The Belgian Congo (French: Congo Belge; Dutch: Belgisch-Kongo (help·info)) was the formal title of present-day Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) between King Leopold II’s formal relinquishment of his personal control over the state to Belgium on 15 November 1908, and Congolese independence on 30 June 1960.
Until the latter part of the 19th century, the Europeans had not yet ventured into the Congo. The rainforest, swamps and accompanying ma...
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The Belgian Congo (French: Congo Belge; Dutch: Belgisch-Kongo (help·info)) was the formal title of present-day Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) between King Leopold II’s formal relinquishment of his personal control over the state to Belgium on 15 November 1908, and Congolese independence on 30 June 1960.
Until the latter part of the 19th century, the Europeans had not yet ventured into the Congo. The rainforest, swamps and accompanying malaria, and other diseases, such as sleeping sickness, made it a difficult environment for European exploration and exploitation. In 1876, King Léopold II of the Belgians organized the International African Association with the cooperation of the leading African explorers and the support of several European governments for the promotion of African exploration and colonization. After Henry Morton Stanley explored the region, a journey that ended in 1878, Leopold courted the explorer and hired him to help establish Leopold’s interests in the...
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