in late 2005 and was expected to grow to by 2007. Control of the oil industry is consolidated in Sonangol Group, a conglomerate which is owned by the Angolan government. In December 2006, Angola was admitted as a member of OPEC. The economy grew 18% in 2005, 26% in 2006 and 17.6% in 2007. However, due to the global recession the economy contracted an estimated -0.3% in 2009. The security brought about by the 2002 peace settlement has led to the resettlement of 4 million displaced persons, thus resulting in large-scale increases in agriculture production.

Although the country's economy has developed very significantly since achieving political stability in 2002, mainly thanks to the fast-rising earnings of the oil sector, Angola faces huge social and economic problems. These are in part a result of the almost continual state of conflict from 1961 onwards, although the highest level of destruction and socio-economic damage took place after the 1975 independence, during the long years of civil war. However, high poverty rates and blatant social inequality are chiefly the outcome of a combination of a persistent political authoritarianism, of "neo-patrimonial" practices at all levels of the political, administrative, military, and economic apparatuses, and of a pervasive corruption. The main beneficiary of this situation is a social segment constituted since 1975, but mainly during the last decades, around the political, administrative, economic, and military power holders, which has accumulated (and continues accumulating) enormous wealth. "Secondary beneficiaries" are the middle strata which are about to become social classes. However, overall almost half the population has to be considered as poor, but in this respect there are dramatic differences between the countryside and the cities (where by now slightly more than 50% of the people live). An inquiry carried out in 2008 by the Angolan Instituto Nacional de Estatística has it that in the rural areas roughly 58% must be classified as "poor", according to UN norms, but in the urban areas only 19%, while the overall rate is 37%. In the cities, a majority of families, well beyond those officially classified as poor, have to adopt a variety of survival strategies. At the same time, in urban areas social inequality is most evident, and assumes extreme forms in the capital, Luanda. In the Human Development Index Angola constantly ranks in the bottom group.

According to The Heritage Foundation, a conservative American think tank, oil production from Angola has increased so significantly that Angola now is China's biggest supplier of oil.

Before independence in 1975, Angola was a breadbasket of southern Africa and a major exporter of bananas, coffee and sisal, but three decades of civil war (1975–2002) destroyed the fertile countryside, leaving it littered with landmines and driving millions into the cities. The country now depends on expensive food imports, mainly from South Africa and Portugal, while more than 90 percent of farming is done at family and subsistence level. Thousands of Angolan small-scale farmers are trapped in poverty.

A serious structural problem of the Angolan economy are the enormous differences between the regions. This is best illustrated by the fact that about one third of the economic activities is concentrated in Luanda and the neighbouring Bengo province, while several areas of the interior are characterized by stagnation and even regression.

Demographics

Angola's population is estimated to be 18,498,000 (2009). It is composed of Ovimbundu (language Umbundu) 37%, Ambundu (language Kimbundu) 25%, Bakongo 13%, and 32% other ethnic groups (including the Ovambo, the Ganguela and the Xindonga) as well as about 2% ''mestiços'' (mixed European and African) and 1% European The Ambundu and Ovimbundu nations combined form a majority of the population, at 62%. The population is forecast to grow to over 47 million people to 2060, nearly tripling

It is estimated that Angola was host to 12,100 refugees and 2,900 asylum seekers by the end of 2007. 11,400 of those refugees were originally from the Democratic Republic of Congo (Congo-Kinshasa) who arrived in the 1970s. As of 2008 there were an estimated 400,000 DRC migrant workers, at least 30,000 Portuguese, and more than 20,000 Chinese living in Angola. Prior to independence in 1975, Angola had a community of approximately 350,000 Portuguese.

Languages

The languages in Angola are those originally spoken by the different ethnic groups plus Portuguese due to its being a former Portuguese colony. The indigenous languages with the largest usage are Umbundu, Kimbundu, and Kikongo, in that order. Portuguese is the official language of the country.

However, in Angola the mastery of the official language is probably more extended than elsewhere in Africa, and this certainly applies to its use in everyday life. Moreover, and above all, the proportion of native (or near native) speakers of the official language is no doubt considerably higher than in any other African country.

