"text":"Angola is still rebuilding its country since the end of a 27-year civil war in 2002. Fighting between the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), led by Jose Eduardo DOS SANTOS, and the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA), led by Jonas SAVIMBI, followed independence from Portugal in 1975. Peace seemed imminent in 1992 when Angola held national elections, but fighting picked up again in 1993. Up to 1.5 million lives may have been lost - and 4 million people displaced - during the more than a quarter century of fighting. SAVIMBI's death in 2002 ended UNITA's insurgency and cemented the MPLA's hold on power. President DOS SANTOS pushed through a new constitution in 2010 and elections held in 2012 saw him installed as president. Angola assumed a nonpermanent seat on the UN Security Council for the 2015-16 term."
"text":"Democratic Republic of the Congo 2,646 km (of which 225 km is the boundary of discontiguous Cabinda Province), Republic of the Congo 231 km, Namibia 1,427 km, Zambia 1,065 km"
}
},
"Coastline":{
"text":"1,600 km"
},
"Maritime claims":{
"territorial sea":{
"text":"12 nm"
},
"contiguous zone":{
"text":"24 nm"
},
"exclusive economic zone":{
"text":"200 nm"
}
},
"Climate":{
"text":"semiarid in south and along coast to Luanda; north has cool, dry season (May to October) and hot, rainy season (November to April)"
},
"Terrain":{
"text":"narrow coastal plain rises abruptly to vast interior plateau"
"text":"locally heavy rainfall causes periodic flooding on the plateau"
},
"Environment - current issues":{
"text":"overuse of pastures and subsequent soil erosion attributable to population pressures; desertification; deforestation of tropical rain forest, in response to both international demand for tropical timber and to domestic use as fuel, resulting in loss of biodiversity; soil erosion contributing to water pollution and siltation of rivers and dams; inadequate supplies of potable water"
},
"Environment - international agreements":{
"party to":{
"text":"Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution"
},
"signed, but not ratified":{
"text":"none of the selected agreements"
}
},
"Geography - note":{
"text":"the province of Cabinda is an exclave, separated from the rest of the country by the Democratic Republic of the Congo"
"text":"More than a decade after the end of Angola’s 27-year civil war, the country still faces a variety of socioeconomic problems, including poverty, high maternal and child mortality, and illiteracy. Despite the country’s rapid post-war economic growth based on oil production, more than 40 percent of Angolans live below the poverty line and unemployment is widespread, especially among the large young-adult population. Only about 70% of the population is literate, and the rate drops to around 60% for women. The youthful population – about 45% are under the age of 15 – is expected to continue growing rapidly with a fertility rate of more 5 children per woman and a low rate of contraceptive use. Fewer than half of women deliver their babies with the assistance of trained health care personnel, which contributes to Angola’s high maternal mortality rate. Of the estimated 550,000 Angolans who fled their homeland during its civil war, most have returned home since 2002. In 2012, the UN assessed that conditions in Angola had been stable for several years and invoked a cessation of refugee status for Angolans. Following the cessation clause, some of those still in exile returned home voluntarily through UN repatriation programs, and others integrated into host countries. As of August 2014, about 73,000 Angolans were still living in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Zambia, Namibia, the Republic of the Congo, and other countries."
"text":"President Jose Eduardo DOS SANTOS (since 21 September 1979); Vice President Manuel Domingos VICENTE (since 26 September 2012); note - the president is both chief of state and head of government"
},
"head of government":{
"text":"President Jose Eduardo DOS SANTOS (since 21 September 1979); Vice President Manuel Domingos VICENTE (since 26 September 2012)"
},
"cabinet":{
"text":"Council of Ministers appointed by the president"
},
"elections/appointments":{
"text":"president indirectly elected by the National Assembly for a 5-year term (eligible for a second consecutive or discontinuous term); note - according to the 2010 constitution, ballots are cast for parties rather than candidates, and the leader of the winning party becomes president"
},
"election results":{
"text":"NA; as leader of the MPLA, Jose Eduardo DOS SANTOS elected president following legislative elections on 31 August 2012, inaugurated on 26 September 2012 to serve the first of a possible two terms under the 2010 constitution"
}
},
"Legislative branch":{
"description":{
"text":"unicameral National Assembly or Assembleia Nacional (220 seats; members directly elected in a single national constituency and in multi-seat constituencies by proportional representation vote; members serve 5-year terms)"
},
"elections":{
"text":"last held on 31 August 2012 (next to be held in 2017)"
},
"election results":{
"text":"percent of vote by party - MPLA 71.8%, UNITA 18.7%, CASA-CE 6.0%, PRS 1.7%, FNLA 1.1%, other 0.7%; seats by party - MPLA 175, UNITA 32, CASA-CE 8, PRS 3, FNLA 2"
"text":"Supreme Court or Supremo Tribunal de Justica (consists of the court president, vice president, and a minimum of 16 judges); Constitutional Court or Tribunal Constitucional (consists of 11 judges)"
"text":"Supreme Court judges appointed by the president upon recommendation of the Supreme Judicial Council, an 18-member body chaired by the president; judge tenure NA; Constitutional Court judges - 4 nominated by the president, 4 elected by National Assembly, 2 elected by Supreme National Council, 1 elected by competitive submission of curricula; judges serve single 7-year terms"
"text":"Broad Convergence for the Salvation of Angola Electoral Coalition or CASA-CE [Abel CHIVUKUVUKU] ++ National Front for the Liberation of Angola or FNLA [Lucas NGONDA] ++ National Union for the Total Independence of Angola or UNITA [Isaias SAMAKUVA] (largest opposition party) ++ Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola or MPLA [Jose Eduardo DOS SANTOS] (ruling party in power since 1975) ++ Social Renewal Party or PRS [Eduardo KUANGANA]"
