Country with High Mortality Rates- Angola Term Paper

Country with High Mortality Rates- Angola - Term Paper Example Location/geography It has an area of 481,321 square miles making it the twenty-third largest country in the world. It lies between latitudes 4 degrees and 18 degrees south and longitudes 12 degrees and 24 degrees east (Staeger, 2012). It gets bordered by Democratic Republic of Congo on the North, Zambia on the east and to the south is Namibia. The country’s west coast lies on the Atlantic Ocean and capital and largest city is Luanda. The country has experienced an intense civil war which lasted for close to 40 years. The country’s official language is Portuguese but it has various recognized national languages; Kikongo, Chokwe, Umbundu, Ganguela and Kwanyama (Staeger, 2012). Population Population in Angola gets estimated to be around 18,056,072 as of July 2012 (Staeger, 2012). 37% of the population consists of the Ovimbundu tribe, 25% the Ambundu, 13% bakongo and 32% the other ethnic groups including Asians and Europeans (Staeger, 2012). As at the end of 2007, Angola ha d an estimated population of 12,100 refugees and in 2008 it is estimated 400,000 had moved to Angola as migrant workers from Congo (Staeger, 2012). Statistics also shows that there are 30,000 Portuguese and more than 259,000 Chinese people in Angola. The fertility rate of Angola according to the 2012 estimates is 5.5 making it the eleventh highest in the world. The Angolan population grows by 2.2% annually as there are 44.5 births and 24.8 deaths in every one thousand citizens (Staeger, 2012). The infant mortality rate is 184 deaths in every one thousand live births and their life expectancy is 37.63 years (Staeger, 2012). Government Angola’s government is based on the constitution that got amended and passed in 2010 (Staeger, 2012). They have the executive branch which gets headed by the president who serves as both the head of state and the government. The president is the commander in chief of the armed forces. One gets to become the president only if he or she receives th e majority votes in the national assembly and they are allowed to serve for a maximum of two five year terms. The country has a unicameral National Assembly which has two hundred and twenty elected members (Staeger, 2012). The country is administratively divided into eighteen provinces each headed by a governor who in turn answer to the president. The National assembly is responsible for making and amending the constitution. The country enjoys a nominally multi party democracy after intense civil war between individual leaders who wanted to have absolute power. The executive is made up of the president and a council of ministers since the position of the prime minister was abolished (Staeger, 2012). The council of ministers entails all ministers and assistant ministers who regulate policy issues. Their constitution has broad outlines which define the government structure and also protect the rights of the citizens and at the same time it outlines the duties of the citizens (Staeger, 2012). Their legal system is mainly based on the Portuguese and customary law making it to be fragmented and weak. The Supreme Court acts as the appellate tribunal. The country has no court with judicial review powers despite the statutory authorization by the constitution. Economy The countries financial operation and system gets regulated by the National Bank of Angola. The country is rich in diamonds, gold, copper, oil and wildlife which significantly boost the economy of the country (Staeger, 2012).