The
Kingdom of Kongo (
Kongo:
Kongo dya Ntotila or
Wene wa Kongo or
Portuguese:
Reino do Congo) was an African kingdom located in west central
Africa in what is now northern
Angola,
Cabinda, the
Republic of the Congo, the western portion of the
Democratic Republic of the Congo, as well as the southernmost part of
Gabon. 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 neighbouring kingdoms, such as
Ngoyo,
Kakongo,
Ndongo and
Matamba.