There are three intertwined historical reasons for this situation. #In the Portuguese “bridgeheads” Luanda and Benguela, which existed on the coast of what today is Angola since the 15th and 16th century, respectively, Portuguese was spoken not only by the Portuguese and their ''mestiço'' descendents, but—especially in and around Luanda—by a significant number of Africans, although these always remained native speakers of their local African language. #Since the Portuguese conquest of the present territory of Angola, and especially since its “effective occupation” in the mid-1920s, schooling in Portuguese was slowly developed by the colonial state as well as by Catholic and Protestant missions. The rhythm of this expansion was considerably accelerated during the late colonial period, 1961–1974, so that by the end of the colonial period children all over the territory (with relatively few exceptions) had at least some access to the Portuguese language. #In the same late colonial period, the legal discrimination of the black population was abolished, and the state apparatus in fields like health, education, social work, and rural development was enlarged. This entailed a significant increase in jobs for Africans, under the condition that they spoke Portuguese.

As a consequence of all this, the African “lower middle class” which at that stage formed in Luanda and other cities began to often prevent their children from learning the local African language, in order to guarantee that they learned Portuguese as their native language. At the same time, the white and ‘’mestiço’’ population, where some knowledge of African languages could previously often been found, neglected this aspect more and more, to the point of frequently ignoring it totally. After independence, these tendencies continued, and were even strengthened, under the rule of the MPLA which has its main social roots exactly in those social segments where the mastery of Portuguese as well as the proportion of native Portuguese speakers was highest. This became a political side issue, as FNLA as well as UNITA, given their regional constituencies, came out in favour of a greater attention to the African languages, and as the FNLA favoured French over Portuguese.

The dynamics of the language situation, as described above, were additionally fostered by the massive migrations triggered by the Civil War. Ovimbundu, the most populous ethnic group and the most affected by the war, appeared in great numbers in urban areas outside their areas, especially in Luanda and surroundings. At the same time, a majority of the Bakongo who had fled to the Democratic Republic of Congo in the early 1960s, or of their children and grandchildren, returned to Angola, but mostly did not settle in their original "habitat", but in the cities—and again above all in Luanda. As a consequence, more than half the population is now living in the cities which, from the linguistic point of view, have become highly heterogeneous. This means, of course, that Portuguese as the overall language of communication is by now of paramount importance, and that the role of the African languages is steadily decreasing among the urban population—a trend which is beginning to spread into rural areas as well.

The exact numbers of those fluent in Portuguese or who speak Portuguese as a first language are unknown, although a census is expected to be carried out in 2013. Quite a number of voices demand the recognition of “Angolan Portuguese” as a specific variant, comparable to those spoken in Portugal or in Brazil. However, while there exists a certain number of idiomatic particularities in everyday Portuguese, as spoken by Angolans, it remains to be seen whether or not the Angolan government comes to the conclusion that these particularities constitute a configuration that justifies the claim to be a new language variant.

Religion

There are about 1000 mostly Christian religious communities in Angola. While reliable statistics are entirely nonexistent, estimates have it that more than half of the population are Roman Catholics, while about a quarter adhere to the protestant churches introduced during the colonial period: the Congregationalists mainly among the Ovimbundu of the Central Highlands and the coastal region to its West, the Methodists concentrating on the Kimbundu speaking strip from Luanda to Malanje, the Baptists almost exclusively among the Bakongo of the Northwest (now massively present in Luanda as well) and dispersed Adventists, Reformed and Lutherans. In Luanda and region there subsists a nucleus of the "syncretic" Tocoists and in the Northwest a sprinkling of Kimbanguism can be found, spreading from the Congo/Zaire. Since independence, hundreds of Pentecostal and similar communities have sprung up in the cities, where by now about 50% of the population is living; several of these communities/churches are of Brazilian origin. The Muslims, practically all of them immigrants from West African and other countries and belonging to the Sunnite branch, represent only about 1%; because of their diversity, they do not form a community. Saudi Arabia is at present developing an effort to enlarge their numbers, and intends to build an Islamic university in Luanda. The proportion of non-believers is significant, but impossible to be estimated. "Traditional African" religions exist only residually, in the main confined to some remote rural areas.

