https://padlet.com/kenzovandunem16/da28ief8dvi8 Kenzo Van-Dunem English III Ms. Gonzalez en-us 2018-03-21 00:15:39 UTC 2023-11-16 16:00:59 UTC hello@padlet.com kenzovandunem16 https://padlet.com/kenzovandunem16/da28ief8dvi8/wish/244319060 Independence War: Angola was a country that started as a Portugal colony. From 1961 to 1975, three nationalist movements (Union of the Peoples of Northern Angola "UPA"/National Liberation Front of Angola "FNLA"; People's Movement of Liberation of Angola "MPLA"; Union for the Total Independence of Angola "UNITA" )  and a separatist movement (Party of the United Struggle for Africans in Angola "PLUA") fought to gain control of the "province of Angola" which used to belong to Portugal. In 1975, Dr. Antonio Agostinho Neto (the first President of Angola) proclaimed Angola's Independence from Portugal in Luanda's Independence Park.
Civil War: After Angola became independent, the country was divided between the three nationalist movements (UPA/FNLA; MPLA; UNITA). The civil war was from 1975 to 2002. This war was a power struggle between MPLA and UNITA and also a battleground for the cold war with influence of communist countries. This 27-year war ended with an MPLA victory (which has been the political party in power until today) and counted with over 1,500,000 casualties from Angola, Cuba, China and Soviet Unions (500,000 were civilians).
Post-War Situation: 16 years after the end of the Civil War, the country still healing from both wars in different sectors and in different ways (disarmament, bomb deactivation, soil restoration and infra-structure growing).]]> 2018-03-21 00:17:56 UTC https://padlet.com/kenzovandunem16/da28ief8dvi8/wish/244319060 kenzovandunem16 https://padlet.com/kenzovandunem16/da28ief8dvi8/wish/244319131 Angola's currency is the Angolan Kwanza, which is worth 0.0046 US Dollars. Currently going to a financial crisis, the need to diversification is evident. Angolans need to stop relying so much on oil revenues. Angola is rich in natural resources like oil, gas, diamonds and agricultural land but it remains a poor country. One of the biggest reasons for the actual situation is corruption. Corruption is everywhere. However efforts are being made to change this scenario. Talking about agriculture, uncleared mines in plantations made up a big part of the agricultural failure. ]]> 2018-03-21 00:18:25 UTC https://padlet.com/kenzovandunem16/da28ief8dvi8/wish/244319131 kenzovandunem16 https://padlet.com/kenzovandunem16/da28ief8dvi8/wish/244319158 Geography: Angola is located between Central and Southern Africa, on the Western Atlantic Coast. The country is limited by Namibia (South), Republic of Congo (North), Democratic Republic of the Congo and Zambia (East).
Weather/Climate: Angola has rainy and dry seasons.  Summers are hot and dry while winters are mild.
Natural Resources: Angola is a country rich in natural resources such as diamonds, iron ore, manganese deposits, copper deposits and petroleum.]]> 2018-03-21 00:18:39 UTC https://padlet.com/kenzovandunem16/da28ief8dvi8/wish/244319158 kenzovandunem16 https://padlet.com/kenzovandunem16/da28ief8dvi8/wish/244320017 Music/Dance: Angola has different music styles and genres and dances. Most dances have the same names as the music genres. Some of the most popular music genres are Kilapanda, Zouk, Semba, Kizomba, Kuduro, Merengue. The dances in Angola are divided between ballroom and most popular dances like Rebita, Semba, Zouk, Kizomba, Merengue, Ussua, Kuduro, Cabetula and the religious or ceremonial dances like Efundula, Dance of Congo, Dexa, Puita & D'Jambi, Bliga, Sungura and Kimuala performed by different ethnic groups.
Art: Masks, statues, ceramics, basketry, textiles and paintings are well praised art forms. The most known piece of culture is called " O Pensador" (The Thinker) which is a representation of an African philosopher bending down with both legs and its hands placed on its head, symbolizing the human thought.
