They are considered to be culturally similar to the Yaka and Suku peoples who live in neighboring areas.

[1] Much like the Yaka and Suku peoples, the Pende originally lived in the strip between the Atlantic Ocean and the Cuanza River, in modern-day Angola.

They migrated to their current region of the modern-day Democratic Republic of the Congo in around 1620 as a consequence of the expansion of the Kingdom of Lunda.

[1] In around 1885, the powerful Chokwe ethnic group began expanding and gained control over the Eastern Pende but this period was brought to an end by the arrival of European colonists and the creation of the Congo Free State.

[2] The Pende have a matrilineal culture and family kinship plays an important role in structuring social relations.