In a study assessing nations' levels of religious regulation and persecution with scores ranging from 0–10 where 0 represented low levels of regulation or persecution, Angola was scored 0.8 on Government Regulation of Religion, 4.0 on Social Regulation of Religion, 0 on Government Favoritism of Religion and 0 on Religious Persecution.

Foreign missionaries were very active prior to independence in 1975, although since the beginning of the anti-colonial fight in 1961 the Portuguese colonial authorities expelled a series of Protestant missionaries and closed mission stations based on the belief that the missionaries were inciting pro-independence sentiments. Missionaries have been able to return to the country since the early 1990s, although security conditions due to the civil war have prevented them until 2002 from restoring many of their former inland mission stations.

The Roman Catholic and some major Protestant denominations mostly keep to themselves in contrast to the "New Churches" which actively proselytize. The Roman Catholic as well as some major Protestant denominations provide help for the poor in the form of crop seeds, farm animals, medical care and education.

Health

A 2007 survey concluded that low and deficient niacin status was common in Angola. Epidemics of cholera, malaria, rabies and African hemorrhagic fevers like Marburg hemorrhagic fever, are common diseases in several parts of the country. Many regions in this country have high incidence rates of tuberculosis and high HIV prevalence rates. Dengue, filariasis, leishmaniasis, and onchocerciasis (river blindness) are other diseases carried by insects that also occur in the region. Angola has one of the highest infant mortality rate in the world and one of the world's lowest life expectancy. Demographic and Health Surveys is currently conducting several surveys in Angola on Malaria, Domestic Violence and more.

Education

Although by law, education in Angola is compulsory and free for eight years, the government reports that a certain percentage of students are not attending school due to a lack of school buildings and teachers. Students are often responsible for paying additional school-related expenses, including fees for books and supplies.

In 1999, the gross primary enrollment rate was 74 percent and in 1998, the most recent year for which data are available, the net primary enrollment rate was 61 percent. Gross and net enrollment ratios are based on the number of students formally registered in primary school and therefore do not necessarily reflect actual school attendance. There continue to be significant disparities in enrollment between rural and urban areas. In 1995, 71.2 percent of children ages 7 to 14 years were attending school. It is reported that higher percentages of boys attend school than girls. During the Angolan Civil War (1975–2002), nearly half of all schools were reportedly looted and destroyed, leading to current problems with overcrowding.

The Ministry of Education hired 20,000 new teachers in 2005, and continued to implement teacher trainings. Teachers tend to be underpaid, inadequately trained, and overworked (sometimes teaching two or three shifts a day). Some teachers may also reportedly demand payment or bribes directly from their students. Other factors, such as the presence of landmines, lack of resources and identity papers, and poor health also prevent children from regularly attending school. Although budgetary allocations for education were increased in 2004, the education system in Angola continues to be extremely under-funded.

Literacy is quite low, with 67.4% of the population over the age of 15 able to read and write in Portuguese. 82.9% of males and 54.2% of women are literate as of 2001. Since independence from Portugal in 1975, a number of Angolan students continued to be admitted every year at high schools, polytechnical institutes, and universities in Portugal, Brazil and Cuba through bilateral agreements; in general, these students belong to the Angolan elites.

Culture

Portugal has been present in Angola for 400 years, occupied the territory in the 19th and early 20th century, and ruled over it for about 50 years. As a consequence, both countries share cultural aspects: language (Portuguese) and main religion (Roman Catholic Christianity). Of course, the "substrate" of Angolan culture is African, mostly Bantu, while Portuguese culture has been imported. The diverse ethnic communities - the Ovimbundu, Ambundu, Bakongo, Chokwe, and other peoples - maintain to varying degrees their own cultural traits, traditions and languages, but in the cities, where slightly more than half of the population now lives, a mixed culture has been emerging since colonial times - in Luanda since its foundation in the XVIth century. In this urban culture, the Portuguese heritage has become more and more dominant. An African influence is evident in music and dance, and is moulding the way in which Portuguese is spoken, but is almost disappearing from the vocabulary. This process is well reflected in contemporary Angolan literature, especially in the works of Pepetela ans Ana Paula Ribeiro Tavares.

