The Angolan Civil War

500,000

estimated total dead

Each dot below represents 1,000 human lives. Scroll to watch the scale unfold.

Military Dead

160,000 soldiers killed in combat, from wounds, or from disease. Each = 1,000 lives.

MPLA Government (Cuba/USSR) — 80,000 military dead

UNITA & FNLA (US/South Africa) — 80,000 military dead

Civilian Dead

340,000 civilians killed — from violence, famine, disease, and displacement. Wars are not fought only by soldiers.

Civilian dead — 340,000

Deadliest Engagements

The Halloween Massacre10,000

incl. 8,000 civilians

The Bicesse Accords and the Return to War8,000

incl. 3,000 civilians

Battle of Cuito Cuanavale6,000

The Final War and the Death of Savimbi5,000

incl. 2,000 civilians

Battle of the Lomba River4,000

Operation Savannah2,500

incl. 500 civilians

The Cassinga Raid900

incl. 600 civilians

Battle of Quifangondo400

For Perspective

How Angolan Civil War's dead compare to other conflicts and events.

Angolan Civil War — total dead500,000

Cuban troops deployed over 15 years300,000

Landmines sown across Angola (millions)10

Angolans displaced at the war's peak (millions)4

Total war dead, 27 years (est.)500,000

Milestones of Loss

10 dead

Angola was left one of the most heavily mined countries on earth, with millions of landmines still killing and maiming civilians long after the war ended.

300,000 dead

Cuba rotated an estimated 300,000 soldiers and thousands of civilian workers through Angola between 1975 and 1991 — the largest foreign deployment ever mounted by a developing country.

500,000 dead

Estimates of the total dead over the 27-year war range from around 500,000 to over 800,000; the great majority were civilians killed by fighting, massacres, landmines, famine, and disease.

All figures are historical estimates and vary across sources. The true human cost of war is impossible to fully quantify — these numbers represent the best scholarly consensus. Each number was a person with a name, a family, and a life unlived.