Civil war has been the norm in Angola since independence from Portugal in 1975. A 1994 peace accord between the government and the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) provided for the integration of former UNITA insurgents into the government and armed forces. A national unity government was installed in April of 1997, but serious fighting resumed in late 1998, rendering hundreds of thousands of people homeless. Up to 1.5 million lives may have been lost in fighting over the past quarter century. The death of insurgent leader Jonas SAVIMBI in 2002 and a subsequent cease-fire with UNITA may bode well for the country.

petroleum, diamonds, iron ore, phosphates, copper, feldspar, gold, bauxite, uranium

arable land: 2.41%
permanent crops: 0.4%
other: 97.19% (1998 est.)

10,766,471 (July 2003 est.)

Ovimbundu 37%, Kimbundu 25%, Bakongo 13%, mestico (mixed European and Native African) 2%, European 1%, other 22%

indigenous beliefs 47%, Roman Catholic 38%, Protestant 15% (1998 est.)

Portuguese (official), Bantu and other African languages

definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 42%
male: 56%
female: 28% (1998 est.)

Luanda

republic, nominally a multiparty democracy with a strong presidential system

11 November 1975 (from Portugal)

Independence Day, 11 November (1975)