Major problems facing Angola today
Angola or the Republic of Angola is a beautiful country in the Southern part of Africa. Angola shares borders with the Republic of Namibia in the south, the Democratic Republic of Congo in the North, the Republic of Zambia in the east and the Atlantic Ocean in the west.
Angola or the Republic of Angola has a total population of about 18.5 million people (estimated) with a population growth rate around 2.03%.
The Republic of Angola has a total land area of about 1,246,700squared kilometers with about 1,600km of coast line. Majority of the total population of Angola (about 59%) live in urban areas in major cities such as Luanda (the capital of Angola. More than 5 million people live in Luanda today), Huambo (another major city. Huambo contains about 1.3 million people) with the annual rate of urbanization around 4%.
Just like its neighboring countries, Angola is a culturally rich country with several ethnic and racial groups living together. The major ethnic groups in Angola today include Ovimbundu (about 37% of the total population), Kimbundu (about 25% of the total population), Bakongo (about 13%), mestico (mixed European and native African: about 2% of the total population of Angola), etc. with Portuguese being the official language. Unlike in most other African countries , indigenous beliefs reign supreme in Angola today helping preserve some of our culture and traditions.
Angola just like its neighboring countries is blessed with abundance of natural resources such as gold, diamond, bauxite, petroleum, uranium, phosphates, copper, iron ore, feldspar, etc. The Republic of Angola has a literacy rate of about 67.4% with female literacy rate around 54.2%. In other words, about 67.4% of the total population of Angola above age 15 can at least read and write. Meanwhile, just 54.2% of females above age 15 can read and write. Although 67.4% is far better than in most other African countries, poor girl-child education remains a problem in Angola today.
Despite the abundance of natural resources and the high literacy rate, Angola remains one of the poorest countries in Africa today with at least 55% of the total population living below poverty line. Life expectancy of the total population of Angola remains around 38.76 years which is far worse than in most other African countries.
Rampant deforestation of the tropical rain forest (the rampant cutting down of trees for timber in response to international demand) resulting in soil erosion, desertification, siltation of rivers and dams, and the loss of biodiversity, etc. are some of the major environmental issues facing Angola today.
Although sex education and other youth education programs are helping a lot in the fight against HIV/AIDS, about 200,000 Angolans were living with HIV/AIDS in 2009 with about 11,000 deaths recorded in the same year. In other words, the deadly HIV/AIDS continues to tear Angola into pieces. The deadly malaria and water- borne diseases such as typhoid fever, protozoal and bacteria diarrhea, etc. also continue to threaten several lives in Angola today.
Just like in most other African countries today, corruption levels remain at all-time high in Angola. Mismanagement of funds, Incompetent leadership and Poor governance continue to tear Angola into pieces.