Colonised by the Portuguese since the late 15th century but its borders remained largely undefined until the Berlin Conference in 1884/5. During the period of European expansion in the area there were continual disputes between Portugal, Great Britain and Belgium when Portugal tried to find a link to their other colony of Mozambique to the East of Southern Africa.
The slave trade was abolished in the colony in 1836 but was extremely hard to police.
Most companies operating in the area were agricultural or in the mining industry and were administered from Lisbon. Many were given monopolies over large tracts of the country.