Angola was one of the single largest departure regions in the entire transatlantic slave trade. From the 1500s to the 1800s, Portuguese traders based in ports like Luanda and Benguela transported millions of enslaved Africans across the Atlantic, mainly to Brazil. Historians usually categorize this region as part of “West Central Africa,” one of the largest sources of enslaved people sent to the Americas. The Portuguese founded Luanda in 1575, partly to facilitate the slave trade. Many captives originated from inland kingdoms and societies in what is now Angola and the neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo.

Brazil received more enslaved Africans from Angola than from any other destination, and this influence is still evident in Brazilian religion, food, music, and language. Historians estimate that millions were exported from the Angola/West Central Africa region during the Atlantic trade. Enslavement frequently resulted from wars, raids, political rivalries, debt systems, and cooperation between European traders and certain African elites and states. As a result, many African Americans and Afro-Brazilians today trace their ancestry back to the Angola–Congo region due to this extensive forced migration.