During their process of maritime-commercial expansion, the Portuguese opened contact with the various cultures that were already consolidated by the coast and other parts of the interior of the African continent. In 1483, when the Portuguese navigator Diogo reached the mouth of the Zaire River, a strongly structured monarchical government known as Congo was found.
Founded around the 14th century, this centralized state dominated the central-western part of Africa. In this region there was a large number of provinces where several groups of the Bantu ethnic group, mainly the Bakongo, occupied the territories. Despite the centralized feature, the kingdom of Congo had the presence of local administrators from old families or chosen by the monarchical authority itself.
