This week, the southern African country of Angola celebrates the 35th anniversary of its independence from Portugal. The Portuguese had first started visiting the area in the late 15th century, and a Portuguese colony was founded in the 16th century, gradually spreading to the territory of current-day Angola. Nationalists began agitating for independence in the mid-20th century, and armed conflict began in the 1960s.
Fighting continued on and off for more than a decade until a coup d’état in Portugal led to Portugal abandoning its colonies, and Angola became independent on 11 November 1975. At the time of independence, power struggles between rival independence movements had not been resolved, and a civil war continued on and off for 27 years. The two main rivals were the Soviet-backed Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), the US-backed National Liberation Front of Angola (FNLA), and the South African-backed National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA).
The MPLA became the ruling party in Angola. The FNLA became a minor political party in 1992, winning 2% of the vote. UNITA continued its armed struggle until its leader Jonas Savimbi was killed in 2002, whereafter a ceasefire was agreed and UNITA became a political party, winning 7% of the seats in the 2008 parliamentary elections. While peace has now prevailed for 8 years, strong feelings remain in a country where there is a vast gulf between the poor and the wealthy.