The Pongo River or Rio Pongo is a river that flows into the Atlantic Ocean near Boffa, Guinea. Its source is located in Fouta Djallon.^[2] The surrounding area has also been known as "Pongoland" or "Bongo Country".^[3] The estuary has been designated as a Ramsar site since 1992.^[1]

Rio Pongo became a significant area for the setting up factories in the transatlantic slave trade.^[4] Sir George Collier listed 76 surnames of families involved in the slave trade in 1820.^[5]: 35 He was commodore of the British West Africa Squadron between 1818 and 1821 and as such organised anti-slaving patrols up the Pongo River and other surrounding areas.

Part of the plot of the historical novel Anthony Adverse – and the film made on it – is chiefly set on the Pongo River, in the last years of the 18th century and the first years of the 19th. The book's eponymous protagonist – an adventurous and highly capable young man – arrives from Cuba and in a brief time takes personal control of slave trading along the river. He amasses a considerable personal fortune, but at the price of becoming increasingly corrupted. Finally being sickened by slaving, he departs for other adventures in other continents.