Turn Drinking Straws into Clever Party Decor

When I was in the A’s for this nations of the world tour, I somehow missed Angola, a nation in central Africa that is the second-largest Portuguese-speaking nation in the world. Officially known as the Republic of Angola, its the seventh-largest country in Africa, so let’s take a closer look. 

Angola Basics

• Angola is located on the west-central coast of Africa and is bordered by Namibia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Zambia and the Atlantic Ocean. It also has an exclave province (part of Angola that doesn’t touch the main part of the country), which borders both DRC and the Republic of the Congo.
• The capital and largest city is Luanda. The country takes up 481,400 square miles, or 1,246,700 square kilometers. Its population is around 39 million. 
• It was historically part of the Kingdom of Kongo, and the Portuguese began to colonize the coastal area in the 14th century.
• It gained independence in 1975, but a civil war began that same year that lasted until 2002. It is now a constitutional republic with a president, vice president and National Assembly. 
• Angola comes from the Portuguese word for the region, which was derived from ngola, the title held by kings of some of the local rulers. 

Angola National Symbols

The Angolan flag features a red stripe and a black stripe that equally divide the background. In the center there’s a five-pointed star, half a cog wheel and a machete, all in yellow. Originally these were meant to represent the colonial period and war but now are said to reference the Angolan people more broadly. It was adopted in 1975 and was modeled on the flag of the People’s Movement for the Liberation of Angola.

The national anthem “Angola Adante,” or “Onwards Angola,” was also adopted in 1975 and references the People’s Movement for the Liberation of Angola, the political party that has been in power since independence.

I couldn’t find a lot about Angolan national symbols, but I did find a video that said their national flower is the Welwitschia, which grows in the Namib desert in Angola and Namibia, and is one of the longest-lived plants on earth, with individual plants being thousands of years old. 

The critically endangered giant sable antelope is considered the national animal, while the red-crested turaco is the national bird. 

Angola Activities for Kids

Learn about Agostinho Neto, the first president of Angola and a famous poet from the country. 

Visit the Kwanza River (also known as the Cuanza River), the longest navigable river in Angloa.

Check out all the learning resources about Angola from Teachers Pay Teachers. Twinkl and Afrika Junior also have good learning resources about the country.

Go on a tour of Luanda, the capital city of Angola. 

Learn more about Mount Moco, the tallest mountain in Angola with a height of 8,596 feet. You’ll also want to check out Quicama/Kissama National Park, one of the few accessible wildlife habitats in the country and the only national park that remains in the country after the civil war (and a place where you can go on a walking safari — though this video shows driving). The park is home to lions, leopards and hyena, so you can pull out information and crafts about them while you talk about the country. 

You can also learn more about the efforts to save the giant sable antelope. 

One of the most famous dishes from Angola is muamba (or sometimes spells moamba) de galinha, a chicken and squash dish cooked in palm oil. Get the recipe from Immaculate Bites.