Angola, officially the Republic of Angola, is a country located on the west-central coast of Southern Africa. It is the second-largest Lusophone (Portuguese-speaking) country in both total area and population, and is the seventh-largest country in Africa. It is bordered by Namibia to the south, the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the north, Zambia to the east, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west. Angola has an exclave province, the province of Cabinda, that borders the Republic of the Congo and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The capital and most populous city is Luanda.
Njinga Ana de Sousa Mbande was a Southwest African ruler who served as queen of the Ambundu Kingdoms of Ndongo (1624–1663) and Matamba (1631–1663), located in present-day northern Angola. Born into the ruling family of Ndongo, her father Ngola Kilombo Kia Kasenda was the king of Ndongo.
Malanje is the capital city of Malanje Province in Angola, with a population of 455,000, and a municipality, with a population of 506,847. Projected to be the thirteenth fastest growing city on the African continent between 2020 and 2025, with a 5.17% growth. It is located 380 kilometres (240 mi) east of Angola's capital Luanda. Near it are the spectacular Calandula waterfalls, the rock formations of Pungo Andongo, and the Capanda Dam. The climate is mainly humid, with average temperatures between 20 and 24 °C and rainfall 900 to 130 millimetres in the rainy season.
Malanje is a province of Angola. It has an area of 97,602 km² and a 2014 census population of 986,363. Malanje is the provincial capital.
The Kingdom of Ndongo, 1515-1909, was an early-modern African state located in the highlands between the Lukala and Kwanza Rivers, in what is now Angola.
The Imbangala or Mbangala were divided groups of warriors and marauders who worked as hired mercenaries in 17th Century Angola and later founded the Kasanje Kingdom.
The Kingdom of Kongo was a kingdom located in Central Africa in present-day northern Angola, the western portion of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, 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 neighbouring kingdoms, such as Ngoyo, Kakongo, Loango, Ndongo, and Matamba, the latter two located in what is Angola today.
The Kingdom of Matamba (1631–1744) was an African state located in what is now the Baixa de Cassange region of Malanje Province of modern-day Angola. It was a powerful kingdom that long resisted Portuguese colonisation attempts and was only integrated into Angola in the late nineteenth century.
The Ambundu or Mbundu (Mbundu: Ambundu or Akwambundu, singular: Mumbundu are a Bantu people who live on a high plateau in present-day Angola just north of the Kwanza River. The Ambundu speak Kimbundu, and most also speak the official language of the country, Portuguese. They are the second biggest ethnic group in the country and make up 25% of the total population of Angola.
Giovanni Antonio Cavazzi da Montecuccolo (1621–1678) was an Italian Capuchin missionary noted for his travels in 17th century Portuguese Angola and his lengthy account of local history and culture as well as a history of the Capuchin mission there.
The Battle of Kombi was a decisive battle in the war between Ndongo-Matamba and Portugal during the Dutch period of Angolan history.
The precolonial history of Angola lasted until Portugal annexed the territory as a colony in 1655.
The colonial history of Angola is usually considered to run from the appearance of the Portuguese under Diogo Cão in 1482 (Congo) or 1484 until the independence of Angola in November 1975. Settlement did not begin until Novais's establishment of São Paulo de Loanda (Luanda) in 1575, however, and the Portuguese government only formally incorporated Angola as a colony in 1655 or on May 12, 1886.
Lourenço da Silva Mendouça was a member of the Ndongo royal family who ruled the Kingdom of Ndongo in what is now Angola. An abolitionist, he was probably the first person to successfully convince authorities to end slavery in Europe. A Catholic, his dealings were mostly with Church authorities and those with whom they were associated.
Angola–Portugal relations refers to bilateral relations between Angola and Portugal. Relations between the two are intrinsically tied because of the Portuguese Empire with Angola under Portuguese rule from 1575–1975.
Slavery in Angola existed since the late 15th century when Portugal established contacts with the peoples living in what is the Northwest of the present country, and founded several trade posts on the coast. A number of those peoples, like the Imbangala and the Mbundu, were active slave traders for centuries. In the late 16th century, Kingdom of Portugal's explorers founded the fortified settlement of Luanda, and later on minor trade posts and forts on the Kwanza River as well as on the Atlantic coast southwards until Benguela. The main component of their trading activities consisted in a heavy involvement in the Atlantic slave trade. Slave trafficking was abolished in 1836 by the Portuguese authorities.
The Portuguese colony of Angola was founded in 1575 with the arrival of Paulo Dias de Novais with a hundred families of colonists and four hundred soldiers. Luanda was granted the status of city in 1605. The fortified Portuguese towns of Luanda and Benguela.
The Battle of Mbumbi was a military engagement between forces of Portuguese Angola and the Kingdom of Kongo in 1622. Although the Portuguese were victorious, the battle served as the impetus for the Kingdom of Kongo to expel the Portuguese from their territory.
Pungo-Andongo is a town and commune of Angola, located in the province of Malanje.
The Battle of Pungo Andongo, also known as the siege of Pungo Andongo was a military engagement in what is today Angola between Portugal and the Kingdom of Ndongo whose capital, Pungo Andongo, also known as Pedras Negras, was besieged. After a nine-month encirclement, the capital was taken by storm, plundered and occupied by the Portuguese.
