History and Geography of Angola
Core concepts
This section assesses knowledge of Angola's physical geography and national history. Geography: location in south-west Africa on the Atlantic coast; borders with the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Republic of the Congo, Zambia and Namibia; the enclave of Cabinda; major relief features (the Bié Plateau, the coastal plain, the escarpment); rivers (Kwanza, Cunene, Cubango, Zambezi tributaries); climate zones from arid coastal desert to tropical highland; provinces and the capital, Luanda; principal economic activities (oil, diamonds, agriculture, fishing). History: pre-colonial kingdoms (Kongo, Ndongo, Matamba, Lunda, Ovimbundu states); the arrival of the Portuguese in the late fifteenth century; the slave trade and its impact; the era of Portuguese colonial rule and resistance; the armed liberation struggle from 1961; independence on 11 November 1975; the civil war and the 2002 peace that followed; and post-war reconstruction and national institutions.
Traps to expect
- Dates and names are easily confused: match each event to the correct year and leader.
- Cabinda is separated from the rest of Angola by a strip of the DRC - it is not an island.
- River direction: several Angolan rivers flow inland before turning, and the Kwanza drains to the Atlantic.
- Neighbour confusion: Zambia lies to the east and south-east; Namibia to the south.
- Overgeneralising about pre-colonial kingdoms - they differed in language, economy and political structure.
Rule of thumb
Build a simple timeline of key dates (Portuguese arrival, start of the liberation struggle, independence, peace) and a sketch map labelling neighbours, Cabinda, the capital and the main rivers. Most questions can be answered from these two tools.
Worked example
A question asks which country borders Angola to the south. From the sketch map: Namibia. To the north and north-east lies the DRC, to the east Zambia, and the Atlantic Ocean forms the western boundary.