Spoken languages: Angolan official language is Portuguese. But most Angolan are bilingual or speak more than two languages or dialects. About 39 languages are spoken in Angola. The six literary languages are Umbundu, Kimbundu, Kikongo, Cokwe, Kwanyama and Ganguela. Umundu is the most widely spoken national language with about 5.9 million speakers.
Literature: Angolan has a beautiful literary tradition. One of the most important genres is political poetry and the former president Agostinho Neto was a representative of that. Other important writers are Jose Luandino Vieira, Pepetela, Jose Eduardo Agualusa, Oscar Ribas, Ondjaki, etc.
Food: Portuguese cuisine has significantly influenced Angolan cuisine. Ingredients such as flour, beans, rice, fish, pork, chicken, various sauces, sweet potato, tomato, onions, okra and garlic are present in Angolan cuisine. The most famous dishes are funge, mufete and pirao because they are delicious and cheap.

Angolan Carnival]]> 2018-03-21 00:23:00 UTC https://padlet.com/kenzovandunem16/da28ief8dvi8/wish/244320017 kenzovandunem16 https://padlet.com/kenzovandunem16/da28ief8dvi8/wish/244320235 Government: Angola is a Presidential Republic where the President is both Head of State and Head of the Government. The current President is João Lourenço. He replaced Jose Eduardo dos Santos, who was the President for over 38 years straight. Executive Power is exercised by the government. Legislative Power is vested in the President, the government and parliament.
Political parties: There are over 11 political parties and 1 electoral collection. The most known, mainly because it has been the only political party in the office, is MPLA.]]> 2018-03-21 00:24:23 UTC https://padlet.com/kenzovandunem16/da28ief8dvi8/wish/244320235 kenzovandunem16 https://padlet.com/kenzovandunem16/da28ief8dvi8/wish/244320367 Ethnic group: With over a 100 different ethnic groups,  there is no way to determine a precise provenience for the Angolan people. But the dominant ethnic groups are Ovimbundu, Mbundu and Bakongo.]]> 2018-03-21 00:25:06 UTC https://padlet.com/kenzovandunem16/da28ief8dvi8/wish/244320367 kenzovandunem16 https://padlet.com/kenzovandunem16/da28ief8dvi8/wish/244320545 Inventions: It is not often that we see Angolan inventions being recognized world wide. But in 2014, the Angolan delegation won ten medals: two gold, five silver and three bronze in the International Trade Fair - Inventions - New Products (IENA2014).
Miss Universe: In 2011, Leila Lopes was crowned Miss Universe 2010 representing Angola. She was the first Angolan to hold the title
Quality Awards: Angolan products like the water "Pura", the soda "Blue" and the juice "Nutry" have won gold medals in the International Quality category of the Monde Selection.

Leila Lopes (Miss Universe 2011)]]> 2018-03-21 00:26:05 UTC https://padlet.com/kenzovandunem16/da28ief8dvi8/wish/244320545 kenzovandunem16 https://padlet.com/kenzovandunem16/da28ief8dvi8/wish/244320627 More than half of the Angolan population follows Roman Catholic beliefs and but African Indigenous (Christian) and Protestant beliefs are also very present in the society.]]> 2018-03-21 00:26:25 UTC https://padlet.com/kenzovandunem16/da28ief8dvi8/wish/244320627 kenzovandunem16 https://padlet.com/kenzovandunem16/da28ief8dvi8/wish/245227308 O Pensador (The thinker)]]> 2018-03-22 19:58:11 UTC https://padlet.com/kenzovandunem16/da28ief8dvi8/wish/245227308 kenzovandunem16 https://padlet.com/kenzovandunem16/da28ief8dvi8/wish/245229172 Pepetela (Angolan writer)]]> 2018-03-22 20:03:30 UTC https://padlet.com/kenzovandunem16/da28ief8dvi8/wish/245229172 kenzovandunem16 https://padlet.com/kenzovandunem16/da28ief8dvi8/wish/245230426 Pura (Gold Medalist - Monde Selection)]]> 2018-03-22 20:07:14 UTC https://padlet.com/kenzovandunem16/da28ief8dvi8/wish/245230426