ABSTRACT
This chapter provides a brief historical background and a description of major events in Angola. It also provides basic political, economic, and social data arranged in the following categories: polity, economy, population, purchasing power parities (PPP), life expectancy, ethnic groups, capital, political rights, civil liberties, and status. The chapter discusses the progress and decline of political rights and civil liberties in Angola. Angola has been using Namibian territory to launch raids against Angolan rebels, and Namibia has been using Angolan territory to pursue Namibian dissident forces. Angolans freely elected their own representatives for the only time in the September 1992 UN-supervised presidential and legislative elections. The UN Security Council voted in February 1999 to end the UN peacekeeping mission in Angola following the collapse of the peace process and the shooting down of two UN planes. Petroleum accounts for 90 percent of government revenue, but corruption and the war have prevented the average Angolan from benefiting from the wealth.
