Mountains of Kong

[1] The mountains were once thought to begin in West Africa near the highland source of the Niger River close to Tembakounda in Guinea, then continue east to the equally legendary Central African Mountains of the Moon, thought to be where the White Nile had its source.

In 1798, a map resulting from the explorations of the area by Mungo Park[2] showed this west-to-east mountain range for the first time.

[2] This range was intended to support his own theory on the course of the Niger River, and eventually led to a major impact on the mapping industry to include the mountains.

[1] The historians Thomas Basset and Phillip Porter have identified forty maps, published between 1798 and 1892, showing the mountains.

This rose in power during the 17th century to form the Kong Empire, which eventually passed under French colonial rule.