Angola's 1975-2002 civil war pitted three ethnic groups against each other: the Mbundu, represented by the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA); the Bakongo, represented by the militant group National Front for the Liberation of Angola (FNLA); and the Ovimbundu, represented by the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA). In the conflict between the FNLA and MPLA, the MPLA benefitted from a number of advantages that made the outcome relatively certain. However, the Ovimbundu were a far stronger foe than the FLNA. UNITA was able to field an army from a larger ethnic base than the Mbundu. The MPLA needed to expand its zone of control in order to weaken the UNITA without fighting the group in Ovimbundu territory. The solution was to seize northeast Angola's Lunda provinces. Though located outside the Ovimbundu core, these provinces were central to the UNITA's war-funding strategy.