This article will provide information on the list of the 18 states/Province in Angola, brief history of Angola and also provide answers to questions related to Angola as a country.
Angola is a country in southwestern Africa. The country's name derives from the Kimbundu word for king. Angola was first settled by San hunter-gatherer societies before the northern domains came under the rule of Bantu states such as Kongo and Ndongo. In the 15th century, Portuguese colonists began trading, and a settlement was established at Luanda during the 16th century. Portugal annexed territories in the region which were ruled as a colony from 1655, and Angola was incorporated as an overseas province of Portugal in 1951. After the Angolan War of Independence, which ended in 1974 with an army mutiny and leftist coup in Lisbon, Angola achieved independence in 1975 through the Alvor Agreement. After independence, Angola entered a long period of civil war that lasted until 2002. The area of current day Angola was inhabited during the paleolithic and neolithic eras, as attested by remains found in Luanda, Congo, and the Namibe desert. At the beginning of recorded history other cultures and people also arrived. The first ones to settle were the San people. This changed at the beginning of the sixth century AD, when the Bantu, already in possession of metal-working technology, ceramics and agriculture began migrating from the north. When they reached what is now Angola they encountered the San and other groups. The establishment of the Bantu took many centuries and gave rise to various groupings that took on different ethnic characteristics. The first large political entity in the area, known to history as the Kingdom of Kongo, appeared in the thirteenth century and stretched from Gabon in the north to the river Kwanza in the south, and from the Atlantic in the west to the river Cuango in the east. The wealth of the Kongo came mainly from agriculture. Power was in the hands of the Mani, aristocrats who occupied key positions in the kingdom and who answered only to the all-powerful King of the Kongo. Mbanza was the name given to a territorial unit administered and ruled by a Mani; Mbanza Congo, the capital, had a population of over fifty thousand in the sixteenth century. The Kingdom of Kongo was divided into six provinces and included some dependent kingdoms, such as Ndongo to the south. Trade was the main activity, based on highly productive agriculture and increasing exploitation of mineral wealth. In 1482, Portuguese caravels commanded by Diogo Cão arrived in the Congo[1] and he explored the extreme north-western coast of what today is Angola in 1484. Other expeditions followed, and close relations were soon established between the two states. The Portuguese brought firearms and many other technological advances, as well as a new religion (Christianity); in return, the King of the Congo offered plenty of slaves, ivory, and minerals. The Portuguese colony of Angola was founded in 1575 with the arrival of Paulo Dias de Novais with a hundred families of colonists and four hundred soldiers. Its center at Luanda was granted the status of city in 1605. The King of the Kongo soon converted to Christianity and adopted a similar political structure to the Europeans. He became a well-known figure in Europe, to the point of receiving missives from the Pope. Queen Nzinga in peace negotiations with the Portuguese governor in Luanda, 1657. To the south of the Kingdom of the Kongo, around the river Kwanza, there were various important states. The most important of these was the Kingdom of Ndongo or Dongo, ruled by the ngolas. At the time of the arrival of the Portuguese, Ngola Kiluange was in power. By maintaining a policy of alliances with neighbouring states, he managed to hold out against the foreigners for several decades but was eventually beheaded in Luanda. Years later, the Ndongo rose to prominence again when Jinga Mbandi (Queen Jinga) took power. A wily politician, she kept the Portuguese in check with carefully prepared agreements. After undertaking various journeys she succeeded in 1635 in forming a grand coalition with the states of Matamba and Ndongo, Kongo, Kassanje, Dembos and Kissamas. At the head of this formidable alliance, she forced the Portuguese to retreat. Meanwhile, Portugal had lost its King and the Spanish took control of the Portuguese monarchy. By this time, Portugal's overseas territories had taken second place. The Dutch took advantage of this situation and occupied Luanda in 1641. Jinga entered into an alliance with the Dutch, thereby strengthening her coalition and confining the Portuguese to Massangano, which they fortified strongly, sallying forth on occasion to capture slaves in the Kuata! Kuata! Wars. Slaves from Angola were essential to the development of the Portuguese colony of Brazil, but the traffic had been interrupted by these events. Portugal having regained its independence, a large force from Brazil under the command of Salvador Correia de Sá retook Luanda in 1648, leading to the return of the Portuguese in large numbers. Jinga's coalition then fell apart; the absence of their Dutch allies with their firearms and the strong position of Correia de Sá delivered a deadly blow to the morale of the native forces. Jinga died in 1663; two years later, the King of the Congo committed all his forces to an attempt to capture the island of Luanda, occupied by Correia de Sá, but they were defeated and lost their independence. The Kingdom of Ndongo submitted to the Portuguese Crown in 1671. Trade was mostly with the Portuguese colony of Brazil; Brazilian ships were the most numerous in the ports of Luanda and Benguela. By this time, Angola, a Portuguese colony, was in fact like a colony of Brazil, paradoxically another Portuguese colony. A strong Brazilian influence was also exercised by the Jesuits in religion and education. War gradually gave way to the philosophy of trade.[citation needed] Slave-trading routes and the conquests that made them possible were the driving force for activities between the different areas; independent states were subjugated to the demands of American slavery.