"text":"FLEC's small-scale armed struggle for the independence of Cabinda Province persists despite the signing of a peace accord with the government in August 2006; several factions of FLEC have broken off over the past 30 years, including the FLEC-PM [Rodrigues MINGAS], which was responsible for a deadly attack on the Togolese soccer team in 2010"
}
},
"International organization participation":{
"text":"ACP, AfDB, AU, CEMAC, CPLP, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO (correspondent), ITSO, ITU, ITUC (NGOs), MIGA, NAM, OAS (observer), OPEC, SADC, UN, UN Security Council (temporary), UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, Union Latina, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WFTU (NGOs), WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO"
},
"Diplomatic representation in the US":{
"chief of mission":{
"text":"Ambassador Agostinho Tavares da Silva NETO (since 18 November 2014)"
},
"chancery":{
"text":"2100-2108 16th Street NW, Washington, DC 20009"
},
"telephone":{
"text":"[1] (202) 785-1156"
},
"FAX":{
"text":"[1] (202) 822-9049"
},
"consulate(s) general":{
"text":"Houston, New York"
}
},
"Diplomatic representation from the US":{
"chief of mission":{
"text":"Ambassador Helen Meagher LA LIME (15 May 2014)"
},
"embassy":{
"text":"number 32 Rua Houari Boumedienne (in the Miramar area of Luanda), Luanda"
},
"mailing address":{
"text":"international mail: Caixa Postal 6468, Luanda; pouch: US Embassy Luanda, US Department of State, 2550 Luanda Place, Washington, DC 20521-2550"
},
"telephone":{
"text":"[244] 946440977"
},
"FAX":{
"text":"[244] (222) 64-1000"
}
},
"Flag description":{
"text":"two equal horizontal bands of red (top) and black with a centered yellow emblem consisting of a five-pointed star within half a cogwheel crossed by a machete (in the style of a hammer and sickle); red represents liberty, black the African continent, the symbols characterize workers and peasants"
},
"National symbol(s)":{
"text":"Palanca Negra Gigante (giant black sable antelope); national colors: red, black, yellow"
},
"National anthem":{
"name":{
"text":"\"Angola Avante\" (Forward Angola)"
},
"lyrics/music":{
"text":"Manuel Rui Alves MONTEIRO/Rui Alberto Vieira Dias MINGAO"
"text":"Angola's economy is overwhelmingly driven by its oil sector. Oil production and its supporting activities contribute about 50% of GDP, more than 70% of government revenue, and more than 90% of the country's exports. Diamonds contribute an additional 5% to exports. Subsistence agriculture provides the main livelihood for most of the people, but half of the country's food is still imported. Increased oil production supported growth averaging more than 17% per year from 2004 to 2008. A postwar reconstruction boom and resettlement of displaced persons has led to high rates of growth in construction and agriculture as well. Some of the country's infrastructure is still damaged or undeveloped from the 27-year-long civil war. However, the government since 2005 has used billions of dollars in credit lines from China, Brazil, Portugal, Germany, Spain, and the EU to help rebuild Angola's public infrastructure. Land mines left from the war still mar the countryside, and as a result, the national military, international partners, and private Angolan firms all continue to remove them. The global recession that started in 2008 stalled economic growth. In particular, lower prices for oil and diamonds during the global recession slowed GDP growth to 2.4% in 2009, and many construction projects stopped because Luanda accrued $9 billion in arrears to foreign construction companies when government revenue fell in 2008 and 2009. Angola formally abandoned its currency peg in 2009, and in November 2009 signed onto an IMF Stand-By Arrangement loan of $1.4 billion to rebuild international reserves. Consumer inflation declined from 325% in 2000 to less than 9% in 2014. Falling oil prices and slower than expected growth in non-oil GDP have reduced growth prospects for 2015. Angola has responded by reducing government subsidies and by proposing import quotas and a more restrictive licensing regime. Corruption, especially in the extractive sectors, is a major long-term challenge."
"text":"limited system; state-owned telecom had monopoly for fixed lines until 2005; demand outstripped capacity, prices were high, and services poor; Telecom Namibia, through an Angolan company, became the first private licensed operator in Angola's fixed-line telephone network; by 2010, the number of fixed-line providers had expanded to 5; Angola Telecom established mobile-cellular service in Luanda in 1993 and the network has been extended to larger towns; a privately owned, mobile-cellular service provider began operations in 2001"
"text":"country code - 244; landing point for the SAT-3/WASC fiber-optic submarine cable that provides connectivity to Europe and Asia; satellite earth stations - 29 (2015)"
"text":"state controls all broadcast media with nationwide reach; state-owned Televisao Popular de Angola (TPA) provides terrestrial TV service on 2 channels; a third TPA channel is available via cable and satellite; TV subscription services are available; state-owned Radio Nacional de Angola (RNA) broadcasts on 5 stations; about a half-dozen private radio stations broadcast locally (2008)"
"text":"Angolan Armed Forces (Forcas Armadas Angolanas, FAA): Army, Navy (Marinha de Guerra Angola, MGA), Angolan National Air Force (Forca Aerea Nacional Angolana, FANA; under operational control of the Army) (2012)"
},
"Military service age and obligation":{
"text":"20-45 years of age for compulsory male and 18-45 years for voluntary male military service (registration at age 18 is mandatory); 20-45 years of age for voluntary female service; 2-year conscript service obligation; Angolan citizenship required; the Navy (MGA) is entirely staffed with volunteers (2013)"
},
"Military expenditures":{
"text":"3.63% of GDP (2012) ++ 3.5% of GDP (2011) ++ 3.63% of GDP (2010)"
}
},
"Transnational Issues":{
"Disputes - international":{
"text":"Democratic Republic of Congo accuses Angola of shifting monuments"
