Talk:Angola

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Angola is included in the 2006 Wikipedia CD Selection, or is a candidate for inclusion in the next version. Please maintain high quality standards and, if possible, stick to GFDL-compatible images.
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An automated Wikipedia link suggester has some possible wiki link suggestions for the Angola article:

  • Can link west coast: ... of the Congo|Congo-Brazzaville]] and [[Zambia]] and with a west coast along the [[Atlantic Ocean]]. A former [[Portugal|Portugue...
  • Can link natural resources: ... former [[Portugal|Portuguese]] colony, it has considerable natural resources, among which oil and diamonds are the most relevant. The c...
  • Can link national unity government: ...n of former [[UNITA]] [[insurgent]]s into the government. A national unity government was installed in [[1997]], but serious fighting resumed in ... (link to section)
  • Can link cease-fire: ...onas Savimbi]], the leader of [[UNITA]] was shot dead and a cease-fire was reached by the two factions. [[UNITA]] gave up its arme... (link to section)

Notes: The article text has not been changed in any way; Some of these suggestions may be wrong, some may be right.
Feedback: I like it, I hate it, Please don't link to — LinkBot 11:33, 1 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Contents

[edit] Map

Cabinda isn't highlighted. Can we fix this? siafu 01:20, 29 Mar 2005 (UTC)

A controversy has erupted over the choice of map for this article. The two candidates are shown here, along with any others that other Wikipedians may choose to enter. Feel free to make any comments. The lower map may also appear in the corresponding Geography article for this country. Kelisi 02:14, 2 Apr 2005 (UTC)

Map of Angola Map of Angola

I prefer the lower Kelisi map, --SqueakBox 02:53, Apr 2, 2005 (UTC)


A controversy has erupted? Where? I was only referring to the wikipedia standard country-highlighted map, where Cabinda is not highlighted (I've since left a message for the image's creator about this). As for the more detailed map, the one from the CIA factbook, though less detailed, looks significantly less messy. I reccomend we stick with that one. siafu 21:19, 2 Apr 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Angola motto

Is this really the motto of Angola? It seems to be a result of an old mistake [1] when some of the data for Andorra were copied here and the motto was never deleted? --Elephantus 23:10, 1 October 2005 (UTC)

I looked around a bit and couldn't find any confirmation for the motto outside of Wikipedia and its forks (there are many of them :-)) so I'll remove it. --Elephantus 10:25, 5 October 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Mestizo - Mestiços

The wiki links for mestiços links to mestizo. Anyone know why? I suppose its the non-standard character.

[edit] Former Name

It said in the article that: "The country is nominally a democracy and is formally named the Republic of Angola". Shouldn't it be: "The country is nominally a democracy and is formally named the People's Republic of Angola"? -- G.S.K.Lee 10:38, 18 December 2005 (UTC)

  • I believe that the formal name was changed from "The People's Republic of Angola" to "The Republic of Angola". I'm not sure when the change happened though. --Nathan Holland 15:20, 1 September 2006 (UTC)
  • It happened just after the 1992 elections. Mascal4 21:53, 15 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Philippe Le Billon

Not sure where 198.96.37.124 got the reference (LeBillon, 1999) from - his Ph.D. thesis? I think we need a better reference to the works of Dr Philippe Le Billon ...perhaps his recent book? Matt 03:06, 21 March 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Joan Ann

Would someone please add the missing lines in this article: "The Kongo State stretched from modern Gabon in the north outbreaks of infectious diseases. In April 2005, Angola..." Text is obviously missing between "in the north" and "outbreaks."

[edit] Portuguese language in Angola

Is it true that Portuguese is the most commonly spoken language of two-thirds of the Angolan population as claimed in the article ? I suspect those figures have been overstated (please add a reference).

Yes, I'm interested in this too - the map on the Portuguese language page is coloured in a way that makes it look like Portuguese is dominant in Angola. Is it really more commonly spoken than the Bantu languages? Joziboy 15:41, 12 July 2006 (UTC)
I've just completed a survey trip of 6 provinces in Angola, and our (rather unofficial) findings are that in Luanda, Portuguese is spoken almost to the exclusion of other languages, except in pockets of the surrounding low-class residential areas where communities of refugees from various areas have congregated according to background. In other cities around the country (we visited Luena, Namibe, Lubango, Huambo, and Kuito), Portuguese is still the most widely spoken language, though Bantu languages are also used. Sparsely populated rural areas speak Bantu languages predominantly, and in some areas Portuguese is not even understood by most of the population, though that is for a very small percent of the population.
For me, the most surprising element of all this was the cities. In other sub-Saharan countries, the Bantu languages predominate and the trade language is used just for trade. This was not the case in Angola. Portuguese is used in homes and among those who speak the same Bantu language. Anecdotal evidence may illustrate this: in Moxico province, the school system has recently added Chokwe classes to the primary schools, because Chokwe children are growing up not knowing "their own language." They only know Portuguese.
I'm not sure of the statistics, but they will all be just educated guesses - there hasn't been a census for decades. I'll look through my sources and see what they say.
--Danny Reese 16:21, 2 August 2006 (UTC)


