Angolan woman with children. *Photo from Wikipedia
November 11 is Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Angola from Portugal in 1975.
What is now the modern country of Angola was influenced by Portuguese colonization, which began with, and was for centuries limited to, coastal settlements and trading posts established beginning in the 16th century.
In the 19th century, European settlers slowly and hesitantly began to establish themselves in the interior. As a Portuguese colony, Angola did not encompass its present borders until the early 20th century, following resistance by groups.
Independence was achieved in 1975 under a Marxist-Leninist one party state, supported by the Soviet Union and Cuba after a protracted anti-colonial struggle. However, the country soon experienced a civil war between the ruling People’s Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) and the insurgent anti-communist National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA), supported by the United States and apartheid South Africa, that lasted until 2002.
Angola, officially the Republic of Angola, is a country in Southern Africa. It is bordered by Namibia to the south, the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the north, Zambia to the east, and the Atlantic Ocean to west.
*Reference: Wikipedia
