Vast region of Africa, which constitutes, by extension and development possibilities, the most important of the Portuguese possessions. Its name derives from the ancient indigenous kingdom of Angola, on the coast of which the city of Loanda was founded in 1576. Its geographical coordinates are: 4 ° 20 ‘and 18 ° 2’ lat. S.; 11 ° 40 ‘and 24 ° long. E. It extends for 1600 km. (including the territory of Cabinda) on the Atlantic coast from the mouth of the Congo to that of the Cunene. To N. it borders with the Belgian Congo, to E. with northern Rhodesia, to S. with the South African Union. The boundaries established by the international conference in Berlin of February 26, 1885 were then settled by a series of treaties and agreements, the most important of which have the dates: May 25, 1891, March 24, 1894, May 30, 1905 (arbitration of the king of Italy), April-June 1910; finally, with the agreement of 2 March 1928, Angola ceded an area of square kilometers to the Belgian Congo. 3 and a half, near Matadi, and had square kilometers in exchange. 3000 on the right of the upper Cassai (Didolo). The borders are marked by rivers or follow geographic coordinates. Germany, when it still possessed South Africa, tried to take advantage of a somewhat vague agreement with Portugal, on 30 December 1888, to curve the straight line of the Cunene border towards N., for the benefit of its colony. -Cubango; a neutral zone was established. The South African Union, which had the mandate over the former German South West Africa, took over the German claims and the question remained unsolved. the Cunene-Cubango straight line; a neutral zone was established. The South African Union, which had the mandate over the former German South West Africa, took over the German claims and the question remained unsolved.
According to RELATIONSHIPSPLUS, the surface of Angola is about 1,495,000 sq km (of which about 8,000 for Cabinda), almost 4 and a half times Italy and 16 times Portugal.
Flora. – The coast of Angola appears, in all its extension, as a gently undulating landscape gradually rising towards the interior, in correspondence with which the vegetation is distributed in regular areas, depending not only on the altitude, but also on the progressive increase of precipitation, which, less than 200 mm. on the coast (Ambriz, S. Paolo di Loanda), they reach the internal plateau at 1800 mm. nodded.
Characteristic of the lower zone is the very sporadically scattered steppe of Adansonia digitata, Euphorbia cactiformi, large Aloes, as well as Sanseviera cylindrica and Sterculia tomentosa. A stretch of evergreen broad-leaved woodland follows, which, towards 330 m asl, passes into the mountain forest, rich in large trees with persistent leaves and interspersed with ravines in which a dense tangle of arboreal vegetation thickens (Meliacee, Miristicaceae, Rubiacee and Palms of the genera Elaeis, Raphia and Ancistrophyllum). Above 800-900 m. then a plateau landscape develops, with mountain scrub interspersed with pastures, similar to that of East Africa. The hygrophilous formations of this area increase in vigor and in species richness the closer one gets to the Equator, enriching themselves with forms exclusive to West Africa or belonging to genera also widespread throughout tropical Africa, but not in the corresponding area. of Asia; such are the moracea Trymotococcus africanus and the screaming fruit Brunnichia africana. The composition of the flora changes as you move away from the coast, always maintaining however the type of high pasture with trees, with very dense thickets rich in lianas and epiphytes, very varied, as far as we know, in their arboreal components and located in the depressions humid.
Fauna. – The fauna of Angola features a mixture of Central African and South African elements. The Chimpanzee belongs to the former: other monkeys are true vervets, including the Colobus angolensis, the Anubis anubis, located in the interior of the region, and various lemurs, including the Galagus monteiri. The Macroscelidae only reach southern Angola; the Chrysochloridae, also predominantly South African insectivores, live throughout the region, while the interesting Geogale velox lives only in the northern part. Among the carnivores there are the lion, the leopard, the jackals, of which in the southern part is remarkable the Canis mesomelas, the Proteles cristatus, also southern, etc. Angola has various rodents, among which the Pedetes caffer represents a southern element. Among the Ungulates there are elephants, giraffes, zebras only in the southern part, buffaloes, numerous antelopes, such as the Orias derbianus, the Aepyceros petersi, etc., a hyrax, the hippopotamus. There are also pangolins and Orycteropodidae. Of the most characteristic birds of Africa, ostriches are missing in Angola. Angola has a particular fish in its fresh waters, Kueria angolensis, limited to the region, which, with a congener of Zanzibar, forms a special African family.
