ADVERTISING SPACE






Embassies

Chinese Embassy in Angola
Ambassador: Mr. Zhang Bolun
Address: Rua Presidente Houari Boumedienne No.196-200, Miramar
Luanda, Angola
Mailing Address: Caixa Postal 52, Luanda, Angola
Tel: +244-222-441683, 444658
Fax: +244-222-444185
Email: chinaemb_ao@mfa.gov.cn  

Economic and Commercial Counselor's Office
Address: No.28 Rua Fernao Mendes Pinto, Alvalade, Luanda
Tel: +244-222-320367
Fax: +244-222-324049
Email: ao@mofcom.gov.cn
Website: http://ao.mofcom.gov.cn/


Embassy of Angola in Beijing, China
1-8-1, Ta Yuan Diplomatic Office Building Beijing 100600 China
Phone:
+86-10-6532-6968
+86-10-6532-6839
Fax:
+86-10-6532-6992
+86-10-6532-6970



Geography

Angola is located on the South Atlantic Coast of West Africa between Namibia and the Republic of the Congo. It also is bordered by the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Zambia to the east. The country is divided into an arid coastal strip stretching from Namibia to Luanda; a wet, interior highland; a dry savanna in the interior south and southeast; and rain forest in the north and in Cabinda.
Angola's capital, Luanda, lies on the Atlantic coast in the north-west of the country.
The coastal strip is tempered by the cool Benguela current, resulting in a climate similar to coastal Peru or Baja California. There is a short rainy season lasting from February to April. Summers are hot and dry, while winters are mild. The interior highlands have a mild climate with a rainy season from November through April followed by a cool dry season from May to October.
Angola's average temperature on the coast is 16 °C in the winter and 21 °Cin the summer.




Government

Politics of Angola takes place in a framework of a presidential republic, whereby the President of Angola is both head of state and head of government, and of a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and parliament. Angola changed from a one-party Marxist-Leninist system ruled by the MPLA to a formal multiparty democracy following the 1992 elections
Currently, political power is concentrated in the Presidency. The executive branch of the government is composed of the President, the Prime Minister (currently Fernando da Piedade Dias dos Santos) and Council of Ministers.
The legal system is based on Portuguese and customary law.




Population

Angola is composed of Ovimbundu 37%, Kimbundu 25%, Bakongo 13%, mestiços (mixed European and native African) 2%, European 1%, and 22% 'other' ethnic groups.The two Mbundu nations combined form a majority of the population, at 62%.
It is estimated that Angola was host to 12,100 refugees and 2,900 asylum seekers by the end of 2007. 11,400 of those refugees were originally from the Democratic Republic of Congo (Congo-Kinshasa) who arrived in the 1970s. As of 2008 there were an estimated 400,000 DRC migrant workers,[16] at least 30,000 Portuguese, and at least 20,000 Chinese living in Angola.Prior to independence in 1975, Angola had a community of approximately 500,000 Portuguese.
Portuguese is spoken as a first language by 60% of the population, and as a second language by another 20%. The majority dominance of Portuguese over the native Mbundu and other African languages is due to a strong influence from Portugal and Brazil, as opposed to in Mozambique, which being more remote from the Lusosphere, retained a majority of Bantu language speakers.
Christianity is the major religion in Angola at 53 percent. Of the Christians in Angola, 72% are Roman Catholic, and 28% are Protestant. 47% of Angolans practice indigenous beliefs.
Population: 12,799,293 (July 2009 est.)
country comparison to the world: 70
Age structure: 0-14 years: 43.5% (male 2,812,359/female 2,759,047)
15-64 years: 53.7% (male 3,496,726/female 3,382,440)
65 years and over: 2.7% (male 153,678/female 195,043) (2009 est.)
Population growth rate:
Birth rate: 43.69 births/1,000 population (2009 est.)
country comparison to the world: 8
Death rate: 24.44 deaths/1,000 population (2008 est.)
country comparison to the world: 2
Urbanization 57% of total population (2008)
Life expectancy at birth: total population: 38.2 years
country comparison to the world: 223
male: 37.24 years
female: 39.22 years (2009 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: 2.1% (2007 est.)
country comparison to the world: 29
HIV/AIDS - people living
with HIV/AIDS:		 190,000 (2007 est.)
country comparison to the world: 32
HIV/AIDS - deaths: 11,000 (2007 est.)
country comparison to the world: 27
Religions: indigenous beliefs 47%, Roman Catholic 38%, Protestant 15% (1998 est.)
Education expenditures: 2.4% of GDP (2005)
country comparison to the world: 159




