The Background

Abstract

Angola, with a total area of 1 246 700 square kilometres, is larger than the combined territories of France, Germany and Italy. Strategically situated on the west coast of southern Africa, it is enviably blessed with natural resources, arnong them rich deposits of petroleum, diamonds and iron ore. The climate and topography range from the hot, humid, coastal fringe in the north and the high plateau in the centre, to the semi-arid bush lands of the south-east and the desert that stretches south along the coast from Benguela to merge across the frontier into the Namibian desert. The agricultural potential is equally promising. So too are the prospects for tourism in a country boasting an enormous variety of landscapes — from beautiful, empty beaches to high mountains, spectacular waterfalls and wild, uninhabited spaces where exotic wildlife will once more thrive if peace and order are restored.