Info for Belgian Congo

Belgian Congo (now the Congo Democratic Republic), located in the south-central part of Africa, has an area of 905,378 sq. mi. (2,344,920 sq. km.) and a population of 13.6 million. Capital: Kinshasa. The mineralrich country produces copper, tin, diamonds, gold, zinc, cobalt and uranium. In ancient times the territory comprising the Belgium Congo was occupied by Negrito peoples (Pygmies) pushed into the mountains by Bantu and Nilotic invaders. The interior was first explored by the American correspondent Henry Stanley, who was subsequently commissioned by King Leopold II of Belgium to conclude development treaties with the local chiefs. The Berlin conference of 1885 awarded the area to Leopold, who administered and exploited it as his private property until it was annexed to Belgium in 1907. Belgium received the mandate for the German territories of Ruanda-Urundi as a result of the international treaties after WWI. During WWII Belgian Congolese troops fought on the side of the Allies, notably in Ethiopia. Following the eruption of bloody independence riots in 1959, Belgium granted the Belgian Congo independence as the Republic of the Congo on June 30, 1960.