Uploads from Eric Lafforgue, tagged 앙골라, with geodata

Himba Woman In Front Of A Baobab Tree, Angola

nobody@flickr.com (Eric Lafforgue) — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 00:30:50 -0700

Luanda Law Courts In A Colonial House, Angola

nobody@flickr.com (Eric Lafforgue) — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 00:30:53 -0700

Luanda is the capital city of Angola and is located in the north west of the country, on the Atlantic coast.
Luanda was founded by the portuguese explorer, Paulo Dias de Novais in 1575, as Sao Paulo da Assunçao de Luanda. The natural roads was ideal to establish a harbor. He arrived with 700 settlers, among which, there were 350 soldiers, priests, merchants and civil servants. The city was an important centre of slave trade to Brazil from 1550 until 1836. In 1627 it became the administrative capital city of Angola. Apart from a short ducth occupation from 1641 until 1648, the city remained portuguese for 400 hundred years, until the independence ;
The population of the city didn’t increase much until the 1930’s. When Angola became independent in 1975, there were about 600,000 inhabitants including an important group of Portuguese living in the european district, who left the country at that time. The long lasting Civil War (1975-2002) brought refugees flying away from the countryside devastated by the fights. During the conflict the city remained under the control of MPLA.
Nowadays the current population is about 5 million inhabitants, which is nearly 30 per cent of the country’s total population. Luanda has to face the same problems than other overcrowded cities in the third-world countries, like slums, insecurity and limited access to running water (for only 50 percent of the population).
Luanda has an excellent natural harbour; the main exports are coffee, cotton, sugar, diamonds, iron, and salt. The city also has a flourishing building industry. Economic growth is largely supported by oil extraction activities, although massive diversification is taking place. Large investment (domestic and international), along with strong economic growth, has dramatically increased construction of all economic sectors in the city of Luanda. This makes it the most expensive city of the world for expatriates while lots of people live in slums.

© Eric Lafforgue
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Mahine, A Village Of The Mucawana Tribe, Angola

nobody@flickr.com (Eric Lafforgue) — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 00:30:59 -0700

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Old Train Carriage, Luanda, Angola

nobody@flickr.com (Eric Lafforgue) — Sat, 14 Apr 2012 01:19:46 -0700

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The construction of a railway from Luanda to Malanje, in the fertile highlands, started in 1885. Work began in 1902 on a more significant line from Benguela all the way inland to the Katanga region, aiming to provide access to the sea for the richest mining district of the Belgian Congo. The line reached the Congo border in 1928.
By this time the regime in Portugal has been through two violent transitions, from monarchy to republic in 1910 and then to a military dictatorship after a coup in 1926. The effect of these changes in Angola is a tightening of Portuguese control.

Old Dilapidated Cinema Theater In Huambo, Angola

nobody@flickr.com (Eric Lafforgue) — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 00:55:46 -0800

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Huambo’s name comes from Wambu, one of the 14 old Ovimbundu kingdoms of the central Angolan plateau. In 1928 Huambo was renamed Nova Lisboa (New Lisbon, after Lisbon the capital of Portugal), indicating that the colonial administration had the intention of making it the capital of the colony. After the independence from Portugal in 1975, Nova Lisboa was given back its original name. The Angolan Civil War (1975–2002) stopped Angola's and Huambo's development, destroying an important part of its infrastructure. Huambo became the place of hard battles during the bloody civil war between the government and UNITA from independence, as it UNITA headquarters were located in it, until the death of rebel UNITA leader Jonas Savimbi in 2002. The city was besieged, seriously damaged, and its civilians were slaughtered in crowd or fled the city.
The signature of a new cease-fire, after Savimbi’s death brought back tranquility to the Province and set the conditions for the current peace process and the beginning of an era of development. Nowadays the city has a population of about 225,000 inhabitants.

