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| Republic of Angola República de Angola | |
|---|---|
 Flag
 Coat of arms
| |
 | |
| Capital and largest city | Luanda |
| Official languages | Portuguese |
| Recognised national languages | Chokwe Kikongo Kimbundu Lingala Umbundu |
| Dominant mode of production | Capitalism |
| Government | Presidential republic |
• President | João Lourenço |
• Vice President | Bornito de Sousa |
| Area | |
• Total | 1,246,700 km² |
| Population | |
• 2020 estimate | 31,127,674 |
Angola, officially the Republic of Angola, is a country in Southern Africa. After its independence from Portugal in 1975, it became a Marxist-Leninist state.[1] Henry Kissinger began a CIA-backed civil war against MPLA, the ruling party of Angola, by supporting UNITA.[2] The war lasted until 2002, causing 800,000 deaths and creating four million refugees.[3]
History[edit | edit source]
Early history[edit | edit source]
The area that comprises present-day Angola was first inhabited at about 25000 years BCE.[4] The northern part of Angola was inhabited by a people whose language and name remains unknown in the present-day. The early inhabitants of southern Angola were known as the Khwe and were part of the Khoe language group. The Khwe are estimated to have adopted a pastoralist mode of production between approximately 1000 BCE to 500 BCE.[4]
After about 1000 CE, several large centralized states began forming in the area.[4] Among some of the states which arose in the region are the Kingdom of Kongo (circa 1390 to 1914)[5] and the Kingdom of Ndongo (circa 1500 to 1671).[6][4]
The name of the Kingdom of Kongo comes from the kingdom's founders being KiKongo speaking people. The kingdom was founded with the political marriage of Nima a Nzima of the Mpemba Kasi and Luqueni Luansanze of the Mbata, cementing an alliance between the two KiKongo speaking peoples. It is estimated that by 1490, the Kingdom of Kongo had around 3 million subjects in total.[5]
Early contact with Portuguese[edit | edit source]
The Portuguese arrived in West Africa in the late 1400s. The first meeting between Portuguese explorers and King Nzinga a Nkuwu of the Kingdom of Kongo occurred in 1482.[5] King Nzinga a Nkuwu would later come to be called João I of Kongo after being baptized.[5]
South African History Online (SAHO) notes that while many nobles of Kongo changed their names to Portuguese variations and adopted European nobility titles during a process of Christianization in Angola, "it is unknown what the popular sentiment towards Catholicism was among the general population of the time." SAHO adds that King João I is said to have renounced Christianity in his later years.[5]
Portuguese traders were in pursuit of gold, pepper, and ivory, and were also looking to acquire slaves to work on sugar plantations.[7] Over time, the Portuguese sought to conduct their own slave-capturing expeditions, which caused friction with the Kingdom of Kongo.[7] SAHO notes that while slavery existed before the arrival of the Portuguese, "it took on a much larger and brutal scale afterwards" and that the trans-Atlantic slave trade "became a huge source of instability in the Kingdom."[4] The Portuguese proceeded southward and established intermittent relations with Ndongo by 1520.[7] In 1575, a Portuguese base was established at Luanda Island by Paulo Dias de Novais.[6]
References[edit | edit source]
- ↑ William Gervase Clarence-Smith (2021). Angola: 'History of Angola; Independence and civil war'.
- ↑ "Henry Kissinger 'considered Cuba air strikes' in 1976" (2014-10-01). BBC. Retrieved 2022-02-05.
- ↑ Modern Conflicts: Conflict Profile: 'Angola (1975 - 2002)' (p. 1). [PDF] Amherst: University of Massachusetts Amherst.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 "Angola" (2025-09-02). South African History Online. Archived from the original on 2025-09-09.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 "Kingdom of Kongo 1390–1914" (2025-06-11). South African History Online. Archived from the original on 2025-07-15.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 "Ndongo". Encyclopedia Britannica. Archived from the original on 2025-09-20.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Mark Cartwright (2021-07-12). "Portuguese Angola" World History Encyclopedia. Archived from the original on 2025-05-17.