Belgian Congo
Colony of the Belgian Congo
| |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1908–1960 | |||||||||
 | |||||||||
| Motto: | |||||||||
| Anthem: | |||||||||
 The Belgian Congo (dark green) shown alongside Ruanda-Urundi (light green), 1935 | |||||||||
| Status | Colony of Belgium | ||||||||
| Capital | Boma (1908–1926) Léopoldville (1926–1960) 4°19′S 15°19′E / 4.317°S 15.317°ECoordinates: 4°19′S 15°19′E / 4.317°S 15.317°E | ||||||||
| Common languages | |||||||||
| Religion | Catholicism (de facto)[4] | ||||||||
| King | |||||||||
• 1908–1909 | Leopold II | ||||||||
• 1909–1934 | Albert I | ||||||||
• 1934–1951 | Leopold III | ||||||||
• 1951–1960 | Baudouin I | ||||||||
| Governor-General | |||||||||
• 1908–1912 | Théophile Wahis (first) | ||||||||
• 1958–1960 | Hendrik Cornelis (last) | ||||||||
| History | |||||||||
• | 15 November 1908 | ||||||||
• | 30 June 1960 | ||||||||
| Area | |||||||||
| 1960 | 2,344,858 km2 (905,355 sq mi) | ||||||||
| Population | |||||||||
• 1960 | 16,610,000 | ||||||||
| Currency | Congolese franc | ||||||||
| |||||||||
| Today part of |  DR Congo | ||||||||
Belgian Congo was a Belgian colony in central Africa. It was formed in 1908. The government of Belgium took over the previously separate kingdom of Belgium's monarch Léopold II; the Congo Free State. Today it is called the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It existed between Léopold II's formal transfer of his personal control to Belgium on 15 November 1908, and Congolese independence on 30 June 1960.[5]
Belgian Congo Media
Leopold II, King of the Belgians and de facto owner of the Congo Free State from 1885 to 1908
Former residence of the Governor-General of the Belgian Congo (1908–1923) located in Boma
On the left hand side, the former Ministry of the Colonies, adjacent to the Constitutional Court, Brussels
Map of the Belgian Congo published in the 1930s
The Force Publique in German East Africa during World War I
A steam boat arriving at Boma on the Congo River in 1912
Belgo-Congolese troops of the Force Publique after the Battle of Tabora, 19 September 1916
References
- ↑ Self-Access Centre Database. resources.clie.ucl.ac.uk.
- ↑ (in French) République démocratique du Congo Archived 27 November 2012 at the Wayback Machine, Laval University, Canada
- ↑ (in Dutch) Vlamingen en Afrikanen—Vlamingen in Centraal Afrika Archived 11 July 2016 at the Wayback Machine, Faculteit Sociale Wetenschappen, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium
- ↑ Kasongo, Michael. History of the Methodist Church in the Central Congo (1998)University Press of America. ISBN 9780761808824.
- ↑ Georges Nzongola-Ntalaja. The Congo from Leopold to Kabila: A People's History (2002)Zed Books. ISBN 1842770535.
Other websites
- Belgian Congo article in Encyclopædia Britannica 1922 extension.
- Oasis Kodila Tedika and Francklin Kyayima Muteba. Sources of growth in Democratic Republic of the Congo before independence. A cointegration analysis. Revue congolaise d’économie / Congo Economic Review. Document de Travail / Working Paper. WP02/10 — July 2006. Archived 2011-05-12 at the Wayback Machine
