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The culture of the Democratic Republic of the Congo is extremely varied, reflecting the great diversity and different customs which exist in the country. Congolese culture combines the influence of tradition to the region, but also combines influences from abroad which arrived during the era of colonization and continue to have a strong influence, without destroying the individuality of many ...
The culture of the Republic of the Congo is rich, diverse and made up of a mix of about 4.5 million people in 2015 and many languages and customs.. Half of Congolese people follow traditional beliefs, and there are 15 principle Bantu groups and more than 70 subgroups.
Kongo religion (Kikongo: Bukongo or Bakongo) encompasses the traditional beliefs of the Bakongo people. Due to the highly centralized position of the Kingdom of Kongo , its leaders were able to influence much of the traditional religious practices across the Congo Basin . [ 1 ]
The religions practised in precolonial Congo were as far as is known animistic in nature. They believed that places, objects and creatures could possess a spiritual essence and practised ancestral worship. According to the religion practised by the Bakongo people the world is split into the world of the living and the world of the dead.
[23] [24] [25] The river was known as Zaire during the 16th and 17th centuries; Congo seems to have replaced Zaire gradually in English usage during the 18th century, and Congo is the preferred English name in 19th-century literature, although references to Zaire as the name used by the natives (i.e., derived from Portuguese usage) remained ...
Palo, also known as Las Reglas de Congo, is an African diasporic religion that developed in Cuba during the late 19th or early 20th century. It draws heavily upon the traditional Kongo religion of Central Africa, with additional influences taken from Catholicism and from Spiritism .
The traditional religious beliefs of the Luba people included the concept of a Shakapanga or a Universal Creator, a Leza or the Supreme Being, a natural world and a supernatural world. [ 13 ] [ 31 ] The supernatural world was where Bankambo (ancestral spirits) and Bavidye (other spirits) lived, and what one joined the afterlife if one lived an ...
Close communication with ancestors and belief in the efficacy of their powers are closely associated with minkisi in Kongo tradition. Among the peoples of the Congo Basin, especially the Bakongo and the Songye people of Kasai, exceptional human powers are frequently believed to result from some sort of communication with the dead.