One of Africa's major oil producers, Angola is also one of the world's poorest countries.
It is striving to tackle the physical, social and political legacy of the 27-year civil war that ravaged the country after independence.
The ruling Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) and the rebel group Unita were bitter rivals even before the country gained independence from Portugal in 1975.
The Soviet Union and Cuba supported the then-Marxist MPLA, while the US and white-ruled South Africa backed Unita as a bulwark against Soviet influence in Africa.
AT-A-GLANCE
After 16 years of fighting, which killed up to 300,000 people, a peace deal led to elections. But Unita rejected the outcome and resumed the war, in which hundreds of thousands more were killed. Another peace accord was signed in 1994 and the UN sent in peacekeepers.
But the fighting steadily worsened again and in 1999 the peacekeepers withdrew, leaving behind a country rich in natural resources but littered with landmines and the ruins of war.
The connection between the civil war and the unregulated diamond trade - or "blood diamonds" - was a source of international concern. The UN froze bank accounts used in the gem trade.
Peace
The death of Unita leader Jonas Savimbi in a gunfight with government forces in February 2002 raised the prospect of peace and the army and rebels signed a ceasefire in April to end the conflict.
Angola faces the daunting tasks of rebuilding its infrastructure, retrieving weapons from its heavily-armed civilian population and resettling tens of thousands of refugees who fled the fighting. Landmines and impassable roads have cut off large parts of the country. Many Angolans rely on food aid.
Much of Angola's oil wealth lies in Cabinda province, where a decades-long separatist conflict simmers. The government has sent thousands of troops to subdue the rebellion in the enclave, which has no border with the rest of Angola. Human rights groups have alleged abuses against civilians.
A supplier of crude oil to the US and China, Angola denies allegations that revenues have been squandered through corruption and mismanagement. Oil exports and foreign loans have spurred economic growth and have fuelled a reconstruction boom.
President: Jose Eduardo dos Santos
Jose Eduardo dos Santos, of the ruling MPLA, has led Angola since 1979, when the country's first president, Agostinho Neto, died.
The MPLA won a landslide victory in parliamentary elections held in September 2008, the first polls to be held in the country for 16 years.
Long-awaited presidential elections, the first since 1992, are expected to be held in 2009.
Although Mr dos Santos has said he will not run in the presidential election, he does not appear to have groomed a successor and has sidelined potential rivals.
In the 1992 presidential poll he narrowly beat Unita leader Jonas Savimbi, who rejected the result and resumed his guerrilla war. There was no second round of voting in the poll, although Mr Dos Santos is recognised internationally as Angola's president.
Born in 1942, Mr Dos Santos joined the MPLA's guerrilla army at the age of 19. In the former Soviet Union he trained in oil engineering and radar technology. He held ministerial posts before becoming president.
The state controls all media with nationwide reach, including radio, the most influential medium outside the capital.
Television, the private press, and internet access are very limited outside Luanda. Angola's only daily newspaper, Jornal de Angola, and the terrestrial TV service TPA are state-owned and rarely criticise the government.
State-run Radio Nacional de Angola (RNA) is the only outlet to offer programmes in indigenous languages such as Bantu. Private stations operate in the main cities, including Catholic station Radio Ecclesia, but RNA is the only available broadcaster across much of the country.
The constitution provides for freedom of expression but the government does not always respect this and private media outlets are liable to harassment. Anti-defamation statutes protect officials from reporting deemed "offensive".
Nevertheless, several private newspapers and radio stations have carried criticism of the government.
Pay-TV services are operated by MultiChoice Angola and TV Cabo; they carry some Brazilian and Portuguese channels.
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RELATED INTERNET LINKS
Angolan embassy in Washington
UN news about Angola
BBC Portuguese for Africa
BBC Weather: Angola
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