The Landmine Problem

More than three decades of internal conflict have left Angola with one of the world’s most serious landmine problems. Since no comprehensive national mine survey exists, the actual number of landmines in the country is unknown, with estimates ranging from 200,000 to around 6 million. Eight heavily mined provinces cover nearly 50 percent of the country in a band from the northwest border with the Congo to the southeast border with Namibia. These mines were planted by combatants to destroy or deny access to Angola’s infrastructure. Mines are concentrated around roads, railways, bridges, and public facilities such as schools, churches, water supply points, and health care facilities. These mines hinder humanitarian aid programs, economic reconstruction, and the resettlement of Angola’s 3.8 million refugees and internally displaced persons (IDP). During 2000, landmines claimed 840 victims, 26 more than the previous year. Half the casualties occurred on Angola's roads, confirming that there is still no safe movement of people and goods in the country. In Angola, some 70,000 people (one in 334 inhabitants) are amputees. (2001)

POLITICAL CONDITIONS

The 27-year long civil war has ravaged the country's political and social institutions. The government estimates that an estimated 4.1 million people were internally displaced by the civil war. As of January 2003, 1.8 million had returned to their communities. Resettlement of the remaining internally displaced, the return of 450,000 refugees from neighboring countries, and the reintegration of more than 300,000 former UNITA soldiers and their family members pose significant challenges. Daily conditions of life throughout the country and specifically in Luanda (population approximately 4 million) mirror the collapse of administrative infrastructure as well as many social institutions. Hospitals are without medicines or basic equipment, schools are without books, and public employees often lack the basic supplies for their day-to-day work.
On April 4, 2002, the Angolan Government and UNITA signed the Luena Memorandum of Understanding, which formalized the de facto cease-fire that prevailed following Savimbi's death. In accordance with the MOU, UNITA recommitted to the peace framework in the 1994 Lusaka Protocol, returned all remaining territory to Angolan Government control, quartered all military personnel in predetermined locations, and relinquished all arms. In August 2002, UNITA demobilized all military personnel and in September 2002, together with the government, reconstituted the UN-sponsored Joint Commission to resolve all outstanding political issues under the Lusaka Protocol. On November 21, 2002, UNITA and the government declared all outstanding issues resolved and the Lusaka Protocol fully implemented. UN Security Council sanctions on UNITA were lifted on December 9, 2002. National elections are projected for 2004 or 2005. In the interim, both sides will need to focus on national reconciliation and the resettlement/reintegration of over 4 million Angolans displaced by the decades of conflict.

ECONOMY

Angola is in economic disarray because of 27 years of nearly continuous warfare. Despite abundant natural resources, output per capita remains among the world's lowest. Subsistence agriculture and dependence on humanitarian food assistance sustain the large majority of the population.
In the last decade of the colonial period, Angola was a major African food exporter. Because of severe wartime conditions, including extensive laying of landmines throughout the countryside, agricultural activities have been brought to a near standstill, and the country is now forced to import most of its food. Some efforts at agricultural recovery have gone forward, notably in fisheries, but most of the country's vast potential remains untapped.

COUNTRY PROFILE IN BRIEF:

Republic of Angola (Republica de Angola)
Geography
Area: 1,246,700 sq. km. (481,400 sq. mi), about twice the size of Texas.
Cities: Capital--Luanda (pop. 3.8 million); Huambo (750,000); Benguela (600,000).
Terrain: A narrow, dry coastal strip extending from Luanda to Namibia; well-watered agricultural highlands; savanna in the far east and south; and rain forest in the north and Cabinda.
Climate: Tropical and tropical highland.
People
Nationality: Noun and adjective--Angolan(s).
Population (July 2002 est.): 10,533,547.
Annual population growth rate (2002 est.): 2.0%.
Ethnic groups: Ovimbundu 37%, Kimbundu 25%, Bakongo 13%, mixed racial 2%, European 1%.
Religions (2001 official est.): Roman Catholic 68%, various Protestant 20%; indigenous beliefs, 12%.
Languages: Portuguese (official), Ovimbundu, Kimbundu, Bakongo, and others.
Education: Years compulsory--8. Enrollment--primary school, 42%; secondary, 20%, and post-secondary, 3%. Literacy (total population over 15 that can read and write, 1998 est.)--42% (male 56%, female 28%).
Health (2001 est.): Life expectancy--total population 42 years. Infant mortality rate (2001 est.)--193.72/1,000.
Work force (1997 est. 5 million): Agriculture--85%; industry and commerce--15%; services--6%.

HISTORY

In 1482, when the Portuguese first landed in what is now northern Angola, they encountered the Kingdom of the Congo, which stretched from modern Gabon in the north to the Kwanza River in the south.
Portugal's primary interest in Angola quickly turned to slavery. The slaving system began early in the 16th century.
Many scholars agree that by the 19th century, Angola was the largest source of slaves not only for Brazil, but for the Americas, including the United States. By the end of the 19th century, a massive forced labor system had replaced formal slavery and would continue until outlawed in 1961.
Colonial economic development did not translate into social development for native Angolans.
Consequently, three independence movements emerged: the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA, the National Liberation Front of Angola (FNLA and the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA), led by Jonas Malheiro Savimbi.
From the early 1960s, elements of these movements fought against the Portuguese. A 1974 coup d'etat in Portugal established a military government that promptly ceased the war and agreed to hand over power to a coalition of the three movements. The coalition quickly broke down and turned into a civil war. By late 1975, Cuban forces had intervened on behalf of the MPLA and South African troops for UNITA, effectively internationalizing the Angolan conflict. In control of Luanda and the coastal strip (and increasingly lucrative oil fields), the MPLA declared independence on November 11, 1975, the day the Portuguese abandoned the capital. Augustinho Neto became the first president, followed by Jose Eduardo dos Santos in 1979.
When UNITA's Jonas Savimbi failed to win the first round of the presidential election in 1992 (he won 40% to dos Santos's 49%, which meant a runoff), he called the election fraudulent and returned to war.The Angolan military launched a massive offensive in 1999, which destroyed UNITA's conventional capacity and recaptured all major cities previously held by Savimbi's forces. Savimbi then declared a return to guerrilla tactics, which continued until his death in combat in February 2002.
Source: US DoS (exerpts from the official US State Department‘s website)
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