The Bakongo tribe, also known as the “Kongo”, lives along the Atlantic coast of West Africa. The word Congo derives from “N’kongo” which means “hunter.” In 900 BC they migrated to the Congo River Region. Farming was their primary occupation. By the 1500’s they had already established Kongo Kingdom, located at Point-Noire in what is now the Democratic Republic of Congo. The kingdom was not ruled by a dynastic succession or royal family, but the king was chosen by representatives of the Kongo people. It was a very advanced system, and the kingdom even had an established currency. The Portuguese arrived around that time, and found a thriving port. There was a well-established infrastructure, and a stable political system. Under the influence of the Portuguese, many of the African natives in the Congo converted to Catholicism. The demise of the Kongo state began when the rulers collaborated with the outsiders and agreed to capture slaves from other tribes. The Portuguese had initiated the slave trade at first to get slave labor for the sugar plantations in their own colonies.