Kingdom of Kongo
The Kingdom of Kongo (Kongo: Kongo dya Ntotila or Wene wa Kongo; Portuguese: Reino do Congo) was a kingdom in Central Africa. It was located in present-day northern Angola, the western portion of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Southern of Gabon and the Republic of the Congo. At its greatest extent it reached from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to the Kwango River in the east, and from the Congo River in the north to the Kwanza River in the south. The kingdom consisted of several core provinces ruled by the Manikongo, the Portuguese version of the Kongo title Mwene Kongo, meaning "lord or ruler of the Kongo kingdom", but its sphere of influence extended to neighboring kingdoms, such as Ngoyo, Kakongo, Loango, Ndongo, and Matamba, the latter two located in what is Angola today.
Kingdom of Kongo | |||||||||||||||
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| 1390–1914 | |||||||||||||||
Flag (c. 17th century)
Coat of arms (c. 1528–1541)
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The "Kingdom of Congo"
(now usually rendered as "Kingdom of Kongo" to maintain distinction from the present-day Congo nations) | |||||||||||||||
| Status | Sovereign kingdom (1390–1857) Vassal of the Kingdom of Portugal (1857–1910) Subject of the First Portuguese Republic (1910–1914) | ||||||||||||||
| Capital | São Salvador (today Mbanza-Kongo, Angola) | ||||||||||||||
| Common languages | Kikongo Portuguese | ||||||||||||||
| Religion | Bukongo Catholicism Antonianism (1704–1708) | ||||||||||||||
| Government | Monarchy | ||||||||||||||
| King | |||||||||||||||
• c. 1390–1420 (first) | Lukeni lua Nimi | ||||||||||||||
• 1911–1914 (last) | Manuel III of Kongo | ||||||||||||||
| Legislature | Ne Mbanda-Mbanda | ||||||||||||||
| History | |||||||||||||||
• Conquest of Kabunga | 1390 | ||||||||||||||
| 1622 | |||||||||||||||
| 1623 | |||||||||||||||
| 29 October 1665 | |||||||||||||||
| 1665–1709 | |||||||||||||||
• Reunification | February 1709 | ||||||||||||||
• Vassalage | 1857 | ||||||||||||||
| 1884–1885 | |||||||||||||||
• Abolishment | 1914 | ||||||||||||||
| Area | |||||||||||||||
| c. 1650 | 129,400 km2 (50,000 sq mi) | ||||||||||||||
| Population | |||||||||||||||
• c. 1650 | appx 500,000 | ||||||||||||||
| Currency | Nzimbu shells and Lubongo (Libongo, Mbongo), Mpusu cloth | ||||||||||||||
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| Today part of | Angola Democratic Republic of the Congo Republic of the Congo | ||||||||||||||
From c. 1390 to 1862, it was an independent state. From 1862 to 1914, it functioned intermittently as a vassal state of the Kingdom of Portugal. In 1914, following the Portuguese suppression of a Kongo revolt, Portugal abolished the titular monarchy. The title of king of Kongo was restored from 1915 until 1975, as an honorific without real power. The remaining territories of the kingdom were assimilated into the colony of Angola, the Belgian Congo, and the Republic of Cabinda, respectively. The modern-day Bundu dia Kongo sect favors reviving the kingdom through secession from Angola, the Republic of the Congo, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.