Angola: The Facts
- Angola is a country in south west Africa
- Borders the countries of Namibia, Zambia, and Congo. Angola also borders the Atlantic Ocean off the west coat and with a west coast along the Atlantic Ocean.
- Angola has plenty of natural resources; the most common being oil and diamonds.
- Capital city is Luanda, which is also the largest city
- Official language is Portuguese
- Total area – 1,246,700 km²
- Population – 10,978,552 (ranked 71 in the world for size)
- Angola is a former portuguese colony
- Angola is divided into 18 provinces: 1 Bengo, Benguela, Bia, Cabinda, Cuando Cubango, Cuanza Norte, Cuanza Sul, Cunene, Huambo, Huila, Luanda, Lunda Norte, Lunda Sul, Malanje, Moxico, Namibe, Uige, Zaire
- Angola has three main ethnic groups, each speaking a Bantu language: Ovimbundu 37%, Kimbundu 25%, and Bakongo 13%.
- The great majority of the inhabitants are of Bantu stock with some admixture in the Congo district.
- In the coast towns the majority of the white inhabitants are Portuguese.
- The Mushi-Kongo and other divisions of the Ba-Kongo retain curious traces of the Christianity professed by them in the 16th and 17th centuries and possibly later.
The current of cold air coming from the ocean collides with the sand that rises with the wind in the desert. The vegetation, even if low and thick, is lush in its own way. The welwitschia miraiblis, a thousand-year-old plant of Southern Africa, is the largest and oldest in the region.
Nature fills the visitor’s senses with truly unique colors, shapes and smells. The sunsets on the mopane forest give intense emotions. The view of the Canyon of Death from above is truly a sight. It is said that in this big chasm men of adverse political organizations were thrown during the years of civil war.
Lubango is a great metropolis on which, from the top of a hill, stands a large white statue of Christ, similar to the one in Rio de Janeiro and in Havana. In this city it is not difficult to find the traces of a rich colonial past. Beyond the buildings also beautiful gardens.