About statistics, according to a survey in Tony Hodges, Angola: Anatomy of an Oil State as of 1996 26% of the population speaks Portuguese as their first language. Umbundu represented 30% of the population in 1996 though many of those most likely speak Portuguese as well. In that same survey, 42 percent of the children under 9 years of age spoke Portuguese as their first language. So that means today those children could be as old as 19 years. So Portuguese is beginning to become the dominant language, even over the Bantu languages. Kind of strange for Sub Saharan Africa huh?
--NathanHolland 16:21, 3 August 2006 (UTC)
As a Portuguese that was born in Angola I can assure you that the portuguese language is the dominant language by far and away. In some cases it might be a very simple form of it, but people will still speak it at home as if they were native speakers and yes, the government has started to encorage people to learn a second (bantu!) language otherwise there is a real risk of them disapearing in a not so distant future. Mascal4 21:59, 15 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] population figure

What is the source for the population figure? (- 2005 est. 15,941,000 (61st)) Why is this figure so different from the Wikipedia in other languages? Portuguese: População - Total (est. 2004)10.978.552- Densidade 71º mais populoso French: Population - Totale (2003)10 766 471 hab. - Densité Classé 72e Dutch: Inwoners: 10,6 miljoen German: Einwohnerzahl 13.964.000 (Dez. 2004) Spanish: Población • Total 10.978.552 • Densidad Puesto 71º

according to the site of the angolan ambassee in portugal the popultaion is 12 million ... http://www.embaixadadeangola.pt/geografia.htm


  • There has not been an official census of the entire country taken since 1960. Any population figures you see since that time are only estimates. Nobody really knows the population of Angola. --Nathan Holland 01:16, 29 August 2006 (UTC)
  • Estimates for many countries in Africa are partially based on Demographic and Health Surveys[2]. The listed figure is from the UN World Population Prospects Report (for the year 2005). --Polaron | Talk 01:58, 29 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] "Origin and History of the Name" section

This section needs clarifying. I do not fully follow what is meant by "at the time of birth by the Portuguese." I think it might refer to a name that Portuguese colonists gave to Quimbundos Kingdom rulers when the rulers were born. But I am not sure. Someone who is familiar with the origin of name "Angola" should clarify this section. JackWilliams 22:57, 16 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Angola's diseases

Is disease a problem in Angola? Explain why please?

  • I'm no expert on diseases or Angolan ones for that matter. But yes, Angola has one of the highest infant mortality rates due to many including preventable diseases. Malaria is a problem in Angola like many other places. This summer there was a Cholera epidemic. I don't know any figures but there were many deaths related to cholera. The summer of 2005 was the largest and deadliest outbreak of the Marburg Virus in the Uige Province of northern Angola. I believe the figures are around 350 deaths to the highly contageous virus. Because Angola has been closed off to the rest of Africa, AIDS has not been a huge problem until recent years. As people are crossing the borders they are bringing AIDS with them. Sleeping Sickness has also been a problem in Angola but i'm not sure of the current status. Hospitals and doctors are scarce in the provinces and healthcare is limited in Luanda, the capital. Education about the origin and causes of many preventable diseases can and does help the healthcare situation. Angola has come a long way and is continuing to improve. Why do you ask?

--Nathan Holland 23:34, 19 October 2006 (UTC)

I don't know why the question was asked originally, but I'm here because Work have a client who may take me for a year or so out there. Lovely!

If I get the work, I'll report on what our doctors inoculate me against.

A Karley 01:44, 15 September 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Proposed WikiProject

In my ongoing efforts to try to include every country on the planet included in the scope of a WikiProject, I have proposed a new project on Middle Africa at Wikipedia:WikiProject Council/Proposals#Middle Africa whose scope would include Angola. Any interested parties are more than welcome to add their names there, so we can see if there is enough interest to start such a project. Thank you for your attention. Badbilltucker 16:32, 20 December 2006 (UTC)

Middle Africa ?? Considering the generally low rainfall of the country, surely it's in the same climate zone as Namibia and South Africa ?? —Preceding unsigned comment added by A Karley (talk • contribs) 01:48, 15 September 2007 (UTC)


[edit] Political developments in the North

According to the current (see sig) CIA Factbook entry, "note: FLEC's small-scale, highly factionalized armed struggle for the independence of Cabinda Province ended after BEMBE's faction signed a peace accord in August 2006; other factions have since demobilized under provisions of the accord, although the two main faction leaders have not acceded to the accord" ; I recall hearing something about Angolan politics having a significant change in the middle of last year, as a colleague was working there. Now he's back in the UK, and I'm proposed to go out there ... I'm paying more attention.

