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The
area now known as Angola became home to Portuguese settlers and
traders in the 16th Century, and became a Portuguese Colony in
1655, before its status changed when it became a province of
Portugal in 1951. By the end of that
decade there was growing unrest in the province, mainly due to
enforced cotton harvesting and the Angolan War of Independence
erupted in 1961, lasting a long fourteen years and ending with
independence just as Portugal's own regime fell. Angola was granted independence on 11th November
1975, however, despite a long and bloody war to overthrow Portugal, a further twenty-seven year civil war raged until 2002 as
the country broke down into factions. It is estimated that around one and a half
million of the country's eighteen million citizens were killed during this
Angola war, with millions more being displaced.
The latest constitution, adopted in 2010, did away with presidential elections, and introduced a system in which the president and the vice-president of the political party that wins the parliamentary elections automatically become president and vice-president, effectively menaing an authoritarian state. Ravaged by decades of war, the country faces many
acute problems, not least being the landmines that litter the country,
presenting an imminent danger to transport and life there. In fact, visitors are
strongly advised not to even venture outside the capital city of Luanda. Angola is in 148th place out of 189 countries and
territories in 2019 when ranked in terms of life expectancy, literacy, access to
knowledge and the living standards of a country with a life expectancy for males
and females of 60.78 years (2018). Angola has one of the highest
infant mortality rates of any country in the world.
Half of all children in Angola live below the
poverty line, just 51% of the child population has access to safe water supplies
and 16% of all children are underweight. Yet, despite a high level of disease
and low take up rates of education, improvements are being felt across the
country as stability takes hold. Despite this, there are thousands of children living on the
streets of Luanda, living in extreme poverty and at risk of
emotional, physical and sexual exploitation. And children across
Angola have been affected by the decades of war, facing
displacement, violence, starvation and the loss of family
members, scarring them for life.
Angola Profile: Angola History
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Angola Profile: Life inside Angola
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Angola Profile: Street Children
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Angola Profile: Angola Child Witches
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Angola Profile: Angola Poverty
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Angola Profile: Angola Refugees
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Angola Profile: Angola Education
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Angola Profile: Luanda Profile
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Angola Profile: Luanda Airport
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Angola Profile: Child Sponsor Angola
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