People Of Angola: What's In A Name?

Angola, officially the Republic of Angola, is a country on the west-central coast of Southern Africa. A person from Angola is called an Angolan.

People from Angola are called Angolans

Angola is officially the Republic of Angola and is a country on the west-central coast of Southern Africa. It is the second-largest Lusophone (Portuguese-speaking) country in both total area and population and is the seventh-largest country in Africa. Angola has a population of 37.2 million as of 2023 and is multicultural and multiethnic. The country is home to various ethnic communities, including the Ovimbundu, Ambundu, Bakongo, Chokwe, Mbunda, Ovambo, Herero, and Nyaneka-Nkhumbi peoples. The official language of Angola is Portuguese, but many indigenous languages are also spoken, including Umbundu, Kimbundu, and Kikongo.

The history of Angola is marked by the Atlantic slave trade with the Portuguese Empire, which began in the 15th century and lasted until the 19th century when it was banned. This disrupted the economy of the Kingdom of Kongo, which had become wealthy and powerful through the slave trade. After a protracted anti-colonial struggle from 1961 to 1974, Angola gained independence in 1975 but soon descended into a civil war between competing movements. The civil war ended in 2002, and since then, Angola has emerged as a relatively stable constitutional republic with one of the fastest-growing economies in the world.

Angola is officially the Republic of Angola

Angola has been inhabited since the Paleolithic Age. Its formation as a nation-state originates from the Kingdom of Kongo, the hegemonic state of a number of other Kikongo-speaking kingdoms that flourished in and after the 14th century. The Kingdom of Kongo became extremely wealthy and powerful through establishing the Atlantic slave trade with the Portuguese Empire. Its first explorers established relations with Kongo in 1483, and additional migrants gradually began building coastal settlements and trading posts.

The banning of the slave trade in the 19th century severely disrupted Kongo's undiversified economic system. European settlers gradually began to establish themselves in the interior. The Portuguese colony that became Angola did not achieve its present borders until the early 20th century. There had been strong resistance by native groups such as the Cuamato, the Kwanyama, and the Mbunda.

Angola has vast mineral and petroleum reserves. Its economy is among the fastest-growing in the world, especially since the end of the civil war. Angola is a member of the United Nations, African Union, the Community of Portuguese Language Countries, and the Southern African Development Community. As of 2023, the Angolan population is estimated at 37.2 million. Angola is multicultural and multiethnic. Angolan culture reflects centuries of Portuguese influence, namely the predominance of the Portuguese language and of the Catholic Church, intermingled with a variety of indigenous customs and traditions.

The people of Angola are called Angolans.

Angolans speak Portuguese and Bantu

People from Angola are called Angolans. Angolans speak Portuguese and Bantu. Portuguese is the only official language of Angola, but 46 other languages are spoken in the country, mostly Bantu languages.

Portuguese is the mother tongue of 39% of the population, and it is spoken as a second language by many more. The 2014 census found that about 71% of the nearly 25.8 million inhabitants of Angola speak Portuguese at home, with 85% in urban areas and 49% in rural areas. In 2016, 47% of the population, or 12.3 million people, spoke Portuguese as their first language.

The variant of the Portuguese language used in Angola is known as Angolan Portuguese. It is phonetically similar to the Mozambican variant, with some exceptions. Angolan Portuguese is influenced by Bantu languages and resembles Brazilian Portuguese, although the pronunciation is more European.

The most common Bantu languages spoken in Angola include Kimbundu, Umbundu, Kikongo, Chokwe, Kwanyama, and Ngangela. Umbundu is the most widely spoken Bantu language, with about 23% of the population, or 5.9 million people, speaking it natively. Kimbundu is spoken in Luanda Province and adjacent provinces, while Kikongo is spoken in the northwest, including the exclave of Cabinda.

The use of Portuguese in Angola is rooted in its history as a Portuguese colony for over 500 years. Portugal began its colonisation of Angola in 1575, and the country gained independence in 1975. As a result, the indigenous Bantu culture of Angola has been greatly influenced by Portuguese culture.

Angola is the second-largest Lusophone country

Angola, officially the Republic of Angola, is a country on the west-central coast of Southern Africa. It is the second-largest Lusophone (Portuguese-speaking) country in the world, after Brazil. It is the second-largest Lusophone country in terms of both total area and population.

Angola has a population of around 37.2 million people, making it the seventh-largest country in Africa by population. The official language of Angola is Portuguese, and it is spoken by 71.15% of Angolans. Portuguese was introduced during the Portuguese colonial era, and the country gained independence from Portugal in 1975.

Angola is a multicultural and multiethnic country, with the Ambundu and Ovimbundu ethnic groups forming a majority of the population, at 62%. The country has vast mineral and petroleum reserves and is among the fastest-growing economies in the world. However, economic growth is highly uneven, with most of the nation's wealth concentrated in a disproportionately small part of the population.

Angola is a member of the Community of Portuguese Language Countries

Angola, officially the Republic of Angola, is a member of the Community of Portuguese Language Countries (CPLP), also known as the Lusophone Commonwealth. It is an international organisation and political association of Lusophone nations across four continents, where Portuguese is an official language.

Portuguese is the sole official language of Angola. It is the mother tongue of 39% of the population and is spoken as a second language by many more. In the 2014 population census, about 71% of the nearly 25.8 million inhabitants of Angola were found to speak Portuguese at home, many alongside a Bantu language. Portuguese was quickly adopted by Angolans in the mid-20th century as a lingua franca among the various ethnic groups.

The variant of the Portuguese language used in Angola is known as Angolan Portuguese. Phonetically, this variant is very similar to the Mozambican variant with some exceptions. Angolan Portuguese is influenced by Bantu languages, and the contemporary Standard European Portuguese is the preferred pronunciation. As such, it has become a transitional dialect, somewhere between the European and Brazilian varieties.

In addition to Portuguese, 46 other languages are spoken in Angola, mostly Bantu languages. Umbundu is the most widely spoken Bantu language, spoken natively by about 23% of the population, or about 5.9 million people. Kimbundu is spoken in Luanda Province and adjacent provinces, and Kikongo is spoken in the northwest, including the exclave of Cabinda.

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