© Eric Lafforgue
www.ericlafforgue.com

Mudimba Woman With Traditional Hairstyle Wearing Beaded Necklaces, Angola

nobody@flickr.com (Eric Lafforgue) — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 00:30:55 -0800

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This tribe lives by the Nambian border, on the Cunene River. Very quickly we encounter several motorbikes, which is unusual. We find out that a marriage is taking place in the village, and we are taken there.
Once arrived in Combelo, hundreds of Mundimbas are present. Half of them are dressed like very elegant occidentals. The other half is in traditional dress, collars, loincloths but no bare breasts: all the women are wearing bras, a leftover from the missionary days. Ironically, this gives them a bit of a Jean-Paul Gaultier-era Madonna air about them, with their crucifixes dangling over their coloured underwear.
But what catches our attention the most are once again the way their hair is arranged. I can make out audacious perms under the inflated scarves. A guest agrees to let me see her haircut: the hair is straightened and forms a sort of helmet. The clips are assorted with the colour of the collars.

© Eric Lafforgue
www.ericlafforgue.com

Colonial Portuguese Factory In Luanda, Angola

nobody@flickr.com (Eric Lafforgue) — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 00:52:16 -0800

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Near Victoria Falls, Zambia

nobody@flickr.com (Eric Lafforgue) — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 00:23:35 -0800

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The Victoria Falls is a waterfall located in southern Africa on the Zambezi River between the countries of Zambia and Zimbabwe. The falls are some of the largest in the world. David Livingstone, the Scottish missionary and explorer, is believed to have been the first European recorded to view the Victoria Falls, which he did from what is now known as 'Livingstone Island' in Zambia, the only land accessible in the middle of the falls. David Livingstone gave the falls the name 'Victoria Falls' in honour of his Queen. Even if it is neither the highest nor the widest waterfall in the world, it is claimed to be the largest, with a width of 1,708 metres (5,604 feet) and a height of 108 metres (354 feet), it forms the largest sheet of falling water in the world.

© Eric Lafforgue
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Small Dilapidated Church In Negola, Angola

nobody@flickr.com (Eric Lafforgue) — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 00:21:20 -0800

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Panel Celebrating The Independance Day Next To A Christian Cross, Angola

nobody@flickr.com (Eric Lafforgue) — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 01:49:43 -0700

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Mwila Girl Oncula On The Hair, Chibia Area, Angola

nobody@flickr.com (Eric Lafforgue) — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 10:02:57 -0700

Eric Lafforgue posted a photo:

Mwila people are an ethnic group living in southern Angola, in the area of Huila. They actually are part of the Nyaneka, a larger ethnic group. According to their oral tradition, they settled down in that area during the 17th century, because of a drought that made them abandon their lands in the country of Quilengues. In fact it seems Mwila are supposed to be a miscegenation of Jaga invaders, coming from east (and who transitorily invaded Congo) and conquered the area, with the aboriginal inhabitants of the area, the Chimbemba (or Bachimba). The conquerors formed the powerful kingdom of Huila during the 17th century, led by a Soba, which ruled the area until the first half of the 19th century. Mwila were part of this chiefdom and most of the traditions of these bantu cattle farmers date back to these times, although it is not clear for them nowadays.
Mumuhuila rarely eat meat, they rather eat porridge, corn, chicken, honey and milk. They kill their cattle only on special occasions. Mwila are not allowed to mention people’s name in public.
But Mumuhuila women are especially famous for their very special hairstyles. Indeed hairstyles are very important and meaningful in Mwila culture. Women coat their hair with a red paste called, oncula, which is made of crushed red stone. They also put a mix of oil, crushed tree bark, dried cow dung and herbs on their hair. Besides they decorate their hair with beads, cauri shells (real or plastic ones) and even dried food. Having their forehead shaved is considered as a sign of beauty. The plaits, which look like dreadlocks, are called nontombi and have a precise meaning. Women or girls usually have four or six nontombi, but when they only have three it means that someone died in their family. Mumuhuila Women are also famous for their mud necklaces, which are important as for each period of their life corresponds a specific type of necklace. When they are young, girls wear heavy red necklaces, made with beads covered with a mix of soil and latex. Later girls start to wear a set of yellow necklaces called, Vikeka, made of wicker covered with earth. They keep it until their wedding, which can last 4 years. Once married they start to wear a set of stacked up bead necklaces, called Vilanda. Women never take their necklace off and have to sleep with it. They also use headrests to protect their hairstyles. However, more and more men and women dress in a western way, because people use to make fun of them when they go to markets.
Living conditions are tough as women sometimes walk for 50 kilometers to reach Huila market to sell goods.

