ANGOLA
Introduction
Current issues: Civil war has been the norm since independence from Portugal on 11 November 1975. A cease-fire lasted from 31 May 1991 until October 1992 when the insurgent National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) refused to accept its defeat in internationally monitored elections and fighting resumed throughout much of the countryside. The two sides signed another peace accord on 20 November 1994 and the cease-fire is generally holding, but military tensions persist and banditry is increasing. In order to bring armed insurgents under government control the peace accord of 20 November 1994 provided for the integration of former UNITA insurgents into the Angolan armed forces. Military integration began in June 1996 and a Government of National Unity and Reconciliation was installed in April 1997. Efforts which began in May 1997 to extend government into UNITA-occupied areas are proceeding slowly. The original 7,200-man UN peacekeeping force began a phased drawdown in late 1996. All UN peacekeepers are scheduled to depart by September 1997 but a small UN military observer force will probably remain in Angola through 1998.
@Angola:Geography
Location: Southern Africa, bordering the South Atlantic Ocean, between
Namibia and Democratic Republic of the Congo
Geographic coordinates: 12 30 S, 18 30 E
Map references: Africa
Area: total: 1,246,700 sq km land : 1,246,700 sq km water: 0 sq km
Area - comparative: slightly less than twice the size of Texas
Land boundaries: total: 5,198 km border countries: Democratic Republic of the Congo 2,511 km of which 220 km is the boundary of discontiguous Cabinda province, Republic of the Congo 201 km, Namibia 1,376 km, Zambia 1,110 km