Statistics
Capital: Luanda Government: Republic
Population: 9.8 million
By Gender: 52.2% male, 47.8% female
Under 20 years: 27.5% male, 25.3% female
Density: 20 per sq. mile
Living in urban areas: 28%
Annual growth: 2.7%
Annual Per Capita Income: $531
Literacy rate: 40%
Language, official: Portuguese
Languages, indigenous: Various Bantu languages
Ethnic groups: Ovimbundu 37%, Kimbundu 25%, Bakongo 13%; others include Lumbe, Humbe, Nyaneka, Chokwe, Luena, Luchasi, Ambo, Lunda, Mbunda, European
Religions: Roman Catholic 38%, Protestant 15%, indigenous beliefs 47%
Location: Southwest coast of Africa
Bordered by: Namibia, Zambia, Zaire
Cabinda bordered by: Zaire & Congo
Size: 481,354 sq. miles
Arable land: 2%
Climate: tropical to temperate
Temperature:
Luanda: 64-74 (August) - 75-86 (March)
Huambo: 46-76 (June) - 58-78 (March)
Rainy Season: October-April

Monthly Rainfall:
Luanda: 0 (June) - 4.6 (April)
Huambo: 0 (June) - 9.8 (March)
Infant Mortality: 145 per 1000 live births
Life Expectancy: 44 male, 48 female
UM Bishops:
East Angola: Bishop Moises Fernandez (elected 1988)
West Angola: Bishop Emilio de Carvalho (elected 1972)
UM Membership: 175,000+ and growing

Brief History
Angola is located on the southwest coast of Africa. It covers an area of 481,353 square miles (larger than Texas and California combined) and has a climate ranging from tropical to temperate. While essentially an agricultural country, it is rich in mineral deposits, and its oil industries make it potentially one of the richest countries in Africa.

In the late 15th century, Portuguese voyagers arrived in Angola in search of an ocean passage to India. Portuguese governors subjected the inhabitants to colonial rule for the next five centuries. Most European powers that held colonies in Africa began to grant them independence after World War II, but Portugal, which maintained that its overseas possessions were integral parts of Portugal and therefore inseparable from it, held on to Angola. While Portugal accorded full citizenship to a minority of "approved" Blacks (called assimilados), it maintained harsh and repressive policies toward the majority of the indigenous population.

Throughout the colonial era, the Roman Catholic Church (the largest Christian body) wielded much political power and supported the policies of Portugal with regard to its colonies. It did not support Angolan liberation.

In the early 1960s, a number of Black intellectuals from the Protestant churches organized themselves into liberation movements in order to overthrow Portuguese colonialism. On February 4, 1961, partisans of the MPLA (Movimento Popular de Libertaçao de Angola) led by a physician, Dr. Agostinho Neto, son of a Methodist minister, attacked the São Paulo fortress and police headquarters in Luanda

Within six weeks, the war had spread to the north. Another guerrilla organization, the FNLA (Frente Nacianal de Libertacao de Angola) headed by Holden Roberto, set up a government in exile in Zaire in 1962. Insurgency spread to the south through a third organization, UNITA (Uniao Nacianal para a Independencia Total de Angola) led by Jonas Savimbi.

Eventually, Portugal's human and material resources became overextended. The colonial government suffered from both physical and psychological exhaustion and could no longer sustain the military and economic burdens of protracted war against the various liberation movements in its African colonies. Portugal was finally forced to grant independence to Angola on November 11, 1975, thus bringing to a close virtually 500 years of colonial rule.

Unfortunately, the honeymoon period for the new independent country was short. As no elections were held to determine the relative strength of each party, the MPLA, which received military and logistical support from the Soviet Union, was able to gain control and founded the People's Republic of Angola. When Dr. Neto, Angola's first president, died of cancer in a Moscow hospital, he was succeeded by the country's current head of state, President José Eduardo dos Santos.

Angola became caught up in the Cold War between the US and the USSR. Neto's MPLA was supported by the Soviet Union, with Cuba as its surrogate, while Savimbi's UNITA was supported by the United States, with the government of South Africa as its surrogate. To secure protection from a neighboring country seeking liberation, South Africa found common cause with the United States in fighting for the overthrow of a communist rule in Angola.

During the struggle, Protestant churches were suspected of supporting liberation movements. Accordingly, many Protestant pastors and lay leaders were killed or imprisoned. In some cases, whole groups of Protestant villages were massacred. In 1961, four World Division missionaries were imprisoned by the Portuguese authorities and accused of aiding Angolan freedom fighters, whom the Portuguese regarded as terrorists.

Angolan United Methodists were not dependent on expatriate leadership for the strength and life of their church. In spite of outright persecution of Protestant churches, membership continued to grow during the war years.

The 15 year civil war caused much suffering, injury, and loss of life. As is common in political strife, the division between sides cuts across ethnic lines. The conflicts also polarized the church as different groups took sides with or against respective political parties.

After a series of meetings mediated by the US- and Soviet-sponsored forces in the civil war, a cease fire was finally negotiated in 1991. The Estoril Peace Accord between the MPLA government and UNITA was signed, and a joint political military commission (JPMC) was set up. Later, the UNITA guerrilla leader, Jonas Malheiro Savimbi, entered Luanda.

Elections were held in September 1992, which the United Nations observed and declared "basically free and fair." Jonas Savimbi refused to accept the results of the election, and a civil war erupted. Large numbers of civilians died from war-related causes, especially malnutrition, starvation, and land mines. Angola has between 8,000,000 and 20,000,000 land mines, among the highest number in the world.

The United States formally recognized the government of Angola on May 19, 1993, the first time since independence. A United Nations brokered and monitored peace is currently holding, although elections have not yet occurred and demobilizations of both sides is proceeding much slower than most international observers would like to see