Did you know?

That Angola was the world’s 4th largest producer of diamonds before 1975 and is one of the worlds largest and least explored mineral treasure troves. Substantial deposits of gold, iron ore, manganese , phosphates, quartz, copper, lead, marbles, gypsums,beryl, black granite, zinc and numerous base and strategic metals are found. That Angola has considerable valuable timber resources which have been untapped since independence. The valuable tree species include Rosewood, Ebony, African Sandalwood, Mahogany, Tola and Mulberry. Nearly 150,000 hectares of Eucalyptus, Cypress and Pine plantation are waiting to be rehabilitated. That when Portuguese mariner Diego Cao landed at the mouth of the Congo River in 1483, two distinct Kingdoms ruled the region. The Kingdom of the Bakongo reigned in the north. The Quimbundos Kingdom, also known as Ndongo, dominated in the western and central areas. The king of the Quimbundos was called "Ngola". The region, taking its name from the king, became Angola. That Angola is forecast to become Africa's No.1 sub Saharan oil producer by 2015? That Angola changed from a one-party Marxist-Leninist system to a formal multiparty democracy following the 1992 elections? The Zambezi River and several tributaries of the Congo River have their sources in Angola. Capoeira was brought to Brazil by captured slaves from Angola. In this foreign land the Angolan people developed their practice into a method of defending themselves against their violent overlords. Because of their predicament, these enslaved people had to disguise their training as recreational song and dance