The tourism industry in Angola is based on the country's natural environment, including its rivers, waterfalls and coastline. Angola's tourism industry is relatively new, as much of the country was ravaged during the post-colonial

civil war A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

which ended in 2002. Unlike most countries in the region, which generally give US, EU, and many other citizens a visa on arrival or require no visa at all, Angola has complicated visa requirements (official letter of invitation, documents concerning purpose of travel, copy of travel itinerary, proof of funds, etc., all of which are sent back to Luanda for approval). This procedure towards visitors places the country at a disadvantage in the competitive

international tourism International tourism is tourism that crosses national borders. Globalisation has made tourism a popular global leisure activity. The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people "traveling to and staying in places outside their usual en ...

market.

Visitor attractions

Cameia National Park

Cameia National Park Cameia National Park is a national park in the Moxico province of Angola, located at about 1100 m above sea level. Covering a surface of 14.450 km. It shares its name with the nearby municipality of Cameia. The Cameia– Luacano road forms the n ...

is a visitor attraction in Angola. It is a national park in the Moxico province of

Angola , national_anthem = " Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordina ...

, located at about 1100 m above sea level. It shares its name with the nearby municipality of

Cameia Lumeje (or Cameia) is a municipality in Moxico Province, Angola. The seat of the municipality is Lumeje Kameia. It is notable for its national park. Lumeje and Lucano form the boundaries of the park. Cameia National Park was established as a game ...

. The

–

Luacano Luacano is a town and municipality in Moxico Province, Angola. The municipality had a population of 20,755 in 2014. The Luacano River (''Rio Luacano'') flows past the town to the west before entering the Kasai River, which forms the border between ...

road forms the northern boundary of the park with the Chifumage River forming the southern portion of the eastern boundary and the Lumege and Luena rivers the south-western boundary. Much of the park consists of seasonally inundated plains that form part of the Zambezi river basin, with the northern half of the park draining into the Chifumage river. There are also extensive miombo woodlands, similar to those in the Zambezi basin of western Zambia. The park is a sample of nature not occurring elsewhere in Angola. Two lakes, Lago Cameia and Lago Dilolo (the largest lake in Angola) lie outside the park boundaries and both have extensive

reedbed A reedbed or reed bed is a natural habitat found in floodplains, waterlogged depressions and estuaries. Reedbeds are part of a succession from young reeds colonising open water or wet ground through a gradation of increasingly dry ground. As ...

s and grassy swamps that are rich in aquatic birds.

Cangandala National Park

Cangandala National Park is another visitor attraction in Angola. It is the smallest National Park in the country and is situated in the

Malanje province Malanje is a province of Angola. It has an area of 97,602 km² and a 2014 census population of 986,363. Malanje is the provincial capital. Geography The Malanje Province is located in the north of Angola, the provincial capital and larges ...

. It is situated between the

Cuije river Mije (real name unrevealed, born June 27, 1969) is a Mexican luchador, or professional wrestler currently working for the Mexican Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) promotion where he portrays a heel (known as a ''rudo'' in lucha libre, the ...

and 2 unnamed territories of the

Cuanza River The Kwanza River, also known as the Coanza, the Quanza, and the Cuanza, is one of the longest rivers in Angola. It empties into the Atlantic Ocean just south of the national capital Luanda. Geography The river is navigable for about from its ...

, with the towns of Culamagia and Techongolola on the edges of the park. The park was created in 1963 while Angola was still under

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

colony.

Iona National Park

Iona National Park, located in Namibe Province, is another popular tourist destination. It is about from the city of

Moçâmedes Moçâmedes is a city in southwestern Angola, capital of Namibe Province. The city's current population is 255,000 (2014 census). Founded in 1840 by the Portuguese colonial administration, the city was named Namibe between 1985 and 2016. Moç� ...

and, at , the largest in the country. Before the

Angolan Civil War The Angolan Civil War ( pt, Guerra Civil Angolana) was a civil war in Angola, beginning in 1975 and continuing, with interludes, until 2002. The war immediately began after Angola became independent from Portugal in November 1975. The war was ...

, Iona was an "animal paradise, rich in big game". However, as is true for most Angolan national parks, illegal poaching and the destruction of infrastructure have caused considerable damage to the once rich park. The park is also known for unique flora and incredible rock formations.

Mupa National Park

Mupa National Park in the southwestern Cunene province was proclaimed a National Park on 26 December 1964 while the country was still a Portuguese colony. The park is significant for its expected wide (though generally unstudied)

avifauna Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweight s ...

. Many Angolans reside within the park, which, along with

nomad A nomad is a member of a community without fixed habitation who regularly moves to and from the same areas. Such groups include hunter-gatherers, pastoral nomads (owning livestock), tinkers and trader nomads. In the twentieth century, the po ...

ic pastoralists and

mineral In geology and mineralogy, a mineral or mineral species is, broadly speaking, a solid chemical compound with a fairly well-defined chemical composition and a specific crystal structure that occurs naturally in pure form.John P. Rafferty, ed. (2 ...

prospecting threatens to destroy the park's birdlife. According to one article, "Even though the park was initially proclaimed to protect the giraffe sub-species, '' Giraffa camelopardalis angolensis'', by 1974 none were left because the morphology of the White Giraffe leaves it particularly vulnerable to landmines left over from Angola's civil war compared to other giraffe sub-species. Other mammals which occurred, include lion, leopard, wild dog and spotted hyena".

Coastline

Angola borders the Atlantic ocean and has 1,650 km of coastline.The Embassy of the Republic of Angola

Visitor statistics

References

External links

Tourism in Angola , Africa Tourism Web Portal

Ministry of Hotels and Tourism
{{Tourism in Africa