Gallery

See also

References

Much of the material in this article comes from the CIA World Factbook 2000 and the 2003 U.S. Department of State website.

Further reading

External links

Key Development Forecasts for Angola

Category:African countries Category:Bantu countries and territories Category:Countries bordering the Atlantic Ocean Category:Former Portuguese colonies Category:Least developed countries Category:Member states of OPEC Category:Member states of the African Union Category:Member states of the Community of Portuguese Language Countries Category:Member states of the United Nations Category:Portuguese-speaking countries Category:Republics Category:States and territories established in 1975

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Coordinates	28°36′36″N77°13′48″N
birth name	Leila Lopes Gomes
birth date	November 19, 1959
birth place	São Leopoldo, Brazil
death date	December 03, 2009
death place	São Paulo, Brazil
death cause	Suicide
occupation	Actress, journalist, presenter
years active	1990–2009 (her death) }}

Leila Lopes (19 November 1959 – 3 December 2009) was a Brazilian actress, journalist and presenter of television, known for her appearance in soap operas on the Rede Globo channel, and later for entering the pornographic cinema. She committed suicide in her apartment in São Paulo.

Biography

Born Leila Gomes Lopes in São Leopoldo, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, she was the daughter of Reúcio Lopes, a teacher from Esteio, and Natália Gomes Lopes. She lived in Esteio with her parents until she became famous in 1990 when she became a journalist for the television channel Rede Globo. She appeared twice in Playboy magazine, the first time in March 1997 and also in May 2008 after producing the pornographic film Brasileirinhas. Her last work had been as a presenter of the television program, ''Entre 4 Paredes com Leila Lopes''. She also appeared on ''JustTV'', ''Calcinha Justa'', and ''Sexprivé''.

Death

Leila Lopes died on December 3, 2009. The cause of death was suicide by poisoning, confirmed by a suicide note.

Controversy about her real age

Previous news about her death indicated that she died at the age of 40 but it was later confirmed she was 50. She used to lie about her age because she thought it was easier to find better roles when she pretended to be younger.

Career

Soap operas

1990 - ''Pantanal'' - Lúcia

1991 - ''O Guarani'' - Severina

1992 - ''Despedida de Solteiro'' - Carol

1993 - ''Renascer'' - Professora Lu

1994 - ''Tropicaliente'' - Olívia

1996 - ''O Rei do Gado'' - Suzane

1997 - ''Malhação'' - Rosa

2000 - ''Marcas da Paixão'' - Creuza

Pornographic films

2008 - ''Pecados & Tentações'' - Marlene

2009 - ''Pecado sem Perdão'' - Marlene

2009 - ''Pecado Final'' - Marlene

References

External links

Category:1959 births Category:2009 deaths Category:Brazilian actors Category:Female suicides Category:Brazilian soap opera actors Category:Brazilian journalists Category:Brazilian pornographic film actors Category:Actors who committed suicide Category:People from Rio Grande do Sul

fr:Leila Lopes nl:Leila Lopes pt:Leila Lopes

Coordinates	28°36′36″N77°13′48″N
title	Binibining Pilipinas 2011 (Binibining Pilipinas Universe)
competitions	Miss Universe 2011
birth date	May 16, 1986
birth place	General Santos City, Philippines
birth name	Shamcey Gurrea Supsup
alma mater	University of the Philippines Diliman
height
eye color	Brown
hair color	Black }}

Shamcey Gurrea Supsup (born on May 16, 1986 in General Santos City) is a Filipino beauty titleholder who will represent the Philippines in the Miss Universe 2011 pageant in Sao Paulo, Brazil on September 12, 2011. Supsup graduated as a Magna Cum Laude from the University of the Philippines-Diliman with a degree in Bachelor of Science in Architecture. She also topped the June 2010 Architecture Licensure Examination in July 2010. She was crowned Bb. Pilipinas-Universe on April 10, 2011 through the 2011 Binibining Pilipinas pageant and took over the crown from the 2010 winner and Miss Universe 2010 fourth runner-up Venus Raj.

