Soyo (formerly known as ''Santo António do Zaire'') is a city, with a population of 200,920 (2014 census), and a municipality, with a population of 227,175 (2014 census), located in the

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''Roman province, provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire ...

Zaire Zaire (, ), officially the Republic of Zaire (french: République du Zaïre, link=no, ), was a Congolese state from 1971 to 1997 in Central Africa that was previously and is now again known as the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Zaire was, ...

Angola , national_anthem = " Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordina ...

, at the mouth of the

Congo river The Congo River ( kg, Nzâdi Kôngo, french: Fleuve Congo, pt, Rio Congo), formerly also known as the Zaire River, is the second longest river in Africa, shorter only than the Nile, as well as the second largest river in the world by discharge ...

. Soyo recently became the largest oil-producing region in the country, with an estimate of .

Early history

Soyo (originally spelled "Sonho" and pronounced Sonyo) was a province of the

Kingdom of Kongo The Kingdom of Kongo ( kg, Kongo dya Ntotila or ''Wene wa Kongo;'' pt, Reino do Congo) was a kingdom located in central Africa in present-day northern Angola, the western portion of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and the Republic of the ...

, which stretched south from the mouth of the Congo River to the River Loze, and inland from about 100 kilometers. It was already an administrative entity whose ruler or governor bore the title ''mwene Soyo'' or "lord of Soyo" when the Portuguese arrived in 1482. The ruler was the first Kongo lord to be baptized when Christian missionaries came to the kingdom of Kongo in 1491. Soyo was typically ruled in the sixteenth century by a member of Kongo's royal family, presumably appointed by the king and serving for a limited term. The ruler at the time of the Portuguese, baptized as Manuel, was said to be the uncle of the ruling king. Within Kongo's oversight, Soyo was permitted to expand and conquer other regions under royal rule. Thus,

Nzinga a Nkuwu Nzinga may refer to: People * Nzinga of Ndongo and Matamba (c. 1583–1663), Central African warrior queen * João I of Kongo, also known as Nzinga a Nkuwu or Nkuwu Nzinga * Afonso I of Kongo (c. 1456–1542 or 1543), also known as Mvemba a Nzing ...

, ruling king of Kongo in 1491 permitted an expansion of Soyo's territory following the baptism of the ruler. This expansion allowed Soyo to control several sub-provinces including Pambala, Kimi, Tubii, along the Congo River, and Lovata (among others) along the Atlantic coast. Soyo's port of Mpinda, located near the mouth of the Congo River, became an important port in the sixteenth century trade of Kongo. A community of Portuguese settled there and conducted a trade in slaves, ivory and copper from the port. A Kongo royal inquest of 1548 revealed that as many as 4,000 slaves passed through Mpinda en route to the island colony of

São Tomé São Tomé is the capital and largest city of the Central African island country of São Tomé and Príncipe. Its name is Portuguese for " Saint Thomas". Founded in the 15th century, it is one of Africa's oldest colonial cities. History Álva ...

, and then to Brazil every year. During the 1580s Alvaro, king of Congo, on occasion blocked people working with the Portuguese government from coming through Mpinda. In the early 1590s Miguel was designated as a Count when Kongo's king

Álvaro II Álvaro (, , ) is a Spanish, Galician and Portuguese male given name and surname (see Spanish naming customs) of Visigothic origin. Some claim it may be related to the Old Norse name Alfarr, formed of the elements ''alf'' "elf" and ''arr'' "warrio ...

introduced European style titles of nobility. He was, however, not entirely supportive of Álvaro's ambitions and there was a long period of considerable tension between Kongo and Soyo, resulting in the recognition of Miguel as a more or less independent ruler. Subsequent kings, however, reversed this, and continued to place their own candidates in Soyo. In 1620 Antonio da Silva who had been Duke of Soyo died. The king of Kongo invaded the area, killed da Silva's son, and installed

Pedro Afonso Nkanga a Mvika Pedro is a masculine given name. Pedro is the Spanish, Portuguese, and Galician name for '' Peter''. Its French equivalent is Pierre while its English and Germanic form is Peter. The counterpart patronymic surname of the name Pedro, meaning ...

, who previously was Marquis of Wenbo, as Duke of Soyo.

John K. Thornton John K. Thornton is an Americans, American historian specializing in the history of Africa, the African Diaspora and the Atlantic world. He is a professor in the history department at Boston University. Biography Early life and education Thor ...

. ''History of West Central Afroca'', p. 126 Paulo, placed in Soyo by King Pedro II, served a very long term 1626 to 1641. Paulo, who was related to King Pedro II, who placed him in office, often was a partisan of Pedro's family, and as such was often involved in the complex civil wars that plagued Kongo in the 1620s and 1630s.

Independence

In 1641, Daniel da Silva replaced Paulo and was immediately opposed by the newly enthroned King

Garcia II of Kongo Garcia II Nkanga a Lukeni a Nzenze a Ntumba, also known as Garcia Afonso for short, ruled the Kingdom of Kongo from 23 January 1641 to 1661. He is sometimes considered Kongo's greatest king for his religious piety and his near expulsion of the Por ...

, who sought to replace him. Count Daniel resisted, claiming that the counts of Soyo had a right to be selected through election of their own noble subordinates. Garcia tried to return Soyo to his control by wars, but Garcia's attempts, in 1641, 1643, 1645 and 1656 all failed, often with heavy losses. This was primarily because the royal armies could not attack the fortified wooded area of Soyo called Nfinda Ngula near the capital. As Soyo became more independent, its rulers took the title Prince, and then Grand Prince of Soyo in the late seventeenth and early eighteenth century. Soyo was actively involved in Kongo's politics during and after Garcia II's reign, especially as defenders of the

Kimpanzu The Kimpanzu were members of the Mpanzu kanda also known as the House of Kimpanzu, one of the lineages from which the kings of Kongo were chosen during the 17th century and following Kongo's reunification under Pedro IV. They are remembered in ...

branch of the family. Counts of Soyo protected them and gave them refuge, as they did in 1656 when a conspiracy to overthrow Garcia organized by sons of Pedro II failed. In 1670, the Portuguese governor sought to take over Kongo, then involved in a civil war, and invaded Soyo. After a first victory, the Portuguese forces were defeated and utterly routed by Soyo at the

Battle of Kitombo The Battle of Kitombo was a military engagement between forces of the BaKongo state of Soyo, formerly a province of the Kingdom of Kongo, and the Portuguese colony of Angola on 18 October 1670. Earlier in the year a Portuguese expeditionary force ...

, in Nfinda Ngula near the capital. The day of this victory, October 18, 1670, and St. Luke's day, is considered an important holiday.

Economy

Soyo is an important support for the off-shore oil extraction and exploration, supported by an airport and a sea port. The government plans to build an oil refinery at Soyo.

References

{{Authority control Populated places in Zaire Province Municipalities of Angola