Kongo

An African kingdom situated to the S of the R Congo which by the late 15th-c had a coastline of 250 km/150 mi and reached inland for 400 km/250 mi. It was already involved in trade in ivory, copper, and slaves when the Portuguese arrived in the area in 1482. Some of its kings accepted Christianity, but it was disrupted by the stepping up of the slave trade, and declined during the 18th-c when the Portuguese turned their attention to S Angola.

Kongo may refer to:

The Kingdom of Kongo, formerly a kingdom in southwestern central Africa Kongo people, an ethnic group in Congo and Angola Kongo language Kongo Central, the name of the former Bas-Congo province, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo Mountain Kongō, a mountain in Osaka prefecture, Japan, which lends its name to a number of Japanese vessels Japanese corvette Kongō (1877) Japanese battleship Kongō, of the World War II era Kongō class destroyer, a current warship class operated by the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force Kongō, the mythical trident-shaped staff of the Japanese god Koya-no-Myoin (see List of mythical objects#Weapons)