Higher education systems and institutions, Angola

Abstract

The Republic of Angola is located in the southwest coast of Africa, bordered by the Democratic Republic of Congo to the north, Zambia to the east, and Namibia to the south. With an area of about 1,246,700 square km and a population of 30 million, it is the largest Portuguese-speaking country in Africa. In 1975, following the collapse of the authoritarian regime in Portugal, Angola became independent with the socialist MPLA (Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola) as the only legally recognized party and an economic regime of state control and collective property. After a prolonged and extremely destructive civil war with the other movements which had taken part in the colonial war, namely, UNITA and FNLA, the 1992 agreements led to general elections and the establishment of the Second Republic (in which MPLA still dominates Parliament, government, and presidency but in a multiparty regime) and market-driven reforms. The civil war would nevertheless continue...