The Republic of Angola is a large nation of southwestern Africa, located south of the Congo and north of Namibia. It has a coastline 1600 km (995 mi) long facing west on the South Atlantic Ocean. A former Portuguese colony, Angola dissolved into civil war immediately upon independence in 1975. The long and bitter war finally ended in 2002 but the country is still working on recovery. Lighthouses in Angola are maintained by the Instituto Hidrografico e de Sinalizacao de Angola (IHSMA), an agency of the transport ministry. Nearly all of the lighthouses were abandoned during the civil war and some were destroyed in the fighting. In recent years the Portuguese Navy has assisted in efforts to restore or replace and relight many of the lights. Portuguese continues as the language of government and trade in Angola, along with four indigenous languages. The Portuguese word for a lighthouse is farol, plural faróis; a small lightbeacon is often called a farolim. In Portuguese ilha is an island, ilhéu is an islet, cabo is a cape, ponta is a promontory or point of land, rocha is a rock, recife is a reef, baía is a bay, estreito is a strait, rio is a river, and porto is a port or harbor. Current information and photos for many Angolan light stations are badly needed. Special thanks are due to José da Palma for his work in visiting lighthouses of Benguela and Kwanza Sul provinces. Entries for those areas depend heavily on his observations. ARLHS numbers are from the ARLHS World List of Lights. PT numbers are from volume II of the Portuguese light list as supplied by the Admiralty. Admiralty numbers are from volume D of the Admiralty List of Lights & Fog Signals. U.S. NGA List numbers are from Publication 113.
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![]() Ponta do Sombreiro Light, Benguela, January 2012 photo copyright José da Palma; used by permission |
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![]() Ponta da Restinga Light, Lobito, October 2015 photo copyright Steffen Neumann, courtesy of Jürgen Klinksiek; used by permission |
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![]() New and Old Sumbe Lights, Sumbe, January 2012 photo copyright José da Palma; used by permission |
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![]() Porto Amboim Light, Porto Amboim, ca. 2012 ex-Twitter photo salvaged by Google Images |
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Information available on lost lighthouses:
Notable faux lighthouses:
Adjoining pages: North: Republic of the Congo | Northeast: Democratic Republic of the Congo | South: Namibia
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Posted September 30, 2005. Checked and revised April 6, 2025. Lighthouses: 51. Site copyright 2025 Russ Rowlett and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.