About Angola

The Republic of Angola, is a country in south-central Africa bordering Namibia to the south, Democratic Republic of the Congo to the north, Zambia to the east, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west. A former Portuguese colony, Angola is the second-largest oil producer in sub-Saharan Africa and has a profitable diamond industry.

Angola is slowly re-emerging from decades of civil war. In 2002, a ceasefire was achieved, paving the way for a final political settlement and the demobilisation of opposition military forces.

During the years since the end of the conflict, most of the country has embarked upon the monumental task of reconstruction. The resettlement process has been challenging and returnees have come back to a country ravaged by war, riddled with landmines, and basic services devastated.

Environment
Economy
People & Human Development Indicators
Government

Current Environmental 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 supplies of potable water in the main cities and provincial towns.

Climate: Semi-arid south and coast, in north cool and dry weather versus hot and rainy season
Terrain: Narrow coastal plain (1,600 km coastline), vast interior plateau

Overview: Angola's high growth rate is driven by its oil sector, with record oil prices and rising petroleum production. In 2007, the International Monetary Fund estimated the sub-Saharan nation's economy ballooned 24%, one of the fastest growth rates in the world. Oil production and its supporting activities contribute about half of GDP and 90% of exports. Increased oil production supported 12% growth in 2004, 19% growth in 2005, and nearly 14% growth in 2006. A post-war reconstruction boom and resettlement of displaced persons has led to high rates of growth in construction and agriculture as well. Much of the country's infrastructure is still damaged or undeveloped from the 27-year-long civil war. Remnants of the conflict such as widespread land mines still mar the countryside. Subsistence agriculture provides the main livelihood for most of the people, but half of the country's food continues to be imported. In 2005, the government started using a $2 billion line of credit from China to rebuild Angola's public infrastructure, and several large-scale projects were completed in 2006. The central bank in 2003 implemented an exchange rate stabilisation programme using foreign exchange reserves to buy kwanzas out of circulation. This policy became more sustainable in 2005 because of strong oil export earnings; it has significantly reduced inflation. Although consumer inflation declined from 325% in 2000 to about 13% in 2006, the stabilisation policy has put pressure on international net liquidity.

Food Production: Banana, Sugarcane, Coffee, Corn, Manioc
Natural Resources: Petroleum (45% GDP), Diamonds, iron ore, phosphates, copper, feldspar, gold, bauxite, uranium
Exports commodities: Crude oil, diamonds, refined petroleum products, gas, coffee, sisal, fish and fish products, timber, cotton
GDP: US$23.17 billion (2005) 
Agricultural production (% of GDP): 8% 
Agricultural Labour Force (% total): 85% 
Currency: Kwanza
Exchange rates: Kwanza per US dollar, $75 (2008) 

Population: 21 million (INE estimate 2014)
Net Migration Rate: 2.14 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.)
HIV/AIDS adult prevalence rate: 2.8% (2006)
Ethnic groups: Ovimbundu 37%, Kimbundu 25%, Bakongo 13%, mestiço (mixed European and native African) 2%, European 1%, other 22%
Religions: Indigenous beliefs 47%, Roman Catholic 38%, Protestant 15% (1998 est.)
Languages: Portuguese (official), Bantu and other African languages

Each year since 1990 the Human Development Report has published the human development index (HDI) which looks beyond GDP to a broader definition of well-being. The HDI provides a composite measure of three dimensions of human development: living a long and healthy life (measured by life expectancy), being educated (measured by adult literacy and enrolment at the primary, secondary and tertiary level) and having a decent standard of living (measured by purchasing power parity, PPP, income). The HDI for Angola is 0.446, which gives the country an average rank of 162 out of 177 countries with data.

Literacy (population age 15+): 67.4% (ranked 109)
Combined primary, secondary and tertiary gross enrolment ratio: 25.6% (ranked 170)
Life expectancy at birth: 41.7 (ranked 174) 
GDP per capita: US$2,335 (ranked 128) 
Population living below national poverty line: 70%
People without access to an improved water source: 47%
Children underweight for age (% ages 0-5): 31%

The HDI measures the average progress of a country in human development. The Human Poverty Index for developing countries (HPI-1), focuses on the proportion of people below a threshold level in the same dimensions of human development as the human development index - living a long and healthy life, having access to education, and a decent standard of living. The HPI-1 value of 40.3 for Angola, ranks 89th among 108 developing countries for which the index has been calculated.

Download the Preliminary Results of the 2014 General Population Census, carried out from May 16 to 31, 2014 and published by Angola's National Statistics Institute:

Download the African Ministers’ Council on Water (AMCOW) Country Status Overview: Water Supply and Sanitation in Angola, Turning Finance into Services for 2015 and Beyond here:


Download the Angola WASH Fact Sheet from UNICEF: