By Paul Simao

LUANDA, Sept 10 (Reuters) - The ruling MPLA party has won a landslide victory in Angola's parliamentary election with almost 82 percent of the vote, according to provisional final results released on Wednesday.

The MPLA (Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola), which has governed the oil-rich African nation since independence from Portugal more than 30 years ago, crushed the opposition nationally and in all of Angola's 18 provinces.

UNITA, a former rebel group which is now the largest opposition party, won just over 10 percent, election officials told a news conference. UNITA conceded defeat on Monday, dropping a bid to contest what it described as a flawed poll.

Delays in opening polling stations and missing voter registration lists led to an unscheduled second day of voting.

International observers have expressed general satisfaction with the conduct of the poll and said they hoped it would lead to the blossoming of a full democracy after a lengthy period of virtual one-party rule.

An observer mission from the U.S. embassy said on Tuesday the poll was generally peaceful and that no acts of intimidation had been detected by monitors in five of the 18 provinces.

"We congratulate the people of Angola on their participation in this important step in strengthening their democracy," the mission said in a statement read by U.S. ambassador Dan Mozena in the capital Luanda.

But the mission said the MPLA had enjoyed an advantage over the opposition through its access to state control of major media outlets.

The U.S. statement followed a European Union observer team's verdict that Angolans had been able to vote freely. African observer missions also described the poll as legitimate.

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