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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 .
The Congo Free State operated as a corporate state, privately controlled by Leopold II through a non-governmental organization, the International African Association. [14] The state included the entire area of the present-day Democratic Republic of the Congo, and existed from 1885 until 1908, when the government of Belgium reluctantly annexed ...
Map of the Congo Free State, c. 1890. Leopold was the founder and sole owner of the Congo Free State, a private project undertaken on his own behalf. [27]: 136 He used explorer Henry Morton Stanley to help him lay claim to the Congo, an area now known as the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The Free State government exploited the Congo for its natural resources, first ivory and later rubber which was becoming a valuable commodity. With the support of the Free State's military, the Force Publique, the territory was divided into private concessions. The Anglo-Belgian India Rubber Company (ABIR), among others, used force and ...
A Map of the route of the Emin Pasha Relief Expedition of 1887–1889, Published in 1890. In many areas the courses of rivers are dashed or omitted, reflecting the limited European knowledge of the region at the time. The Districts of the Congo Free State were the primary administrative divisions of the Congo Free State from 1885 to
Colonization of the Congo Basin refers to the European colonization of the Congo Basin of tropical Africa.It was the last part of the continent to be colonized. By the end of the 19th century, the Basin had been carved up by European colonial powers, into the Congo Free State, the French Congo and the Portuguese Congo (modern Cabinda Province of Angola).
The European mercenaries serving in the Congo had a very degrading view of the black natives, and the Swedes were no different than their colleagues, not being shy about participating in atrocities. In one instance, the Swede Knut Jacob Theodor Svensson under the pretext of signing a treaty or recruiting carriers had gathered the inhabitants of ...
The Congo Free State founded a naval training school at Banana, and the Boma Red Cross built a sanitarium where sick colonists could recover their health beside the sea. [11] By 1898, the district of Banana had a total of 95 Europeans in 25 houses. [12] The Congo Free State was annexed by Belgium in 1908 as the Belgian Congo.