[citation needed] In the high plains (the Planalto), the most important states were those of Bié and Bailundo, the latter being noted for its production of foodstuffs and rubber. The interior remained largely free of Portuguese control as late as the 19th century. In the Battle of the Cunene, Portuguese forces were defeated by Ovambo warriors on 25 September 1904. The slave trade was not abolished until 1836, and in 1844 Angola's ports were opened to foreign shipping. This facilitated the continuation of slave smuggling to the United States and Brazil. By 1850, Luanda was one of the largest Portuguese cities in the Portuguese Empire outside Mainland Portugal exporting (together with Benguela) palm and peanut oil, wax, copal, timber, ivory, cotton, coffee, and cocoa, among many other products – almost all the produce of a continued forced labour system. The Berlin Conference compelled Portugal to move towards the immediate occupation of all the territories it laid claim to but had been unable to effectively conquer. The territory of Cabinda (province), to the north of the river Zaire, was also ceded to Portugal on the legal basis of the Treaty of Simulambuko Protectorate, concluded between the Portuguese Crown and the princes of Cabinda in 1885. In the 19th century they slowly and hesitantly began to establish themselves in the interior. Angola as a Portuguese colony encompassing the present territory was not established before the end of the 19th century, and "effective occupation", as required by the Berlin Conference (1884) was achieved only by the 1920s. However, Portuguese rule remained characterized by deep-seated racism, mass forced labour, and an almost complete failure to modernize the country. By 1960, after 400 years of colonial rule, there was not a single university in the entire territory. To counter this lack of education facilities, overtly political organizations first appeared in the 1950s, and began to make organized demands for human and civil rights, initiating diplomatic campaigns throughout the world in their fight for independence. The Portuguese regime, meanwhile, refused to accede to the nationalist's demands for independence, thereby provoking the armed conflict that started in 1961 when guerrillas attacked colonial assets in cross-border operations in northeastern Angola. The war came to be known as the Colonial War. José Eduardo dos Santos stepped down as President of Angola after 38 years in 2017, being peacefully succeeded by João Lourenço, Santos' chosen successor.
It is located in the Greater Luanda region of Angola which covers an area of 31,371 kilometer square. It has Caxito as its capital city.
It is located in the central region of Angola which covers an area of 39,826 kilometer square. It has Benguela as its capital city.
It is located in the central region of Angola which covers an area of 70,314 kilometer square. It has Cuíto as its capital city.
It is located in the northern region of Angola which covers an area of 7,270 kilometer square. It has Cabinda as its capital city.
It is located in the eatern region of Angola which covers an area of 199,049 kilometer square. It has Menongue as its capital city.
It is located in the Greater Luanda region of Angola which covers an area of 24,110 kilometer square. It has N'dalatando as its capital city.
It is located in the central region of Angola which covers an area of 55,600 kilometer square. It has Sumbe as its capital city.
It is located in the South Western region of Angola which covers an area of 87,342 kilometer square. It has Ondjiva as its capital city.
It is located in the central region of Angola which covers an area of 34,270 kilometer square. It has Huambo as its capital city.
It is located in the south western region of Angola which covers an area of 79,023 kilometer square. It has Lubango as its capital city.
Luanda which happens to be the capital city of Angola is located in the Greater Luanda region of Angola which covers an area of 2,417 kilometer square. It has Luanda as its capital city.
It is located in the eastern region of Angola which covers an area of 103,760 kilometer square. It has Dundo as its capital city.
It is located in the eastern region of Angola which covers an area of 77,637 kilometer square. It has Saurimo as its capital city.
It is located in the northern region of Angola which covers an area of 97,602 kilometer square. It has Malanje as its capital city.
It is located in the eastern region of Angola which covers an area of 223,023 kilometer square. It has Luena as its capital city.
It is located in the south western region of Angola which covers an area of 57,091 kilometer square. It has Moçâmedes as its capital city.
It is located in the northerm region of Angola which covers an area of 58,698 kilometer square. It has Uige as its capital city.
It is located in the northern region of Angola which covers an area of 40,130 kilometer square. It has M'banza-Kongo as its capital city.
The Portuguese colonial period in Angola lasted almost five hundred years, but the Portuguese population itself was quite small for most of the period. In 1845 there were only two thousand Portuguese living in Angola, increasing to forty thousand by 1940.
The Portuguese colony of Angola was founded in 1575 with the arrival of Paulo Dias de Novais with a hundred families of colonists and four hundred soldiers. Its center at Luanda was granted the status of city in 1605.
Angola is a country in Central Africa rich in natural resources. It has large reserves of oil and diamonds, hydroelectric potential, and rich agricultural land. Despite this, Angola remains very poor, having been ravaged by a bloody civil war from 1975 to 2002.
Disputes over control of trade, particularly regarding slaves from Kongo and its neighbours, led the Portuguese to look for new allies, especially the Ndongo kingdom. After undertaking several missions there, the Portuguese established a colony at Luanda in 1575.
Eighteen Provinces of Angola. Angola is divided into eighteen provinces. These provinces are Bengo, Benguela, Bié, Cabinda, Cuando Cubango, Cuanza Norte, Cuanza Sul, Cunene, Huambo, Huíla, Luanda, Lunda Norte, Lunda Sul, Malanje, Moxico, Namibe, Uíge and Zaire.
Angola is divided into five districts: four on the coast, the fifth, Lunda, wholly inland, being the N.E. part of the province.
In total, there are 30 cities in Angola.
Luanda, also spelled Loanda, formerly São Paulo de Luanda, city, capital of Angola. It is located on the Atlantic coast of northern Angola, it is the country's largest city and one of its busiest seaports.