Angola, formerly Portuguese West Africa, is the seventh largest country in Africa. The country can be divided into three major regions: the coastal plain, a transition zone, and the vast inland plateau. Angola has a tropical climate with its vegetation including tropical rain forests, savannas, grasslands, palm trees and even deserts. A great variety of animal life ranging from elephants, rhinoceros, giraffes, and even crocodiles can also be found in this African country (Microsoft 1).Very little is known about the early regions of Angola. "The original inhabitants of present-day Angola were hunters and gatherers. Their descendants, called Bushman by the Europeans, still inhabit portions of southern Africa" (Collelo 5). As early as the seventh century AD, the Bantu migrated to Angola and formed a number of important kingdoms. The earliest and most important of these was the Kongo Kingdom, which arose somewhere between the mid-1300s and the mid-1400s. One of the reasons for this kingdoms success was the willingness of the new inhabitants to live together with the natives rather than try to be their overlords (Bender 23).The earliest contract with outsiders occurred when a Portuguese explorer, Diego Cao arrived at the mouth of the Congo river. "Upon the initial landing, Portugal and Kongo exchanged emissaries, so that each kingdom was able to acquire knowledge of the other" (Collelo 7). The leader if Kongo was so impressed with the reports he received about Portugal that he decided to ask the crown for missionaries and educational assistance in exchange for ivory and other goods."The ruler who came to power in 1506 took a Christian name, Afonso" (Collelo 10). He looked to Portugal for support in educating his people in Christianity, European science and culture, and even military matters. The Portuguese, however, were more interested in profit from the slave trade rather than in Europeanization of the natives. This differe...