Binibining Pilipinas 2011

Supsup joined the Binibining Pilipinas 2011 and won the Binibining Pilipinas-Universe title. The pageant was held at the Araneta Coliseum on April 10, 2011. She won three special awards including Miss Cream Silk, Ambassadress for Philippine Airlines, and Miss Talent. She will be representing the Philippines at the Miss Universe 2011 pageant to be held in São Paulo, Brazil in September 2011.

References

{{S-ttl|title=Binibining Pilipinas – Universe |years=2011}}

{{Binibining Pilipinas Charities, Inc. titleholders |Year =2011 |Universe =Shamcey Supsup |Tourism =Isabella Manjon |International =Dianne Necio }}

Category:Philippines Category:1986 births Category:Living people Category:Beauty Pageants Category:Miss Universe 2011 contestants

es:Shamcey Supsup it:Shamcey Supsup

Coordinates	28°36′36″N77°13′48″N
name	Cesária Évora
background	solo_singer
birth date	August 27, 1941
birth place	Mindelo, Portuguese Cape Verde
death date	December 17, 2011
death place	São Vicente, Cape Verde
genre	MornaColadeira
occupation	Singer
years active	1957–2011
label	}}

Cesária Évora (; 27 August 1941 – 17 December 2011) was a Cape Verdean popular singer. Nicknamed the "barefoot diva" for performing without shoes, she was one of the best-known international practitioners of ''morna''.

Life and career

Évora was born on 27 August 1941 in Mindelo, São Vicente, Cape Verde. When she was seven years old her father died, and at age ten she was placed in an orphanage, as her mother could not raise all six children. Aged 16, she was persuaded by a friend to sing in a sailors' tavern.

In the 1960s, she started singing on Portuguese cruise ships stopping at Mindelo as well as on the local radio. It was only in 1985 when at the invitation of Cape Verdean singer Bana she went to perform in Portugal. In Lisbon she was discovered by the musician José da Silva and invited to record in Paris.

Évora's international success came only in 1988 with the release of her first album ''La Diva Aux Pieds Nus'' recorded in France. Her 1992 album ''Miss Perfumado'' sold over 300,000 copies worldwide.

Her 1995 album ''Cesária'' brought her broader international success and the first Grammy Award nomination. In 1997, she won KORA All African Music Awards in three categories: ''Best Artist of West Africa, Best Album'' and ''Merit of the Jury''. In 2004, her album ''Voz d'Amor'' was awarded a Grammy in the World music category.

In 2010, Évora performed a series of concerts, the last of which was in Lisbon on 8 May. Two days later, after a heart attack, she was operated on at a hospital in Paris. On the morning of 11 May she was taken off artificial pulmonary ventilation, and on 16 May she was discharged from the intensive care unit and transported to a clinic for further treatment. In late September 2011, Évora's agent announced she was ending her career due to poor health.

On 17 December 2011, aged 70, Évora died in São Vicente, Cape Verde, from cardiorespiratory insufficiency and hypertension. A spanish newspaper reported that 48 hours before her death she was still receiving people -and smoking- in her home in Mindelo, popular for having always its doors open.

Discography

Studio albums

''La Diva Aux Pieds Nus'' (1988)

''Distino di Belita'' (1990)

''Mar Azul'' (1991)

''Miss Perfumado'' (1992)

''Cesária'' (1995)

''Cabo Verde'' (1997)

''Café Atlantico'' (1999)

''São Vicente di Longe'' (2001)

''Voz d'Amor'' (2003)

''Rogamar'' (2006)

''Nha Sentimento'' (2009)

Compilations & live albums

''Sodade - Les Plus Belles Mornas de Cesária'' (Best of compilation, 1994)

''Club Sodade'' (Remix album, 1996)

''Live à l'Olympia'' (Live album, recorded at the Paris Olympia, 1996)

''Colors of the World'' (Allegro Music, 1997)

''Live Lugano July 1997'' (Live album, recorded at Lugano, 1997)

''Best Of''' (Best of compilation, 1998) CAN: Gold

''Anthology'' (Best of compilation, 2002)

''Anthologie - Mornas & Coladeras'' (Double CD edition of ''Anthology'', 2004)

''Live d'Amor'' (Live DVD, recorded in 2004 at Le Grand Rex, Paris, 2004)

''Un Geste Pour Haiti"

