See W.H.  Stevenson, Asser’s Life of King Alfred (Oxford, 1904, pp. 148 ff.); H. Munro Chadwick, The Origin of the English Nation (Cambridge, 1907); also BRITAIN, Anglo-Saxon.

(H.M.C.)

ANGOLA, the general name of the Portuguese possessions on the west coast of Africa south of the equator.  With the exception of the enclave of Kabinda (q.v.) the province lies wholly south of the river Congo.  Bounded on the W. by the Atlantic Ocean, it extends along the coast from the southern bank of the Congo (6 deg.  S., 12 deg.  E.) to the mouth of the Kunene river (17 deg. 18’ S., 11 deg. 50’ E.).  The coast-line is some 900 m. long.  On the north the Congo forms for 80 m. the boundary separating Angola from the Congo Free State.  The frontier thence (in 5 deg. 52’ S.) goes due east to the Kwango river.  The eastern boundary—­dividing the Portuguese possessions from the Congo State and Barotseland (N.W.  Rhodesia)—­is a highly irregular line.  On the south Angola borders German South-West Africa, the frontier being drawn somewhat S. of the 17th degree of S. latitude.  The area of the province is about 480,000 sq. m.  The population is estimated (1906) at 4,119,000.

The name Angola (a Portuguese corruption of the Bantu word Ngola) is sometimes confined to the 105 m. of coast, with its hinterland, between the mouths of the rivers Dande and Kwanza, forming the central portion of the Portuguese dominions in West Africa; in a looser manner Angola is used to designate all the western coast of Africa south of the Congo in the possession of Portugal; but the name is now officially applied to the whole of the province.  Angola is divided into five districts:  four on the coast, the fifth, Lunda, wholly inland, being the N.E. part of the province.  Lunda is part of the old Bantu kingdom of Muata Yanvo, divided by international agreement between Portugal and the Congo Free State.

The coast divisions of Angola are Congo on the N. (from the river Congo to the river Loje), corresponding roughly with the limits of the “kingdom of Congo” (see History below); Loanda, which includes Angola in the most restricted sense mentioned above; Benguella and Mossamedes to the south.  Mossamedes is again divided into two portions—­the coast region and the hinterland, known as Huilla.

Physical Features.—­The coast is for the most part flat, with occasional low cliffs and bluffs of red sandstone.  There is but one deep inlet of the sea—­Great Fish Bay (or Bahia dos Tigres), a little north of the Portuguese-German frontier.  Farther north are Port Alexander, Little Fish Bay and Lobito Bay, while shallower bays are numerous.  Lobito Bay has water sufficient to allow large ships to unload close inshore.  The coast plain extends inland for a distance varying from 30 to 100 m.  This region is in general sparsely watered and somewhat sterile.  The approach to the great central plateau of Africa is marked by a series of