© Eric Lafforgue
www.ericlafforgue.com

Mwila Woman Wearing The Vilanda Necklace, Chibia Area, Angola

nobody@flickr.com (Eric Lafforgue) — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 00:31:59 -0700

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Fashionable Young Man In Sumbe, Angola

nobody@flickr.com (Eric Lafforgue) — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 23:50:37 -0700

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For the french: he's not the son of Polnareff.
Sumbe is a city located in west central Angola. It is the administrative capital of Cuanza Sul Province. Under portuguse rule the city was called Novo Redondo. Nowadays its population is about 26,000.

© Eric Lafforgue
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Building Of Radio Station In Benguela, Angola

nobody@flickr.com (Eric Lafforgue) — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 23:59:15 -0700

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Benguela is a city of Angola located on the Atlantic coast. It has a population of about 500,000 inhabitants. It was founded in 1617 by portuguese was an important centre of slave trade to Brazil and Cuba.

© Eric Lafforgue
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Colonial Houses In Benguela, Angola

nobody@flickr.com (Eric Lafforgue) — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 23:52:06 -0700

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In 1951, the colony was designated as the Overseas Province of Angola. Portugal had a presence in Angola for nearly five hundred years, and the population's initial reaction to calls for independence was mixed. Political organizations first appeared in the 1950s, and began to make organised demands for their rights, especially in international forums such as the Non-Aligned Movement.
The Portuguese regime, meanwhile, refused to accede to the nationalists' demands for independence, provoking an armed conflict that started in 1961 when black guerrillas attacked both white and black civilians in cross-border operations in northeastern Angola. The war came to be known as the Colonial War. In this struggle, the principal protagonists were the MPLA (Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola), founded in 1956, the FNLA (National Front for the Liberation of Angola), which appeared in 1961, and UNITA (National Union for the Total Independence of Angola), founded in 1966. After many years of conflict, Angola became independent on 11 November 1975, after the 1974 coup d'Ètat in Lisbon, Portugal, which overthrew the Portuguese regime headed by Marcelo Caetano.
Portugal's new revolutionary leaders began a process of democratic change at home and acceptance of its former colonies' independence abroad. These events prompted a mass exodus of Portuguese citizens from Portugal's African territories (mostly from Angola and Mozambique), creating over a million destitute Portuguese refugees, called ´the retornados.
Nowadays the Portuguese make up the largest non-African population, with more than 100,000.

© Eric Lafforgue
www.ericlafforgue.com

Angola, the new Eldorado

nobody@flickr.com (Eric Lafforgue) — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 23:55:24 -0700

Eric Lafforgue posted a photo:

