West-Central Africa is the single embarkation region where the biggest number of African slaves were exported from to almost all destinations within the Americas. See map below (which features data for all of the Americas) and also the Slave Voyages Database. Practically all of the slaveports were located along the Angolan & Congolese coast but many captives were also transported via the Congo river from further inland. Central Africa is still relatively unknown among the general public despite its big genetic and cultural legacy among many Afro-descendants.
***
Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade Database (2010) (http://www.slavevoyages.org)
***
It doesn’t really help matters that there’s also two Congo’s 🙂 The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and the Republic of Congo. Generally when i use the term Congolese it will refer to both countries but whenever i need to make a distinction i will refer to the first one as simply DRC and its smaller neighbour as Congo Brazzaville. When referring to the historical kingdom of Kongo or the ethnic group of the Kikongo speaking Bakongo specifically i will use “Kongolese” to avoid any misunderstanding.
Kongo & Loango Kingdoms
The Kongo kingdom, centered in both Congo’s and northern Angola, is well known for its early relations with the Portuguese. It was one of the first African kingdoms to convert to Christianity and unfortunately was also engaged in slavetrading from early on. Most of the 16th century trade in Kongolese captives passed through the island of São Tomé. Later on (late 1500’s) the Portuguese slave trade relocated further south to Luanda/Angola where they made their own settlement and started to trade mostly with Mbundu kingdoms from the Angolan interior. Along the Congolese coast reaching into southern Gabon in the late 1600’s and throughout the 1700’s/1800’s also the Loango Kingdom (a breakaway province of the Kongo kingdom) became a preferred trading spot for many European slavers from France, the UK and the Netherlands. These distinct slave trade patterns for each European country had implications for which ethnic groups ended up being taken to their colonies.
The principal inhabitants of the Kongo & the Loango Kingdom were Kikongo speakers or Bakongo (they do have various subgroups). According to Wikipedia they are 12 % of DRC’s population (72 million, all ethnic groups together); 13% of Angolan population (24 million, all ethnic groups together) and compromising no less than 48% of the population of Congo Brazzaville (4,3 million, all ethnic groups together). The Bakongo seem to be most numerous therefore in DRC.
For more details see these insightful websites:
- KONGOKING : an interdisciplinary approach to the origins of the Kongo kingdom
- To Chronicle Art of Africa
***(click to enlarge)
***(click to enlarge)
***(click to enlarge)
***(click to enlarge)
***(click to enlarge)
Other Kingdoms
These maps demonstrate how also kingdoms located far into the interior were connected with the Trans Atlantic Slave Trade via overland routes to either Angola or Mozambique. Even when not shown on the maps i suppose the Kongo and Loango kingdoms would also have trading connections with these interior kingdoms, or others located more to the north.
***(click to enlarge)
***(click to enlarge)
Slave Trade & Ethnicity
Because many Central African slaves were exported via the Kongo kingdom they tended to get lumped together under the single name of “Congo’s” despite often having different ethnic backgrounds. Still they developed a collective identity in the Americas, it is assumed because they were culturally already quite close to each other. It is also assumed most of them would have been Bakongo but as these maps below show many more neighbouring ethnic groups could have been caught up. If you click on the first map you get to see it in greater detail and you can also see the principal slave ports. Generally the ones north of the Congo river were used by the English, French, Dutch and also Americans after 1776.
To the south Luanda and Benguela were strictly under Portuguese control. Ambriz, located in northern Angola within the Bakongo area, attracted traders from all nations but mostly from Portugal/Brazil. There’s confusion on how the term “Angola” was used by the Dutch and English in the 1600’s/1700’s, it may have referred to slaves brought over via Cabinda and Ambriz but sometimes it may also have referred to areas outside of the modern day territory of Angola (Loango). See also:
***(click to enlarge)
***(click to enlarge)
***(click to enlarge)
***(click to enlarge)
Source: HYWEL DAVIES (1971), p.40.
Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)
***(click to enlarge)
Source: GeoCurrents website: DR Congo’s Geographical Challenges
***(click to enlarge)
Angola
***
Zambia
***(click to enlarge)
***(click to enlarge)
***
Gabon & Congo Brazzaville
Congo Brazzaville’s coastline used be at the heart of the Loango kingdom. Many captives were shipped away from here to the USA and the West Indies by the English, French and Dutch. But most of them could have originated from much further inland, also outside of Congo Brazzavilles’s presentday borders. Southern Gabon also used to be part of the Loango kingdom, but most likely only few slaves from within Gabon were exported as this country still is nowadays very thinly populated and heavily forested. This also goes for Congo Brazzaville btw. Combined these two countries have barely seven million inhabitants while Angola alone already has about 25 million and the DRC has over 70 million! (source). Still there are some historical references on Gabon slaves in Brazil i will blog about later on. Also they might have had a disproportional presence among the slaves brought over to São Tomé.
***(click to enlarge)
***(click to enlarge)
***(click to enlarge)
***(click to enlarge)
***
Tracing African Roots 
It is interesting to me that there is place called Loango in Alabama.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Indeed, I find it very interesting too! There are more place names in the US referring to either Angola or Congo I believe. See for example this other blog post of mine (also comment section):
https://tracingafricanroots.wordpress.com/2015/05/25/ethnic-origins-of-south-carolina-runaway-slaves/
But this Loango reference would still be a similar testimony of the Central African presence in the US. Unless we should assume that the reason given by the locals (according to Wikipedia) is more plausible 😉
“Loango is an unincorporated community in Covington County, Alabama, United States.
History
The local explanation for the town name, is that it comes from a combination of the words load, and, and go.[2] A post office operated under the name Loango between 1856 and 1907.[3] The maternal great-great-grandparents of Bill Clinton are buried in the Old Loango Cemetery.” (source: Wikipedia)
LikeLike
Did you know that the Northern part of Gabon is part of Bight of Biafra just like Southeastern Nigeria & Cameroon.
Southern Gabon is part of Angola/Congo right ?
LikeLike
Yes geographically speaking Gabon is indeed a bit intermediate between Bight of Biafra and Central Africa. Depending on which historian you follow the exact demarcation of slave trade regions might be somewhat different. Obviously Gabon did not exist yet as a country with its presentday borders in the slave trade era. Because its population is overwhelmingly Bantu speaking I suppose you might say that ethno-linguistically speaking it is Central African. Also due to the Loango kingdom I find that historically speaking it clearly belongs to the Central African realm.
See also the various maps on this page:
https://tracingafricanroots.com/maps/slave-trade/
LikeLike
I know in this page it mentions that they send them to the states & the west indies.
Is it only Southern Gabon or Is Northern Gabon included as well ?
Do you know where in the Carribean they send the most Gabonese slaves ?
I’m asking cuz I have ties to Martinique
And I was reading up on something and it stated that many Gabonese slaves were taken to Martinique.
In my genetic communities
It states I’m Lesser Antilles African Carribeans ?
But my father’s father is 1st generation Carribean but his father was african.
I have another question
If your African on one parent side
Do you still score African Carribeans or if both of your parents are African can you score African Carribeans ?
LikeLike
Hi Dezzy, I really can’t give you any more detailed info beyond what is being posted on this page or also the Ethnic/Regional Origins section. Perhaps if you look into the history of the Kingdom of Orungu you might get more answers.
You will get assigned to any one of Ancestry’s migrations or communities, based on the matching strength you display with other members of those groups. The reason behind you matching those people may not always be straightforward though, it can go both ways. Actually Africans are often also receiving African Caribbean migrations. Not because they are of Caribbean descent obviously! But rather the other way around: many Caribbeans will be among their DNA matches which results in these Africans being included in the group as well.
As your Gabonese connection is relatively recent (great-grandfather?) I think the odds of finding actual Gabonese matches or from neighbouring countries could be quite good. Having a closer look into your African DNA matches will provide you a more solid basis to learn about some of the ethnic groups which are part of your heritage.
LikeLike