Cunenia
Boer Republic of Cunenia Boererepubliek van Kunenië República Bóer da Cunenha | |
|---|---|
 Flag | |
| Motto: Onze Eendracht maakt onze Macht Our Unity makes our Strength (Dutch) | |
 Location of Cunenia between Angola, Zambia, and Namibia | |
| Status | Unrecognized state |
| Location | Middle Africa |
| Capital | Pereira d'Eça |
| Largest city | Sá da Bandeira |
| Official languages | Afrikaans |
| Recognised national languages | Portuguese |
| Common languages | Herero, Ovambo, !Kung, Khoe, RuKwangali, and others |
| Ethnic groups | |
| Demonym(s) | Cunenian |
| Government | Parliamentary Republic |
| Pieter Strydom | |
| Hans Willem Trichardt | |
| Legislature | Volksraad |
| Independence from Angola | |
| 27 May 1874 | |
• Angolan Independence | 11 November 1975 |
| 1975 — 2002 | |
| Area | |
• Total | 422,505 km2 (163,130 sq mi) |
• Water (%) | negligible |
| Population | |
• 2014 estimate | 4,301,700 |
• Density | 10.181/km2 (26.4/sq mi) |
| Gini | 42.7 medium |
| HDI |  0.581medium |
| Currency | Pound sterling (£) (GBP) |
| Time zone | UTC+1 (WAT) |
| Driving side | right |
| Calling code | +294 |
| Internet TLD | .cnh |
Cunenia (Afrikaans: Kunenië; Portuguese: Cunenha), officially the Boer Republic of Cunenia (Afrikaans: Boererepubliek van Kunenië; Portuguese: República Bóer da Cunenha) is an unrecognised state and disputed territory in the southwestern part of the internationally recognised territory of Angola.
Cunenia has historically been a region of uncharacteristically high White European settlement, particularly by Afrikaners during the Dorsland Trek of the 1870s and by Portuguese settlers during the 1880s and 1890s. A large community of mixed-race people exists as well. Afrikaans is the sole official language of the country and the mother tongue of the majority of white and mixed-race people, but Portuguese is widely spoken across all ethnic groups and may be considered a secondary lingua franca.
Alarmed by the decolonisation of Africa and the prospect of majority rule at the hands of a vengeful native populace, the predominantly white government of the region of Cunenia declared the region's independence from Angola on the 11th of November, 1975 — the very same day of Angola's independence from Portugal. The area was the site of armed conflict as part of the Angolan Civil War which lasted from independence to 2002. Hostilities have ceased, but the government of Angola does not acknowledge or recognise the existence of the Republic of Cunenia as a political entity. The situation is considered to be a frozen conflict, as no formal peace has been reached despite the end of the armed conflict.
Cunenia is nominally a parliamentary republic, but in practice political franchise is limited to white and coloured Afrikaans-speaking citizens, and elections have been indefinitely suspended. The President, Pieter Strydom, has been in power since 1997; under his authoritarian regime, the state's various administrative and security instruments are alleged to have committed numerous human rights violations.
Etymology
The name Cunenia (as well as its Afrikaans and Portuguese forms, Kunenië and Cunenha respectively) is derived from the Cunene River which flows from north to south from the Angolan highlands through the middle of the country before turning westward, where it forms the border between Cunenia and Namibia before emptying into the Atlantic Ocean. It is one of the few perennial rivers in the region, spanning a length of 1,050 kilometres (652 mi), with a drainage basin 106,560 square kilometres (41,143 sq mi) in area. The river and its surrounding area were the primary areas of Boer settlement during the Dorsland Trek.
Cunenia is the only state to officially be known as a Boer Republic, a historical term used to refer to the former independent Afrikaner states in central and eastern South Africa and Namibia. The designation was intentionally chosen to foster a sense of Boer ethnic nationalism among the white and coloured Afrikaans-speaking communities present in the region.