Culture of Angola

The culture of Angola is influenced by the Portuguese Portugal occupied the coastal enclave r also Benguela, since the 16th/17th centuries, occupied the territory of what today in the 19th/20th centuries, and ruled it until 1975. Both countries share cultural aspects: language (Portuguese) and main religion (Roman Catholic Christianity). However, the Angolan culture is mostly native Bantu which was mixed with Portuguese culture. The diverse ethnic communities with their own cultural traits, traditions and native languages or dialects include the Ovimbundu, Ambundu, Bakongo, Chokwe, and other peoples.

There are over 100 distinct ethnic groups and languages/dialects in Angola. Although Portuguese is the official language, for many black Angolans it is a second or even third language. The three dominant ethnic groups are the Ovimbundu, Mbundu (better called Ambundu, speaking Kimbundu) and the Bakongo. There are also small numbers of Mestico (mixed African and European descent) and ethnic white Europeans as well.

The largest ethnolinguistic category, the Ovimbundu, were located in west-central Angola, south of Mbundu-inhabited regions. In 1988 the United States Department of State estimated that they constituted 37 percent of the population. The language of the Ovimbundu is Umbundu.

The core area of the Ovimbundu kingdoms was that part of the Benguela Plateau north of the town of Huambo. Expansion continuing into the twentieth century enlarged their territory considerably, although most Ovimbundu remained in that part of the plateau above 1,200 meters in elevation.

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