References

External links

Official Website

extensive bio by Radio France Internationale

Category:1941 births Category:2011 deaths Category:Cape Verdean singers Category:Deaths from respiratory disease Category:Grammy Award winners Category:People from São Vicente, Cape Verde

an:Cesária Évora ast:Cesária Évora bn:সেজারিয়া এভোরা be:Сезарыя Эвара be-x-old:Сэзарыя Эвара bg:Сезария Евора bs:Cesária Évora br:Cesária Évora ca:Cesária Évora da:Cesária Évora de:Cesária Évora el:Σεζάρια Έβορα es:Cesária Évora eo:Cesária Évora eu:Cesária Évora fr:Cesária Évora gl:Cesária Évora hy:Սեզարիա Էվորա hr:Cesária Évora it:Cesária Évora he:סזריה אבורה ka:სეზარია ევორა la:Caesaria Évora lb:Cesária Évora lt:Cesária Évora hu:Cesária Évora mk:Цезарија Евора mwl:Cesária Évora nl:Cesária Évora ja:セザリア・エヴォラ no:Cesária Évora oc:Cesária Évora nds:Cesária Évora pl:Cesária Évora pt:Cesária Évora ro:Cesária Évora ru:Эвора, Сезария sh:Cesária Évora fi:Cesária Évora sv:Cesária Évora tt:Cesária Évora tr:Cesaria Evora uk:Сезарія Евора vi:Cesária Évora wa:Cesária Évora

Coordinates	28°36′36″N77°13′48″N
name	Brian Higgins
image name	Brian Higgins, official Congressional photo portrait.JPG
birth date	October 06, 1959
birth place	Buffalo, New York
occupation	Public Official
residence	Buffalo, New York
alma mater	Buffalo State College (B.A.)Harvard University (M.P.A.)
state	New York
district	27th
term start	January 3, 2005
preceded	Jack Quinn
religion	Roman Catholic
succeeded	Incumbent
party	Democrat }}

Brian Higgins (born October 6, 1959) is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 2005. He is a member of the Democratic Party. The district includes the southern two-thirds of Buffalo proper, most of that city's eastern and southern suburbs, and all of Chautauqua County.

Early life, education and career

A native of Buffalo, Higgins served three two-year terms on the Buffalo Common Council (city council) from 1988 to 1993, representing the South District. In 1993, during his final year on the Council, Higgins was rated “Buffalo's Best Lawmaker” in a 1993 Buffalo News Survey of Western New York business and community leaders. He graduated from Buffalo State College with a B.A. in political science in 1984. He later received an M.P.A. from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University in 1996. After that, Higgins served as the 145th District representative to the New York Assembly from 1999 through 2004. Mr. Higgins resides in South Buffalo, New York, with his wife Mary Jane and his two children, Maeve, 18, and John 19.

U.S. House of Representatives

Committee assignments

Committee on Foreign Affairs

*Subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia

*Subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation, and Trade

Committee on Homeland Security

*Subcommittee on Border and Maritime Security

*Subcommittee on Counterterrorism and Intelligence

Caucus memberships

Co-chair, Older Cities Task Force

Member, Great Lakes Task Force

Member, House Cancer Caucus

Member, House Steel Caucus

Member, Congressional China Caucus

Member, Congressional Arts Caucus

Higgins is a member of the New Democrat Coalition. He describes himself as a pro-union moderate who wants to spur job growth. He has said he supports allowing seniors to buy prescription drugs from Canada, and that one of his priorities in Congress will be to push for legislation allowing the government to negotiate for volume discounts on drugs. He has also said he wants Congress to repeal President George W. Bush's tax cuts for the wealthiest individuals.

He got $279 million over 50 years for Erie County's various governments and agencies from the New York Power Authority as part of the Niagara Power Project 50-year relicensing agreement. Higgins is an advocate for economic development and job creation, and played a pivotal role through his membership on the House's Transportation and Infrastructure Committee in securing approval for the construction of a new federal courthouse in downtown Buffalo.

Higgins strongly advocates for increased federal funding for cancer research, as Buffalo is home to Roswell Park Cancer Institute, the nation's first major medical facility devoted exclusively to treating cancer.

