Angolans in Portugal form the country's second-largest group of African migrants, after Cape Verde

Cape Verde

The Republic of Cape Verde is an island country, spanning an archipelago of 10 islands located in the central Atlantic Ocean, 570 kilometres off the coast of Western Africa...

ans. , official statistics showed 28,854 legal Angolan residents in Portugal. However, this number is likely an underestimate of the true size of the community, as it counts neither illegal migrants nor people of Angolan origin who hold Portuguese citizenship.

Migration history

Large-scale migratory flow from Angola to Portugal began in the 1970s, around the time of Angolan independence. However, this early flow consisted largely of retornados, white Portuguese born in Angola

Portuguese Angolans

Portuguese Angolan is a person of Portuguese descent born or permanently living in Angola.-History:The first Portuguese settlements in Angola were established in the 16th century. Some Portuguese settlers married native Africans resulting in a mixed-race population...

. The bulk of mixed-race or black African migrants came later. After the 2002 peace agreement which ended the Angolan Civil War

Angolan Civil War

The Angolan Civil War was a major civil conflict in the Southern African state of Angola, beginning in 1975 and continuing, with some interludes, until 2002. The war began immediately after Angola became independent from Portugal in November 1975. Prior to this, a decolonisation conflict had taken...

, many Angolan migrants in Portugal returned to Angola. By 2003, statistics of the Angolan embassy in Portugal showed that between 8,000 and 10,000 had already returned, and that 400 people a week were flying from Portugal to the Angolan capital Luanda

Luanda

Luanda, formerly named São Paulo da Assunção de Loanda, is the capital and largest city of Angola. Located on Angola's coast with the Atlantic Ocean, Luanda is both Angola's chief seaport and its administrative center. It has a population of at least 5 million...

. However, statistics of the Instituto Nacional de Estatística

Instituto Nacional de Estatística

The Instituto Nacional de Estatística is the National Statistical Institute of Portugal. Its headquarters are located in Lisbon. It also calls itself Statistics Portugal in English. The first census in Portugal was carried out in 1864...

 showed that the population of Angolan legal residents did not decrease from 2001 to 2003, but instead grew by 12.6% (from 22,751 to 25,616 people).

Culture

Angolan migrants in Portugal do not have a particularly homogeneous culture. However, two important elements of their self-described common identity are calor humano (human warmth) and convivência (living together), part of "African hospitality" and "African solidarity" which they feel is an important difference between Angolan and Portuguese social relations.

Angolan migrants in Portugal have had a significant influence on the popularisation of the kuduro

Kuduro

Kuduro is a type of music and dance originally born in Angola in the 1980s. It is characterized as uptempo, energetic, and danceable. Kuduro, which translates as "hard ass", began in Luanda, Angola in the late 80s...

musical style. Cinematic portrayals include Leonel Vieira

Leonel Vieira

Leonel Vieira is a Portuguese film director. He directed films such as Zona J , A Bomba , The Forest .-External links:...

's 1998 blockbuster Zona J.

Further reading

. A study of Angolan migrants in Portugal, their self-perception, and their perception by Portuguese people.