When did Bantu peoples enter the territory of the modern Democratic Republic of the Congo?

Bantu peoples entered the territory of the modern Democratic Republic of the Congo between the 10th and 14th centuries, arriving from the north and west.1

While this migration period marks their entry into the region as a dominant population, linguistic and archaeological evidence indicates that the spread of Bantu languages and agricultural practices into the broader Central African region began much earlier, during the last millennium BCE. Over time, these Bantu-speaking communities established complex kingdoms and interacted with the region's earlier inhabitants, including Pygmy groups.213