is undemarcated in sections

This page was last updated on 1 January 2002

========================================================================

Angola

Introduction

Angola

Background: Civil war has been the norm in Angola since independence
from Portugal in 1975. A 1994 peace accord between the government and the
National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) provided for
the integration of former UNITA insurgents into the government and armed
forces. A national unity government was installed in April of 1997, but
serious fighting resumed in late 1998, rendering hundreds of thousands of
people homeless. Up to 1.5 million lives may have been lost in fighting
over the past quarter century. The death of Jonas SAVIMBI and a cease
fire with UNITA may bode well for the country.

Geography Angola

Location: Southern Africa, bordering the South Atlantic Ocean, between
Namibia and Democratic Republic of the Congo

Geographic coordinates: 12 30 S, 18 30 E

Map references: Africa

Area: total: 1,246,700 sq km water: 0 sq km land: 1,246,700 sq km

Area - comparative: slightly less than twice the size of Texas

Land boundaries: total: 5,198 km border countries: Democratic Republic
of the Congo 2,511 km (of which 225 km is the boundary of discontiguous
Cabinda Province), Republic of the Congo 201 km, Namibia 1,376 km,
Zambia 1,110 km

Coastline: 1,600 km

Maritime claims: 200 NM territorial sea: Climate: semiarid in south
and along coast to Luanda; north has cool, dry season (May to October)
and hot, rainy season (November to April)

Terrain: narrow coastal plain rises abruptly to vast interior plateau

Elevation extremes: lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m highest point:
Morro de Moco 2,620 m

Natural resources: petroleum, diamonds, iron ore, phosphates, copper,
feldspar, gold, bauxite, uranium

Land use: arable land: 2% permanent crops: 1% other: 97% (1998 est.)

Irrigated land: 750 sq km (1998 est.)

Natural hazards: locally heavy rainfall causes periodic flooding on
the plateau

Environment - current issues: 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