Vietnamese Man In Front Of A Che Guevara Wall Painting, Sumbe, Angola
In December 1956, in Portuguese Angola the Angolan Communist Party (PCA) merged with the Party of the United Struggle for Africans in Angola (PLUA) to form the People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola with Viriato da Cruz, the President of the PCA, as Secretary General.
During 1975, before the official Portuguese withdrawal, the civil war in Angola intensifies. In fighting for control of the capital city, Luanda, the MPLA succeeds in driving out both its rivals. UNITA, which claims to enjoy wider popular support than the other groups, argues that Portugal must fulfil its last colonial duty and supervise elections.
But the Portuguese, eager to leave as quickly as possible, abandon the country without formally handing over control to any succeeding government. The MPLA, in possession of the capital and with guaranteed support from the USSR and Cuba, declared itself the government of independent Angola. Agostinho Neto, a distinguished poet who had led the MPLA since 1962, became president.
The Soviet Union supported the MPLA-PT as a liberation movement before independence and formalized its relationship with the MPLAPT government through the Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation and a series of military agreements beginning in 1975. Once it became clear that the MPLA-PT could, with Cuban support, remain in power, the Soviet Union provided economic and technical assistance and granted Angola most-favored-nation status. In 1976 MPLA adopted Marxism-Leninism as the party ideology. It maintained close ties with the Soviet Union and the Communist bloc, establishing socialist economic policies and a one-party state.
For the first decade after independence, trade with communist states was not significant, but in the late 1980s dos Santos sought expanded economic ties with the Soviet Union, China, and Czechoslovakia and other nations of Eastern Europe as the MPLA-PT attempted to diversify its economic relations and reduce its dependence on the West. In October 1986, Angola signed a cooperative agreement with the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (Comecon), a consortium dedicated to economic cooperation among the Soviet Union and its allies. As part of the Comecon agreement, Soviet support for Angolan educational and training programs was increased. In 1987 approximately 1,800 Angolan students attended institutions of higher education in the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union also provided about 100 lecturers to Agostinho Neto University in Luanda, and a variety of Soviet-sponsored training programs operated in Angola, most with Cuban instructors. Approximately 4,000 Angolans studied at the international school on Cuba's renowned Isle of Youth. More Angolan students were scheduled to attend the Union of Young Communists' School in Havana in 1989.
Cuba's presence in Angola was more complex than it appeared to outsiders who viewed the Soviet Union's Third World clients as little more than surrogates for their powerful patron. The initiative in placing Cuban troops in Angola in the mid-1970s was taken by President Fidel Castro as part of his avowed mission of "Cuban internationalism." Facing widespread unemployment at home, young Cuban men were urged to serve in the military overseas as their patriotic duty, and veterans enjoyed great prestige on their return. Castro also raised the possibility of a Cuban resettlement scheme in southern Angola, and several hundred Cubans received Angolan citizenship during the 1980s. Cuban immigration increased sharply in 1988. In addition to military support, Cuba provided Angola with several thousand teachers, physicians, and civilian laborers for construction, agriculture, and industry. Angolan dependence on Cuban medical personnel was so complete that during the 1980s Spanish became known as the language of medicine.

© Eric Lafforgue
www.ericlafforgue.com

Former Pioneer Center In Benguela, Angola

nobody@flickr.com (Eric Lafforgue) — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 23:53:37 -0700

Eric Lafforgue posted a photo:

