Angola Zambia Malawi Map (Chinese and Foreign Contrast)

Author: Zhou Min, Editor-in-Chief
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2002-07-01
Features: The Republic of Angola (República de Angola). Area: 1,246,700 square kilometers. Population: 13.9 million (2003). Main ethnic groups include Ovimbundu (approximately 38% of the population), Mbundu (25%), Bantu (14%), Lunda, etc. The official language is Portuguese, with major ethnic languages including Umbundu, Kimbundu, and Kikongo, among others. 49% of the population adheres to Roman Catholicism, 13% to Protestantism, and the majority of other residents follow indigenous religions. Located in southwestern Africa. It borders Congo (Brazzaville) and the Democratic Republic of Congo to the north, Zambia to the east, Namibia to the south, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, with a coastline of 1,650 kilometers. Most of the region has a tropical grassland climate, with an average annual temperature of 22°C; the south has a subtropical climate. Historically, it was divided into four kingdoms: Congo, Ndongo, Matamba, and Lunda. In 1482, the first fleet of Portuguese colonizers arrived, and in 1576, the city of Luanda was established. At the Berlin Conference of 1884-1885, Angola was designated as a Portuguese colony. In 1922, Portugal occupied the entire territory of Angola. In 1951, Portugal reclassified Angola as an "overseas province" of Portugal and appointed a governor to rule it. Since the 1950s, three national liberation organizations were established in Angola: the People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA,), the National Front for the Liberation of Angola (FNLA,), and the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA,), which subsequently launched armed struggles for national independence in the 1960s. On January 15, 1975, the three aforementioned organizations of Angola reached an agreement with the Portuguese government on Angola's independence in the "Alvor Agreement," and on January 31, they jointly formed a transitional government with the Portuguese authorities. Soon after, armed conflicts broke out between MPLA, UNITA, and FNLA, leading to the dissolution of the transitional government. On November 11 of the same year, MPLA declared the establishment of the People's Republic of Angola, with Agostinho Neto as President. After independence, Angola has long been in a state of civil war. Under the influence of Portugal, the United States, and the former Soviet Union, on May 31, 1991, the Angolan government signed the "Bicesse Peace Agreement" with UNITA, led by Savimbi, the opposition party. In August 1992, the Angolan parliament decided to change the country's name to the Republic of Angola. In September, Angola held its first multi-party election. MPLA won the parliamentary election and led in the presidential election. UNITA rejected the election results, and Angola fell back into civil war. On February 22, 2002, Savimbi, the leader of UNITA, was killed by government forces. On April 4, the Angolan government signed a ceasefire agreement with UNITA. Angola ended its 27-year civil war, achieved full peace, and began the post-war recovery and reconstruction period.