Population: 1,300,000

Location: The homeland of the Kongo in Angola is the tropical savannas of Northern Angola. Uige would be the most central city. The region is made up mainly of the Zaire, Cabinda and Uige provinces of Angola. Because of the civil war Kongo people are scattered throughout Angola; however, their population is still concentrated in the North West provinces.

History: The Kongo people of Angola are of Bantu origin and are related linguistically and culturally to other tribes of central Africa. They were part of the Kingdom of the Kongo which was one of the most powerful kingdoms in Africa during the 13th, 14th and 15th centuries. European influence touched the Kongo in 1483 when Diogo Cao sailed up the Congo (now Zaire) River. By the end of the 15th century the Portuguese had sent Catholic missionaries and skilled workers to the Kongo kingdom and some Kongolese had gone to Portugal for schooling. In the early years of the 16th century the King of the Kongo, King Afonso, was baptized into the Catholic church. He ruled for 40 years.

Early contacts between Europeans and Kongolese were friendly and characterized by mutual respect. This was later spoiled by the slave trade. The demand for cheap labor in the sugar plantations of Brazil and the agricultural areas of the Central and North America was met by African slaves captured in the Kongo Kingdom by Kongolese themselves and sold to the Portuguese. The greatest number of slaves taken to the Americas came from the Congo-Angola region. The Kongo homeland was divided under the European colonial rulers. Portugal ruled the Kongo people in Angola from the early 1600's until 1975 when Angola received its independence. Civil war since then has kept the Kongo areas of Angola in constant turmoil. The Kongo region of Angola was the fount of independence struggle of the Angolans against the Portuguese.

Identity: The Kongo are more similar to the tribes to the North in Zaire and the Congo who are members of their linguistic group than to their Mbundu neighbors to their south in Angola. The over 400 years of Portuguese contact and the 22 years of civil war since Angola gained its independence from Portugal have caused the Kongo to lose a good deal of their traditional culture. Two other peoples called Kongo also live in Angola: Kongo San Salvadov and Kongo Kituba. These people speak different languages than the Kongo people we profile here.

Language: The heart language of the Kongo is a Bantu language, characterized by the use of prefixes as indicators of classes of nouns. Following this pattern, the word for their language is Kikongo, the ki indicating language of. In the nineteenth century missionaries began to learn the Kongo language and to record it for use in Bible translation. In 1919 the Portuguese passed decree 5,778 which delegated to the Catholic church the task of "civilizing through education." This decree mandated the teaching of Portuguese in all schools and forbade the use of other languages.

Article 30 of this decree stated that all texts not in Portuguese must include concurrently a Portuguese translation. This added to printing and translation costs, so few books were ever printed in the Kongo language. After independence (1975), the communist educational system was also based on the Portuguese language. Because of this long emphasis on Portuguese, almost all Kongo men can speak Portuguese. Women who have been able to attend school can also speak Portuguese. The Kongo language, however, is used in most rural homes today.

Political Situation: Angola, the geopolitical entity where the Kongo people live, was under Portuguese colonial rule from the early 1600's until 1975. The MPLA (Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola) has been ruling Angola since then. The MPLA is made up mostly of Mbundu and Kongo people and has Marxist roots. The MPLA government received wide support from the USSR and Soviet block countries until the fall of the USSR in the early 90's. The MPLA has been waging a civil war against UNITA (The National Union for the Total Independence of Angola), primarily made up of the Ovimbundu people, since 1975. A cease fire and peace accord went into effect in 1991 and lead to elections which the UN declared as free and fair in 1992. The MPLA won control of the parliament in those elections but the presidential part of the elections were so close that a runoff was needed. UNITA would not accept the results of the elections and returned to war. The worst fighting of the 22-year civil war was between November 1992 and November 1994. A fragile cease fire signed in November 1994 is still precariously in effect.

Customs: Traditionally the Kongo were traders and farmers. They placed importance on relationships within the kin group. A man valued his wife because of the children she could give him, the garden that she provided for him and her ability to cook. During over two centuries of Portuguese colonial rule and over two decades of civil war (and consequent migration of people to the urban centers), the Kongo have lost a great deal of their traditional culture. Most of the Kongo living in urban centers have taken on much of the Portuguese culture in terms of what they eat and wear and the taking of only one wife. However the traditional African values of community solidarity are still more important than individual initiative in the Kongo community. The Kongo normally place more value on relationships than on time and accomplishments.

Religion: Most Kongo people practice various forms of African traditional religions (with emphasis on ancestral spirits) or a mixture of traditional religion with the Catholic or Protestant faith. Due to the Kongo's long continuous contact with the Portuguese and their culture, a good percentage of them are nominal Catholics. Of the Protestant groups the largest now active in the Kongo area is the Baptist faith, represented by at least three separate denominations.

Christianity: Many Kongo have had some exposure to Catholicism, but few have had the opportunity to hear a clear presentation of the gospel in a language and manner they can understand. Catholicism mainly from the Portuguese colonists is by far the strongest Christian influence the Kongo have received, with its primary influences being felt in the 19th and 20th centuries. A Kongo translation of the New Testament was completed in 1893 and the entire Bible was completed by 1916. Today there are evangelical churches ministering in the Kongo areas of Angola. The Baptist Convention of Angola, the Assemblies of God, the Union Baptist Church, The Pentecostal Church and others have works established. There are few missionaries who live and work in Kongo areas.

Prayer Topics: How can we pray?

• Pray that the present peace efforts will lead to a lasting peace in all of Angola.
• Pray for additional missionaries willing to live in difficult situations to minister to the Kongo people.
• Pray for wisdom for those missionaries who are living in among the Kongo people.
• Pray for the translation of Christian literature needed to development leadership in the existing churches.
• Pray that the established churches will have a vision for multiplication and growth.

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