ANGOLA, An-go/la (Portug. for the native name A Portuguese colony in West Af rica, extending front 6° to 17° S. lat. aml from 12° to about 25° E. long. (Slap: Africa, F 6). It is bounded by German Southwest Africa on the south, British Central Africa on time east, and Congo Free State on the east and north. lts coastline on theAtlantic is about 1000 miles long, and its entire area, including the small posses sion of Kabinda, north of the Congo, is nearly 4S5.000 square miles. The surface is very mountainous in the west, where some of the peaks reach an altitude of about 8000 feet. In the interior there is also an extended range of mountains. The coast line forms a great num ber of harbors, the most important of which are Loanda, Lobito, Benguela, and Mossamedes. The rivers are mostly short, and usually dry up dur ing the arid season. The two most important and only navigable rivers are the Kwanza and Kunene, both flowing into the Atlantic. The temperature varies considerably, owing to the uneven formation of the surface. The rain fall is heavier in the northern part and in the vicinity of the coast than in the southern part of the colony. The agricultural products of Angola consist of manioc, coffee, bananas, sugar cane, tobacco, and cereals. The land is held mostly in very large plantations by the Portuguese, and the condition of the native farm laborers is very close to actual slavery.
The trade is chiefly with Portugal. The chief articles exported are coffee, rubber, ivory, wax, and fish. The imports eonsist mainly of food products and textiles. The total value of the im ports and exports for 1899 was 6,314,846 milreis ($6,820,000) and 7,035,414 ($7,598,247). The principal port is Loanda, the capital of the col ony, with a very considerable shipping. There is a railway line about 250 miles long connect ing Loanda with Ambaka, which is planned to be extended to Malanje. Several lines are also planned to be constructed in the southern part of the country. The telegraph lines of Angola
had a total length of over 800 miles at the end of 1899. The finances of the colony are in a rather strained condition, in spite of heavy tax ation. The budget for 1899-1900 gives the rev enue as 1,673,111 milreis ($1,806,959), expendi tures 2.013,071 ($2,174,764). For administra tive purposes the colony is divided into five dis tricts, which are controlled by the Portuguese Government, but the greater part of Angola is tinder the rule of native chiefs. At the head of the colony is a governor, appointed by the Portuguese Government. The population of An gola can be hardly given with any degree of ac curacy, estimates ranging all the way from four to twelve millions. The bulk of the population consists of Bundus. The number of Europeans is comparatively small_, only about 4000; hut they have exercised a great modifying influence on the native population inhabiting the western part of the colony as regards their customs and economic condition. The aborigines in the in terior have retained their ancient institutions intact. The authority of Portugal in the west ern part of Africa was first established by the Portuguese explorer Diogo Cain, who visited the estuary of the Congo in 1484. Very little, how ever, was clone by the Portuguese Government to extend its rule further inland, and in the mid dle of the sixteenth century it was almost en tirely superseded by the Dutch. Gradually. by definite treaties, the Portuguese possessions in West Africa were extended to their present pro portions. The claim of Portugal to the lower Congo was settled by compromise at the Berlin Conference of 1385, when she was awarded the territory of Kabinda north of the Congo.
Consult: J. de Vasconcellos, as ('olonias Por tnaneas ( Lisbon, 1897) ; Chatelaine, .4 ngola (Washington, 1893).