In 2007, Higgins reportedly played a pivotal behind-the-scenes role in saving St. Joseph's Hospital in Cheektowaga from closure as proposed by the New York State Commission on Health Facilities in the 21st Century. For 2007, Higgins received an "A+" on the 2007 Congressional Scorecard on middle-class issues from the Drum Major Institute, which describes itself as "providing ideas that fuel the progressive movement."

Rep. Higgins was named by several media outlets as one of the leading candidates to replace Hillary Clinton in the United States Senate after she became Secretary of State in an Obama Administration. He was one of six candidates on New York Governor David Paterson's "short list" for the position; a Web poll conducted by WKBW-TV showed 75% of respondents on the station's Web site would support Higgins being nominated. In the end, Paterson instead appointed Hudson Valley Congresswoman Kirsten Gillibrand. On January 31, 2009, Higgins led a delegation of Western New York elected leaders in welcoming Gillibrand to the region, moderating an economic roundtable discussion held at the Bioinformatics Center of Excellence, located on the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus.

In December 2008, after only two terms in the House of Representatives, Rep. Higgins secured a spot on the United States House Committee on Ways and Means, considered to be one of the most important and powerful committees in Congress due to its wide jurisdiction. Higgins was subsequently appointed to serve on the Ways and Means Committee's subcommittee on Select Revenue Measures, as well as its subcommittee on Oversight.

Notable policy positions

Social Security

Rep. Higgins strongly supports Social Security. On a previous policy position from his web site, Higgins said, "For too long, the Social Security Administration has underfunded and understaffed hearing offices in Western New York…. Citizens who have contributed to the Social Security system throughout their lives should have proper customer service when their benefits come due.” In addition, Higgins, along with many other congressional members, sent a letter to President Barack Obama encouraging him to keep social security, and make it stronger, saying “We write today to express our strong support for Social Security and our view that it should be strengthened. We oppose any cuts to Social Security benefits, including raising the retirement age. We also oppose any effort to privatize Social Security, in whole or in part…. Cutting Social Security benefits beyond the already scheduled increase in the retirement age from 65 to 67 would create even more needless hardship for millions of vulnerable Americans.” This was in response to President Obama giving the task of cutting government spending to the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, on October 15, 2010. The letter also stressed that Social Security is “prohibited by law from adding to the national budget deficit.”

Abortion

Rep. Higgins is considered pro-choice. Higgins received a score of 100% (a perfect score) from Planned Parenthood in 2008 and from NARAL Pro-Choice America in 2009.

Health care

Rep Higgins strongly believes in a national healthcare program, with a “public option,” a plan in which the government provides healthcare which would compete with other businesses’ plans. A letter written by a group of Representatives to Senator Harry Reid, the Senate Majority Leader, which Rep. Higgins signed said “As the Senate continues to work on health reform legislation, we strongly urge you to consider including a public option." The American Public Health Association gave Rep. Higgins a perfect rating of 100% in 2009. In addition, Rep. Higgins’ web site says “Considering these immense challenges, reform of our health system has never been more urgent. These challenges present a uniquely American problem, and they require a uniquely American solution.”

Political campaigns

Jack Quinn, a moderate Republican who had represented the heavily Democratic 27th since 1993, unexpectedly announced his retirement in 2004. In April 2004 Higgins entered the race, and narrowly defeated then-Erie County Comptroller Nancy Naples. Even after redistricting following the 2000 census, the district was slightly friendlier for Quinn (in part by adding mostly rural Chautauqua County), the 27th was still at the time the most Democratic district in the country to be represented by a Republican. The district has since reverted to form, and Higgins has been reelected twice against nominal Republican opposition, although his 2008 opponent posted six-figure fundraising numbers. In both 2006 and 2008, Higgins garnered over 70 percent of the vote.

References

External links

U.S. Congressman Brian Higgins ''official U.S. House site''

Brian Higgins for Congress ''official campaign site''

Category:1959 births Category:Buffalo State College alumni Category:John F. Kennedy School of Government alumni Category:Living people Category:Members of the New York State Assembly Category:Members of the United States House of Representatives from New York Category:New York Democrats Category:People from Buffalo, New York

de:Brian Higgins it:Brian Higgins sv:Brian Higgins