Write 5 pages thesis on the topic destruction of a nation: angola. Angola officially called the Republic of Angola, is the Portuguese-speaking Presidential Republic which gained independence from Port

Write 5 pages thesis on the topic destruction of a nation: angola. Angola officially called the Republic of Angola, is the Portuguese-speaking Presidential Republic which gained independence from Portugal just over thirty-three years ago in 1975. As a Portuguese-speaking country in Africa, Angola is just one of a handful of former Portuguese colonies on the continent which has kept the tongue and made it an official language (Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, São Tomé and Príncipe, and Equatorial Guinea are the other majority Portuguese-speaking countries of Africa). In order to understand Angola today, it is essential that we understand her history and as the largest country in the African empire of Portugal, Angola was heavily influenced by the colonial tradition. Because it is so important, the history of Portuguese influence in Angola will be discussed in-depth below. We now turn to a concise overview of Angola today.

As the largest and most populous country in Luso-Africa, Angola has an estimated population of nearly 13 million people. As mentioned above, Portuguese is the official language of the country but other languages are spoken amongst the Angolan people and are recognized as regional languages. A multiethnic country, the current President of Angola is José Eduardo dos Santos and the capital city is Luanda. Luanda is the country’s largest city, seaport and major administrative center and has an approximate population of 5 million inhabitants. A developing country rich in mineral resources, Angola today remains one of the poorest countries in Africa and is beset by a plethora of social problems. Many of the problems Angola faces today can be attributed to its colonial legacy, which entrenched exploitation and began with the first European encounters as early as in the 15th century (Angola 2008).

Although common in the Western world, it would be ethnocentric to believe that Angolan history began with the arrival of Europeans. In fact, Angolan history is rich and varied and although not fully documented prior to European contact, we do know that the area of present-day Angola was inhabited before the era of Christ.