Angola

Angola

Statistics and facts:

  • Capital City = Luanda
  • Population = 18, 498,00
  • Official and recognized Languages  = Portuguese, Kongo, Chokwe, Mbundu
  • Independence = Novenber 11, 1975
  • GDP = $106.410 BILLION (2008 estimate) / Per capita = $6,331
  • Currency = Kwanza
  • Religion = Christianity 53%, Indigenous 47%.
(wikipedia.org)

Angola and Diamonds:

Diamonds were first discovered in Angola in 1912. For the next 40 years, the industry was exclusively based on alluvial diamond mining (mining that extracts diamonds from deposits of sand, gravel and clay, which have been naturally transported by water erosion and deposited along either the banks of a river, the shoreline or on the bed of the ocean) and was operated as a monopoly by the Diamontes de Angola, Diamang, a joint Portuguese – Belgian producer. Other companies operating in Angola include Catoca, De Beers and Luo.

(diamondfacts.org)

Education in Angola:

Although by law, education in Angola is compulsory and free for 8 years, the government reports that a certain percentage of students are not attending school due to a lack of school buildings and teachers. In 1999, the gross primary enrollment rate was 74 percent and in 1998, the most recent year for which data are available, the net primary enrollment rate was 61 percent. In 1995, 71.2 percent of children ages 7 to 14 years were attending school. It is reported that higher percentages of boys attend school than girls. During the Angolan Civil War (1975-2002), nearly half of all schools were reportedly looted and destroyed, leading to current problems with overcrowding. The Ministry of Education hired 20,000 new teachers in 2005, and continued to implement teacher trainings. Teachers tend to be underpaid, inadequately trained, and overworked (sometimes teaching two or three shifts a day).Teachers also reportedly demand payment or bribes directly from their students. Other factors, such as the presence of landmines, lack of resources and identity papers, and poor health also prevent children from regularly attending school. 82.9% of males and 54.2% of women are literate as of 2001. Since independence from Portugal in 1975, a number of Angolan students continued to be admitted every year at Portuguese high schools, polytechnical institutes, and universities, through bilateral agreements between the Portuguese Government and the Angolan Government; in general these students belong to the Angolan elites. Although budgetary allocations for education were increased in 2004, the education system in Angola continues to be extremely under-funded.

(wikipedia.org)

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