In many communist countries, of one the main symbol of USA, Disney characters, were used in school!
In December 1956, in Portuguese Angola the Angolan Communist Party (PCA) merged with the Party of the United Struggle for Africans in Angola (PLUA) to form the People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola with Viriato da Cruz, the President of the PCA, as Secretary General.
During 1975, before the official Portuguese withdrawal, the civil war in Angola intensifies. In fighting for control of the capital city, Luanda, the MPLA succeeds in driving out both its rivals. UNITA, which claims to enjoy wider popular support than the other groups, argues that Portugal must fulfil its last colonial duty and supervise elections.
But the Portuguese, eager to leave as quickly as possible, abandon the country without formally handing over control to any succeeding government. The MPLA, in possession of the capital and with guaranteed support from the USSR and Cuba, declared itself the government of independent Angola. Agostinho Neto, a distinguished poet who had led the MPLA since 1962, became president.
The Soviet Union supported the MPLA-PT as a liberation movement before independence and formalized its relationship with the MPLAPT government through the Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation and a series of military agreements beginning in 1975. Once it became clear that the MPLA-PT could, with Cuban support, remain in power, the Soviet Union provided economic and technical assistance and granted Angola most-favored-nation status. In 1976 MPLA adopted Marxism-Leninism as the party ideology. It maintained close ties with the Soviet Union and the Communist bloc, establishing socialist economic policies and a one-party state.
For the first decade after independence, trade with communist states was not significant, but in the late 1980s dos Santos sought expanded economic ties with the Soviet Union, China, and Czechoslovakia and other nations of Eastern Europe as the MPLA-PT attempted to diversify its economic relations and reduce its dependence on the West. In October 1986, Angola signed a cooperative agreement with the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (Comecon), a consortium dedicated to economic cooperation among the Soviet Union and its allies. As part of the Comecon agreement, Soviet support for Angolan educational and training programs was increased. In 1987 approximately 1,800 Angolan students attended institutions of higher education in the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union also provided about 100 lecturers to Agostinho Neto University in Luanda, and a variety of Soviet-sponsored training programs operated in Angola, most with Cuban instructors. Approximately 4,000 Angolans studied at the international school on Cuba's renowned Isle of Youth. More Angolan students were scheduled to attend the Union of Young Communists' School in Havana in 1989.
Cuba's presence in Angola was more complex than it appeared to outsiders who viewed the Soviet Union's Third World clients as little more than surrogates for their powerful patron. The initiative in placing Cuban troops in Angola in the mid-1970s was taken by President Fidel Castro as part of his avowed mission of "Cuban internationalism." Facing widespread unemployment at home, young Cuban men were urged to serve in the military overseas as their patriotic duty, and veterans enjoyed great prestige on their return. Castro also raised the possibility of a Cuban resettlement scheme in southern Angola, and several hundred Cubans received Angolan citizenship during the 1980s. Cuban immigration increased sharply in 1988. In addition to military support, Cuba provided Angola with several thousand teachers, physicians, and civilian laborers for construction, agriculture, and industry. Angolan dependence on Cuban medical personnel was so complete that during the 1980s Spanish became known as the language of medicine.

© Eric Lafforgue
www.ericlafforgue.com

View On Lobito Harbour, Angola

nobody@flickr.com (Eric Lafforgue) — Thu, 04 Aug 2011 00:02:39 -0700

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Lobito is a city in the north of Benguela province on the Atlantic coast . With 200,000 inhabitants it is the third city of Angola in terms of population. It is also the starting point of the Benguela railway that streaches far into the African continent. Although the city was founded in 1843 by order of Maria II of Portugal, its development ocurred with the construction of the railway. In november 1902, Teixeira de Sousa, head of the portuguese government, granted Sir Robert Williams the works contract to build and run for 99 years thge railway that would connect Lobito to Higlands. The construction of the railway started in 1903. Harbor works started in the meantime, in connection with the railway. The five kilometers long natural sandspit in the area provided the ideal place for a safe port. The railway only connected Belgian Congo in 1928. The same year the harbor was completed. Lobito administratively became a city in 1948. Nowadays it is the second harbor of Angola for freight.
The town has clearly had a prosperous past as streets are lined with large colonial mansion houses, and Art Deco cinemas, bars and cafes. There are many places of historical and cultural interest around Lobito like the Palácio do Governo built in an old colonial style architecture or the Igreja da Nassa Senhora da Arrabida church from the 17th century.

© Eric Lafforgue
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National Slavery Museum In Luanda, Angola

nobody@flickr.com (Eric Lafforgue) — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 23:56:41 -0700

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The Portuguese colony of Angola was founded in 1575 with the arrival of Paulo Dias de Novais who founded Luanda in 1575 (Sao Paulo de Loanda) with a hundred families of colonists and four hundred soldiers. Apart from a seven year long period during which the Dutch occupied Luanda from 1641 to 1648, Portuguese settlers ruled the country until the independence in 1975. In 1671 the Kingdom of Kongo, as well as the Kingdom of Ndongo (another Bantu kingdom) were brought under the portuguese Crown. Portuguese exchanged firearms and other technological advances with ivory and slaves (who were important for the development of their colony in Brazil).

© Eric Lafforgue
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Man With Hat Raking Up, Benguela, Angola

nobody@flickr.com (Eric Lafforgue) — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 23:57:46 -0700

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