Angola

The nation today known as the Republic of Angola (República de Angola) was originally inhabited by Khoisan-speaking hunter gatherers who were later largely displaced by Bantu-speaking tribes. Known today as "bushmen," the descendants of these indigenous people inhabit only a small percentage of the land comprising the present nation. The BaKongo dominated the region with their superior knowledge of metallurgy, ceramics and agriculture, establishing trade with civilizations along the coast of western Africa, until the arrival of the Portuguese in the 15th century. Several independent states had been establishing by then, including Kongo, Ndongo, and Luanda, with which the Portuguese gladly establishing diplomatic and trade relationships. By the end of the 15th century, however, the Portuguese began establishing permanent forts, settlements and trading posts, from which they exported slaves and raw materials in increasingly higher numbers. Many of these slaves ended up in what is now Brazil to work the thriving plantations there.

Portuguese control over the coastal region gradually increased thanks to its military superiority, with Angola becoming a colony by the late 16th century. The interior remained largely ungoverned, however, until the Berlin Conference of 1885, which established the colony's borders and permitted development of mining, agriculture and railways. It would take another century before full administrative control was achieved. In 1951, the land was declared the Overseas Province of Angola, yet by this time the wave of African nationalism was already taking root in certain parts of the continent and was begining to spread to Angola.

In 1961, prompted by Portuguese refusal to negotiate terms for Angolan independence, a series of attacks against white and black citizens in the north would shortly bring the nation into full civil war. Three distinct movements emerged, all aiming towards a free and independent Angola; these were the MPLA (Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola) founded in 1956, the FNLA (National Front for the Liberation of Angola) founded in 1961, and UNITA (National Union for the Total Independence of Angola) founded in 1966. Following the 1974 coup d'etat in Lisbon which ousted the Portuguese military dictatorship and replaced it with a much more liberal democracy, Portugal's interest in keeping Angola as a colonial possession rapidly waned. Thus on 11 November 1975 Angola achieved independence, while the leaders of the three revolutionary movements were faced with the challenge of how to organize their new government.

A transitional government was establishing in January 1975, but it was very short-lived, and soon the nation again found itself embroiled in a civil war. The FNLA and UNITA initially forged an alliance against the MPLA, bringing in the assistance of the South African Defence Force, which already had troops in the country by terms of the previous cease-fire. Reacting to this, the Soviet Union and Cuba channeled military assistance to the MPLA, aid that would continue well into the 1990s. Fearing outright war with the Soviet/Cuban coalition, the SADF withdrew, leaving as many as 11,000 Cuban "advisors" in country by February 1976.

• Chinese-produced copy of the French lizard pattern