File:Kongocapital.jpg · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons
M'banza-Kongo
Sign in to saveAlso known as São Salvador do Congo, Mabanza Congo, M'banza Congo, São Salvador, Sao Salvador, Sao Salvador do Congo, San Salvador, San Salvador de Congo
Mbanza Kongo (, , or , known as São Salvador in Portuguese from 1570 to 1976; ) is the capital of Angola's northwestern Zaire Province with a population of 221,141 in 2024. Mbanza Kongo was the capital of the Kingdom of Kongo since its foundation before the arrival of the Portuguese in 1483 until the abolition of the kingdom in 1915, aside from a brief period of abandonment during civil wars in the 17th century. In 2017, Mbanza Kongo was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
OverviewAI-generated
M'banza-Kongo is a city in Zaire Province, Angola. It has served as the capital of both Zaire Province and the Kingdom of Kongo. The city is located at coordinates -6.2666666666667, 14.25 and has an elevation of 408 meters above sea level. Its official name is M'banza-Kongo, and it is a member of the União das Cidades Capitais Luso-Afro-Américo-Asiáticas.
The city covers an area of 89.29 and has a population of 148000. It is designated as a World Heritage Site and is twinned with Rio de Janeiro. M'banza-Kongo is also present in the work Civilization V.
Synthesized by Vinony from 48 facts across 8 sources: Wikidata, Open Meteo, Openweathermap, OpenStreetMap, GeoNames, Vinony collections, Vinony graph, Geo. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.
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via Open-Meteo
Place details
- Locality
- M'banza Congo
- Region
- Zaire
- Country
- Angola
- Population
- 148,000
- Timezone
- Africa/Luanda
via OpenStreetMap · GeoNames
Key facts
- Settlement.name
- Mbanza Kongo
- Settlement.settlement_type
- Municipality and town
- Settlement.image_skyline
- File:Kongocapital.jpg
- Settlement.image_caption
- Mbanza Kongo (São Salvador) in 1745
- Settlement.pushpin_map
- Angola
- Settlement.pushpin_label_position
- right
- Settlement.pushpin_mapsize
- 300
- Settlement.pushpin_map_caption
- Location in Angola
- Settlement.subdivision_type
- Country
- Settlement.subdivision_type1
- Province
- Settlement.subdivision_name1
- Zaire Province
- Settlement.founder
- Lukeni lua Nimi
- Settlement.established_title
- Founded
- Settlement.established_date
- c. 1390
- Settlement.area_total_km2
- 5,154
- Settlement.population_as_of
- 2024
- Settlement.population_total
- 221,141
- Settlement.population_density_km2
- auto
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- city
- Official name
- M'banza-Kongo
- Country
- Portuguese Empire
- Located in
- Zaire Province
- Population
- 148000
- Area
- 0.622
- Elevation
- 408
- Capital of
- Kingdom of Kongo
- Image
- The Bansa, or residence of the King of Kongo, called St. Salvador (M'Banza Kongo), Astley 1745.jpg
Show 7 more facts
- topic's main category
- Category:M'Banza Kongo
- Commons category
- M'Banza Kongo
- native label
- M'banza-Kongo
- present in work
- Civilization V
- twinned administrative body
- Rio de Janeiro
- P12749
- CeeLo Green
via Wikidata · CC0
Travel guide
Get in
The shorter way to get into M'banza-Kongo from DRC is via Lufu/Luvo land port. However as of 2023 November travelers have reported corrupt Angolese border police gives travelers trouble by demanding bribe and denying entry otherwise.
So consider using Matadi -> Noqui border point -> Mepala route as an alternative when getting into Angola.
See
The city and its cultural landscape of both precolonial and colonial has been designated a World Heritage Site. While many buildings were ruined in the Angolan Civil War, some historic sights remain.
Memorial to the mother of King Afonso I of Kongo near the airport. It commemorates a popular legend that began in the 1680s that the king had buried his mother alive because she was not willing to give up an "idol" which she wore around her neck. The Jalankuwo, the Manikongo's judgement tree, can still be found in the downtown area of the city, along with sunguilu, a rectangular ground level structure where local tradition says the king's body was washed before burial, both on the grounds of the royal palace and present day Royal Museum. The Royal Museum, rebuilt as a modern structure, houses an impressive collection of artifacts from the old Kingdom, even though many were lost from the older building during the Civil War of 1976–2002.
Travel guide from Wikivoyage (CC BY-SA 4.0)
~6 min read
Encyclopedic overview
7 sectionsContents
- History
- Geography
- Climate
- Sites
- References
- Bibliography
- External links
Mbanza Kongo (, , or , known as São Salvador in Portuguese from 1570 to 1976; ) is the capital of Angola's northwestern Zaire Province with a population of 221,141 in 2024. Mbanza Kongo was the capital of the Kingdom of Kongo since its foundation before the arrival of the Portuguese in 1483 until the abolition of the kingdom in 1915, aside from a brief period of abandonment during civil wars in the 17th century. In 2017, Mbanza Kongo was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
==History== Mbanza Kongo (formerly called Nkumba a Ngudi, Mongo wa Kaila and Kongo dia Ngunga ) was founded by the first manikongo, Lukeni, at a junction of major trade routes. The Kingdom of Kongo at its peak reached from southern Africa's Atlantic coast to the Nkisi River. The Manikongo was chosen by clan leaders to rule some 300 square miles, an area that is part of several countries today. The Portuguese who first reached it in 1491 travelled ten days to get there from the mouth of the Congo River. thumb|upright|left|Portuguese coat of arms of São Salvador The earliest documented kings referred to their city in their correspondence as "the city of Congo" (cidade do Congo), and the name of the city as São Salvador appears for the first time in the letters of Álvaro I of Kongo (1568–1587) and was carried on by his successors.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “M'banza-Kongo” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.
Gallery (3)
On the map
4 mapped locations