Belgian Congo facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Belgian Congo
Congo belge (French)
Belgisch-Kongo (Dutch) |
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| 1908–1960 | |||||||||
 Coat of arms
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Motto: Travail et Progrès
(“Work and Progress”) |
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Anthem: National=The Brabançonne
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The Belgian Congo
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| Status | Belgian colony | ||||||||
| Capital | Léopoldville/Leopoldstad | ||||||||
| Common languages | French (de facto official) Dutch (majority of whites) more than 200 indigenous languages |
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| King of the Belgians | |||||||||
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• 1908–09
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Léopold II | ||||||||
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• 1909–34
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Albert I | ||||||||
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• 1934–51
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Léopold III | ||||||||
| Governor-general | |||||||||
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• 1908–10
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Théophile Wahis | ||||||||
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• 1946–51
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Eugène Jungers | ||||||||
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• 1958–60
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Henri Cornelis | ||||||||
| History | |||||||||
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• Established
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15 November 1908 | ||||||||
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• Independence
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30 June 1960 | ||||||||
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• Secessions¹
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July–August 1960 | ||||||||
| Area | |||||||||
| 1960 | 2,344,858 km2 (905,355 sq mi) | ||||||||
| Population | |||||||||
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• 1960
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16610000 | ||||||||
| Currency | Congolese franc | ||||||||
| ISO 3166 code | CG | ||||||||
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¹ Secession of Katanga on 11 July and South Kasai on 8 August 1960
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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.
Images for kids
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Leopold II, King of the Belgians and de facto owner of the Congo Free State from 1885 to 1908
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Former residence of the Governor-General of the Belgian Congo (1908–1923) located in Boma
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On the left hand side, the former Ministry of the Colonies, adjacent to the Constitutional Court, Brussels
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The Force Publique in German East Africa during World War I
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A steam boat arriving at Boma on the Congo River in 1912
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Belgo-Congolese troops of the Force Publique after the Battle of Tabora, 19 September 1916
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Ruandan migrant workers at the Kisanga mine in Katanga, ca. 1920
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Railways (grey/black) and navigable waterways (purple) in the Belgian Congo
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Propaganda leaflet produced by the Ministry of the Colonies in the early 1920s
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The majority of the uranium used in the Manhattan Project came from the Shinkolobwe mine.
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Students in the Teaching laboratory, Medical School, Yakusu, c. 1930–1950
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Scheutist missionary on tour in the neighbourhood of Léopoldville around 1920
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Education by the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary (c. 1930)
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A female missionary is pulled in a rickshaw by Congolese men, c. 1920–1930
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King Albert I and Queen Elisabeth inspecting the military camp of Léopoldville during their visit to the Belgian Congo, 1928
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Lumumba and Eyskens sign the document granting independence to the Congo
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Equestrian statue of Leopold II in Kinshasa
See also
In Spanish: Congo Belga para niños
