This language has about 200 dialects, and these are found clustered regionally as well as based on Mongo sub-ethnic groups such as Bolia, Bokote, Bongandu, Ekonda, Iyaelima, Konda, Mbole, Mpama, Nkutu, Ntomba, Sengele, Songomeno, Dengese, Tetela-Kusu, Bakutu, Boyela, Lokele.

[5][6][7] The historical roots of the Mongo people are unclear, but they probably settled along the rainy, hot, and humid river valleys of northern and western Congo in the early centuries of the 1st millennium.

[8] The Belgian colonial rule impacted the traditions, culture and religious beliefs of the Mongo people, and they predominantly converted to one of the numerous denominations of Christianity found in Congo.

[8][9] The influence of Islamic missionary activity from northern Africa has been a source of deep resentment for the Christian Mongo people, leading to a history of conflicts between them and some Muslim ethnic groups found in the neighboring northeastern regions of Congo.

[10] A system of enslavement and slave trade led by Arab incursions, state Patrick Harries and David Maxwell, existed and impacted the Mongo people before the colonial period.

[11] The colonial period also brought an ecological and economic change from the introduction of cocoa, coffee, and rubber plantations as well as the trapping of animals as pets and for zoos.

[8] Traditional religion of the Mongo people is largely one of ancestor worship, belief in nature spirits, fertility rites, with shamanic practices such as magic, sorcery, and witchcraft.