Angola is the sparkling land of the glittering diamonds. Surpassing its natural wealth, the country opens its doors to explore the sweeping savannas, rustic big snarling cats, thundering herds of elephant and rustic but captivating country side. Located on the southwestern side of Africa, Angola boasts of a vast coastline, something more than 1000 miles, by the South Atlantic Ocean. The low-lying coastal area is interrupted by several deep islets like the Great Fish Bay and the Lobito Bay. The topography of Angola is marked by the central plateau consisting of ancient crystalline rocks that rises abruptly from the seashores. After all these arid regions, the Angolan dry savanna lies in the south and southeast and a rain forest comes to the north. Angola also has an exclave province of Cabinda along borders with both the Republic of the Congo and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Originally inhabited by Khoisan tribes, Angola was home to a large group of Bantu-speaking people. They were cornered when the Portuguese arrived in 1483 and later established the nation as a major source of slave trade. Following World War II, independence movements began to stir up and after 14 years of war, Portugal finally granted independence to Angola in 1975. Ironically, today Angola, specially its exclave of Cabinda, is one of Africa's major oil producers and diamond sources but lags behind as one of the world's poorest countries.