A Karley 01:56, 15 September 2007 (UTC)


[edit] American troup backing?

Didn't we back the UNITA forces with more than just politics?--Loodog 01:43, 6 January 2007 (UTC)

Yes, the U.S. did. I've just been doing some research on the issue and the Wikipedia page is out of line with what's now known from the most recent documents. Check here: http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB67/

My apologies for not doing the work myself, and possibly not sticking to Wikipedia posting conventions, as I'm not a regular at all. Thought I'd give a heads up, though. -AVH June 16, 2006

[edit] blood diamonds non!

It is unacceptable for Angola to send policemen to Zimbabwe to prop up the dictator's failing grip on power. This is in return for diamond mining rights. All efforts must be made to prevent this cynical exchange and allow Zimbabwe politics to determine its own course. Ex-Zim. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 150.101.122.132 (talk) 04:26, 11 April 2007 (UTC).

There's more unacceptable in this article here:

1. "Almost immediately, a civil war broke out between MPLA, UNITA and FNLA, exacerbated by foreign intervention." "broke out" does not express the fact correctly here. The UNITA started terrorism against the Angola People as pure diamond mafia criminals and terrorists with help from the south african apartheid fascists and the well known U.S. CIA "Terrorist Advisors". You say "broke out", World War 2 didn't "broke out", too, the Germans started it. Soviets and Cubans came later to help MPLA, which has had always the majority support of the Angola People cause they suffered from UNITA mafia bosses and their clans.

2. "Human Rights Watch" or other U.S. "human rights clubs" are no useful source of information, they were heavily sponsored by the U.S. CIA during the cold war for the job of false accusing democratic socialist states. Authors here confuse democracy with their own western home country capitalist dictatorships. Splitting up the People in many confusing political Parties and confusing them with annoying show elections beyond people brain-controlled by capitalist media so the capitalists can rule like in "1984" movie nowadays is an old well known ruling method founded by the Roman Empire an is NO democracy in any way. BTW, U.S. lies propaganda about Africa and Angola started with that miserable Dolph Lundgren anti-soviet propaganda movie against Angola and continues up to day with the movie "Blood Diamond" showing EO (south african commercial fascists army) mercenarys attacking that "U.R.F" base (both mafia/terrorists and should rather be friends in this crap U.S. movie) with a Soviet designed MIL Mi-24N attack helicopter(!) in this movie, unbelievable! As usual a U.S. journalist and a EO are the heros and the black man suffers. Guilty as charged of terrorizing and robbering Africa and crimes against humanity are at least the following western capitalists companies: De Beers, Chevron, Rio Tinto Zinc and Texaco and many western governments, at first the U.S.A.

I won't edit the main article, since at least 10 chickenshit western intelligence agents will revert it every second. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Woprr (talk • contribs) 21:52, 31 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Chokwe

The article Chokwe says the language is called utchokwe, which is not the same as the infobox here says. --Eleassar my talk 07:43, 16 April 2007 (UTC)

[edit] See meta:Proposals for closing projects/Closure of Herero Wikipedia

If anyone here has any Herero language proficiency, please take a look at this proposal and at the small Herero encyclopedia itself to see what should be done with this wikipedia (keep it or delete it.) Keeping it implies more than a sentimental commitment ("it would be nice to have a wikipedia in every language ...") but also that it can be something more than a 10 or 20-article spam and vandalism trap -- and not just "someday" but in the here and now. (Otherwise, it may be best to delete it for now and wait until there's more interest in the future.)

I understand Herero is primarily a Namibian language but that it does have some speakers in Botswana and Angola.

Please do not respond here but rather at that discussion (meta:Proposals for closing projects/Closure of Herero Wikipedia).

Thanks, --A. B. (talk) 12:18, 25 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Proposed new flag?

I keep hearing stories about how a new flag for Angola was approved by its government, but has not yet replaced the current one; pending a new constitution for the county.

An image of the flag can be found here[3] .

Is this true, and if so, should it be mentioned in the article? Pine 21:40, 24 August 2007 (UTC) _________________________________________________________________*

I dont think it is true. What country would change such a good flag for one that looks like its been drawn on with crayons????? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.0.203.30 (talk) 21:31, 16 September 2007 (UTC)