French Dahomey French Dahomey French Dahomey was a French colony of and a part of French West Africa from 1904 to 1958. After World War II, by the establishment of the French Fourth Republic in 1947, Dahomey became part of the French Union with an increased autonomy. On 11 December 1958, the French Fifth Republic was established and the French Union became the French Community. The colony became the self-governing Republic of Dahomey within the Community, and two years later on 1 August 1960 it gained full independence (and in 1975 changed its name to Benin). During the 13th century, the indigenous
Kingdom of Kongo the region’s art was produced for social and political leaders such as the Kongo king." The central Bantu groups which comprised most of the Kongo kingdom passed on status through matrilineal succession. Kingdom of Kongo The Kingdom of Kongo (Kongo: "Kongo dya Ntotila" or "Wene wa Kongo;" Portuguese: "Reino do Kongo") was an African kingdom located in west central Africa in present-day northern Angola, the western portion of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Republic of the Congo as well as the southernmost part of Gabon. At its greatest extent it reached from the Atlantic Ocean in the west