where is angola located?
Africa
entailment
 Angola , like most African countries , became constituted as a nation through colonial intervention . In Angola 's case , its colonial power – Portugal – was present and active in the territory , in one way or another , for over four centuries . 

entailment
 At the height of the Cold War in 1965 , conflict escalated across the border with the Cuban intervention in Angola . Cuba formed an alliance with the People 's Movement for the Liberation of Angola ( MPLA ) ( Portuguese : Movimento Popular de Libertação de Angola – Partido do Trabalho ) , which led to the deployment of more than 25 @,@ 000 Cuban soldiers to the region in the Angolan War of Independence . 

entailment
 In 1961 , the FNLA and the MPLA , based in neighbouring countries , began a guerrilla campaign against Portuguese rule on several fronts . The Portuguese Colonial War , which included the Angolan War of Independence , lasted until the Portuguese regime 's overthrow in 1974 through a leftist military coup in Lisbon . When the timeline for independence became known , most of the roughly 500 @,@ 000 ethnic Portuguese Angolans fled the territory during the weeks before or after that deadline . Portugal left behind a newly independent country whose population was mainly composed by Ambundu , Ovimbundu , and Bakongo peoples . The Portuguese that lived in Angola accounted for the majority of the skilled workers in public administration , agriculture , and industry ; once they fled the country , the national economy began to sink into depression . 

entailment
 By 1986 , Angola began to assume a more central role in the Cold War , with the Soviet Union , Cuba and other Eastern bloc nations enhancing support for the MPLA government , and American conservatives beginning to elevate their support for Savimbi 's UNITA . Savimbi developed close relations with influential American conservatives , who saw Savimbi as a key ally in the U.S. effort to oppose and rollback Soviet @-@ backed , non @-@ democratic governments around the world . The conflict quickly escalated , with both Washington and Moscow seeing it as a critical strategic conflict in the Cold War . 

entailment
 The territory of Cabinda is north of Angola proper , separated by a strip of territory 60 km ( 37 @.@ 3 mi ) long in the Democratic Republic of the Congo . The Portuguese Constitution of 1933 designated Angola and Cabinda as overseas provinces . In the course of administrative reforms during the 1930s to 1950s , Angola was divided into districts , and Cabinda became one of the districts of Angola . The Front for the Liberation of the Enclave of Cabinda ( FLEC ) formed in 1963 during the broader war for independence from Portugal . Contrary to the organization 's name , Cabinda is an exclave , not an enclave . FLEC later split into the Armed Forces of Cabinda ( FLEC @-@ FAC ) and FLEC @-@ Renovada ( FLEC @-@ R ) . Several other , smaller FLEC factions later broke away from these movements , but FLEC @-@ R remained the most prominent because of its size and its tactics . FLEC @-@ R members cut off the ears and noses of government officials and their supporters , similar to the Revolutionary United Front of Sierra Leone in the 1990s . Despite Cabinda 's relatively small size , foreign powers and the nationalist movements coveted the territory for its vast reserves of petroleum , the principal export of Angola then and now . 
