Angola Environment - 2024

Environment - current issues

overuse of pastures and subsequent soil erosion attributable to population pressures; desertification; deforestation of tropical rain forest, in response to both international demand for tropical timber and to domestic use as fuel, resulting in loss of biodiversity; soil erosion contributing to water pollution and siltation of rivers and dams; inadequate supplies of potable water

Environment - international agreements

party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Climate Change-Paris Agreement, Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping-London Protocol, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution

signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

Climate

semiarid in south and along coast to Luanda; north has cool, dry season (May to October) and hot, rainy season (November to April)

Land use

agricultural land: 45.7% (2018 est.)

arable land: 3.9% (2018 est.)

permanent crops: 0.3% (2018 est.)

permanent pasture: 41.5% (2018 est.)

forest: 54.3% (2018 est.)

Urbanization

urban population: 68.7% of total population (2023)

rate of urbanization: 4.04% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)

Revenue from forest resources

0.36% of GDP (2018 est.)

Revenue from coal

0% of GDP (2018 est.)

Air pollutants

particulate matter emissions: 27.16 micrograms per cubic meter (2019 est.)

carbon dioxide emissions: 34.69 megatons (2016 est.)

methane emissions: 23.28 megatons (2020 est.)

Waste and recycling

municipal solid waste generated annually: 4,213,644 tons (2012 est.)

Major rivers (by length in km)

Rio Zambeze (Zambezi) (shared with Zambia [s], Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, and Mozambique [m]) - 2,740 km; Rio Cubango (Okavango) river source (shared with Namibia and Botswana [m]) - 1,600 km
note – [s] after country name indicates river source; [m] after country name indicates river mouth

Major watersheds (area sq km)

Atlantic Ocean drainage: Congo (3,730,881 sq km)
Indian Ocean drainage: Zambezi (1,332,412 sq km)
Internal (endorheic basin) drainage: Okavango Basin (863,866 sq km)

Major aquifers

Congo Basin, Upper Kalahari-Cuvelai-Upper Zambezi Basin

Total water withdrawal

municipal: 320 million cubic meters (2020 est.)

industrial: 240 million cubic meters (2020 est.)

agricultural: 150 million cubic meters (2020 est.)

Total renewable water resources

148.4 billion cubic meters (2020 est.)