• Total aid: $499m (receipts)

Aid agencies and international donors have found it easier to provide assistance to Angola since the return of peace in 2002. The immediate focus was on the massive humanitarian crisis left by decades of war. The government's ban on importing genetically modified produce is hindering the provision of food aid.

The Portuguese first established coastal forts in 1482.

• 1975 Independence. Civil war between MPLA and UNITA.
• 1979 José Eduardo dos Santos (MPLA) becomes president.
• 1991 UN-brokered peace.
• 1992 MPLA election victory provokes UNITA to resume fighting.
• 1994 Lusaka peace agreement.
• 1998 Civil war reerupts.
• 2000 Fighting spreads as UNITA increases guerrilla activity.
• 2002 UNITA leader Jonas Savimbi killed. April, cease-fire signed.

Weather chart

The climate varies from temperate to tropical. Rainfall decreases from north to south. The Benguela Current makes the coast unusually cool and dry.