Economy

Angola's high growth rate is driven by its oil sector, which has taken advantage of high international oil prices. Oil production and its supporting activities contribute about 85% of GDP. Increased oil production supported growth averaging more than 15% per year from 2004 to 2007. A postwar 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 even though an apparently durable peace was established after the death of rebel leader Jonas SAVIMBI in February 2002. Subsistence agriculture provides the main livelihood for most of the people, but half of the country's food must still be imported. In 2005, the government started using a $2 billion line of credit, since increased to $7 billion, from China to rebuild Angola's public infrastructure, and several large-scale projects were completed in 2006. Angola also has large credit lines from Brazil, Portugal, Germany, Spain, and the EU. The central bank in 2003 implemented an exchange rate stabilization program 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 under 13% in 2008, the stabilization policy has put pressure on international net liquidity. Angola became a member of OPEC in late 2006 and in late 2007 was assigned a production quota of 1.9 million barrels a day, somewhat less than the 2-2.5 million bbl Angola's government had wanted
GDP (purchasing power parity): $110.3 billion (2008 est.)
country comparison to the world: 64
$97.43 billion (2007)
$83.49 billion (2006)
GDP (official exchange rate): $95.95 billion (2008 est.)
GDP - real growth rate: 13.2% (2008 est.)
country comparison to the world: 2
GDP - per capita (PPP): $8,800 (2008 est.)
country comparison to the world: 113
GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 9.2%
industry: 65.8%
services: 24.6% (2008 est.)
Labor force: 7.288 million (2008 est.)
country comparison to the world: 59
Labor force - by occupation: agriculture: 85%
industry and services: 15% (2003 est.)
Unemployment rate: extensive unemployment and underemployment affecting more than half the population (2001 est.)
Household income
or consumption by % share		 lowest 10%: 2.8%
highest 10%: 26.8% (1995)
Population below poverty rate
Budget: revenues: $27.18 billion
expenditures: $20.6 billion (2008 est.)
Public debt: 8.7% of GDP (2008 est.)
country comparison to the world: 115
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 12.5% (2008 est.)
country comparison to the world: 175
Agriculture - products: bananas, sugarcane, coffee, sisal, corn, cotton, manioc (tapioca), tobacco, vegetables, plantains; livestock; forest products; fish
Industries: petroleum; diamonds, iron ore, phosphates, feldspar, bauxite, uranium, and gold; cement; basic metal products; fish processing; food processing, brewing, tobacco products, sugar; textiles; ship repair
Electricity - production: 3.513 billion kWh (2006 est.)
country comparison to the world: 120
Electricity - consumption: 3.084 billion kWh (2006 est.)
country comparison to the world: 123
Telephones - main lines in use: 98,200 (2006)
country comparison to the world: 143
Telephones - mobile cellular: 3.307 million (2007)
country comparison to the world: 92
Telephone system general assessment: system inadequate; fewer than one fixed-line per 100 persons; combined fixed line and mobile telephone density exceeded 25 telephones per 100 persons in 2007
Internet hosts: 3,562 (2008)
country comparison to the world: 129
Internet users: 100,000 (2007)
country comparison to the world: 144



- Imagine Media, 2009 -