Peace Day (Angola)

Peace Day is a public holiday in Angola, and it is observed on April 4 each year. The holiday marks the end of the Angola Civil War in 2002, which lasted almost 27 years from 1975 to 2002.

Portuguese first established the Portuguese colony of Angola in 1575. The Dutch occupied Angola in 1641 during the Portuguese Restoration War, but the Portuguese took it back in 1648. Under almost 400 years of Portuguese rule, Angola suffered mass forced labor, racism and failed to be modernized, which led to the armed resistance fighting for independence since 1961.

On November 11, 1975, Agostinho Neto led the Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) seized Luanda, the capital of Angola, and declared independence from the Portuguese. Following its dependence, the power struggle between the two former anti-colonial guerrilla movements immediately started: MPLA and UNITA (the communist People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola).

The Angolan Civil War started on November 11, 1975, and lasted over 26 years till April 4, 2020, when the Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the two parties and agreed to the ceasefire. During the Civil War, almost a million people were killed and over 4 million people were internally displaced.

The following is the list of Peace Day in Angola from 2022 to 2026.

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