Angola: On the Road of Reconciliation and National Reconstruction.

Historically, the Angolan nation state has been market by several occurrences that have immensely affected the division of its peoples. The people inhabiting the Angolan territorial land are divided into three main ethno-linguistic Bantu groupings namely, Ovimbundu (37%), Kinbundu (25%), and Bakongo (13%). Apart from the three main ethnic groups, the other peoples of Angola also inclue, among others, the Chokwe, Ganguela, Mucubais, Mumuilas, Nhaneca-Humbe, Ambo, Hereto, and Windunga as well as the Mestico (or miwed African and European race). The Portuguese colonization began as early as the 1490s, culminating into the establishment of the first Catholic Church in Angola around the mouth of the Zaire River. Initiatlly, the Portuguese were interested in missionary activities spreading the message in the Kongo Kingdom along the Zaire River and southwards in the Mbundu Kingdom. However, in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries slave trade shipped mainly to Brazil, Cuba and North America dominated the Portuguese colonial interests in Angola. In order to solidify its commercial interests in the clony, the Portuguese built a number of military forts such as the brotherhood of Caconda and the Massangano in Dondo. These military forts were used as staging points for slave trade and expansion throughout Angola. Over the centuries, a class of assimilados and mesticos had emerged in he Portuguese dominated ports and towns. The arrival of the English, Canadian and American missionaries led to the spread of Protestantism and with it different versions of Christianity. The Americans, for example, settled in the Malange and Bengo regions in the northern part of Angola, establishing Methodist Churches in the areas. The Canadians, on the other hand, established their centers around Bela Vista and Bie regions. The inflow of the Portuguese commercial companies in Angola promoted the mobilization of new working opportunities and consequently the demand for workers to be employed in the agricultural sectors, particularly coffee plantations. Iron and coalmines in the South also attracted labourers from northern regions.