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Before the arrival of the Europeans, the Kongo Empire was a highly developed state at the center of an extensive trading network. Apart from natural resources and ivory, the country manufactured and traded copperware, raffia cloth, and pottery.

In his travels along the African coast in the 1480s, Portuguese navigator Diogo Cão first encountered stories of a great empire that controlled trade in the region. In 1483, he visited Manikongo Nzinga in his capital, Mbanza , and persuaded the king to open his country to the Portuguese. Then were 6 states in the region: Sonho, Bamba, Pemba, Batta, Fango and Sundi. This last one (capital Ambezi) was the first to accept the portuguese protectorate. Catholic missionaries arrived in 1490, and ten years later the Manikongo himself was baptized and assumed the name Afonso. The king also sent his son Afonso to Portugal to be educated, and one of his grandsons later became the first black African bishop in the Catholic Church. The capital city was renamed Sao Salvador .

In the following decades, the Kongo Empire became a major source of slaves for traders from Portugal and other European countries. This began taking its toll on the Empire, and in 1526, the Manikongo wrote to king JoãoJohn III of Portugal the Pious ( Portuguese Joao III ( June 6, 1502 June 11, 1557) was the fifteenth king of Portugal. Born in Lisbon, he was the son of King Manuel I of Portugal by his wife, Maria of Aragon, princess of Spain. Joao III succeeded his fath of Portugal, imploring him to put a stop to the practice. His plea went unanswered, and relations between the two countries soured. Severely weakened by a loss of manpower and a victim of incursions by other neighboring states, the Kongo Empire went into decline. The Portuguese saw this as an opportunity to increase the number of slaves being taken from the region. Under increasing pressure from without and within, by the late sixteenth century the country had all but ceased to exist.

At the Battle of Ambuila in 1665Events March 4 Start of the Second Anglo-Dutch War March 6 Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society begins publication March 16 Bucharest allows Jews to settle in the city in exchange of annual tax of 16 guilders June 3 The Duke of York defeats the, the Portuguese forces from Angola defeated the forces of king Antonio I of Kongo ; Antonio was killed with many of his courtiers and the Luso-African author Manuel Roboredo , who had attempted to prevent this final war. Nevertheless, the country continued to exist, at least in name, for over two centuries, until the realm was divided among Portugal, BelgiumFor alternate meanings, see Belgium (disambiguation). Belgian redirects here. For the horse breed commonly used as a draft horse, see Belgian. The Kingdom of Belgium ( Dutch: Belgi French: Belgique German: Belgien is a country in Western Europe, bordered, and FranceThe French Republic or France ( French: Republique francaise or France is a country whose metropolitan territory is located in western Europe, and which is further made up of a collection of overseas islands and territories located in other continents. at the Conference of Berlin in 1884-1885.

See also List of Manikongo of KongoThis is a List of Manikongo of Kongo . Manikongo is the local version of the title for the ruler or king of the Kingdom of Kongo. Traditionally, Manikongo were elected by elders from among eligible members of the Kimpanzu or the Kimulazu clans. Some excep