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The Belgian Congo (French: Congo belge, pronounced [kɔ̃ɡo bɛlʒ]; Dutch: Belgisch-Congo) [a] was a Belgian colony in Central Africa from 1908 until independence in 1960 and became the Republic of the Congo (Léopoldville). The former colony adopted its present name, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), in 1964.
The Congo Free State, also known as the Independent State of the Congo (French: État indépendant du Congo), was a large state and absolute monarchy in Central Africa from 1885 to 1908. It was privately owned by King Leopold II , the constitutional monarch of the Kingdom of Belgium .
Flag Date Use Description 1908–1960: Flag of the Belgian Congo: A blue flag with yellow five-pointed star. 1936–1960 [4] Standard of the governor-general of the Belgian Congo: A vertical tricolour of black, yellow, and red, with a yellow star in the upper left canton on a blue field.
Roughly 98% of Belgium's overseas territory was just one colony (about 76 times larger than Belgium itself) – known as the Belgian Congo. The colony was founded in 1908 following the transfer of sovereignty from the Congo Free State , which was the personal property of Belgium's king, Leopold II .
Congo, Democratic Republic of the: 1877 1960 1963 1966 1971 1997 2003 2006 Congo, Democratic Republic of the: Congo, Republic of the: 1891 1958 1970 1991 Congo, Republic of the: Costa Rica: 1506 1821 1823 1824 1824 1824 1840 1842 1848 1906 Costa Rica: Croatia: 1527 1809 1815 1848 1852 1868 1918 1918 1939 1941 1943 1945 1990 1990 Croatia: Cuba ...
The Congo Free State was a state in Africa created and headed by the former Belgian monarch, Leopold II as a personal union with Belgium.On 29 May 1885, after the closure of the Berlin Conference, the king announced that he planned to name his possessions "the Congo Free State", an appellation which was not yet used at the Berlin Conference and which officially replaced "International ...
King Leopold II of Belgium had been the principal shareholder in the Belgian trading company which established trading stations on the lower Congo between 1879 and 1884. [91] At the Berlin Conference of 1884–1885 the future Congo was personally assigned to Leopold, who named the territory the Congo Free State .
An international campaign against the Congo Free State began in 1890 and reached its apogee after 1900 under the leadership of the British activist E. D. Morel. On 15 November 1908, [1] under international pressure, the Government of Belgium annexed the Congo Free State to form the Belgian Congo. It ended many of the systems responsible for the ...