Happy Independence Day, Angola! On this day, November 11th, 1975, Angola declared independence from Portugal. Today we are celebrating this South African country by exploring 7 interesting facts about this Portuguese speaking nation. Let’s jump right in!

1. Between 1580 and 1680, Portuguese colonists took over a million Africans from Angola to Brazil as slaves. This partially accounts for the high African population in Brazil, which has the largest population of African diasporans outside of the African continent.

2. Last year, the country’s population was 36,136,000. The land is rich with natural resources such as oil, bauxite, copper, uranium and diamonds.

(Angolan woman in Luanda)

3. Angola has over 95 tribes. The Ovimbundu tribe is the most populous in the country, followed by the Mbundu. Other tribes include the Lunda, Chokwe, Ngangela and more.

(Angolan youth)

4. The Angolan Civil War lasted for 27 years. In 1975, post-independence, the quest to control natural resources, 500 years of colonialism and ethnic tensions all resulted in two political parties battling to gain control of the land. These parties were the People’s Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) and the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNIA). In 2003, the UNIA and MPLA signed a peace agreement. By the end of the war, over 500,000 were killed and 3.5 million were displaced.

5. The capital of the country is Luanda, an industrial center filled with beautiful skyscrapers, juxtaposed by poverty-filled areas. The Mbundu tribe is native to the area.

6. In 2017, Joao Lourenco was elected as the country’s president. At the time, he was the first president to be elected in 38 years.

(Angolan president Joao Lourenco)

7. The cuisine consists of funge, grinded and mashed cassava, paired with soups and stews, seafood, beans and more.

(Chicken stew and funge)

Thanks for reading! Do you know which country of the diaspora is celebrating their independence next? Comment below for the chance to win a special prize.

Citation

https://www.britannica.com/place/Angola/People