History of Democratic Republic of the Congo

Kingdom of Kongo, 1395–1888 Draft, not yet reviewed

The Kingdom of Kongo was a kingdom in Central Africa, ruled by the Manikongo. The kingdom was founded around 1390 through the political marriage between two KiKongo speaking peoples. In 1483 the Portuguese explorer Diogo Cão reached the coast of the Kongo Kingdom. In 1914, after suppressing a Kongo revolt, Portugal abolished the titular monarchy.

Seat of power: M'banza-Kongo

Rulers

• João I of Kongo, Manikongo, 1470–1506
• Afonso I of Kongo, Manikongo, 1509–1543
• Diogo I Nkumbi a Mpudi, Manikongo, 1545–1561
• Álvaro I of Kongo, Manikongo, 1567–1587
• Álvaro II of Kongo, Manikongo, 1587–1614
• Garcia II of Kongo, Manikongo, 1641–1660
• João II of Lemba, Manikongo, 1680–1716
• Peter IV of Kongo, Manikongo, 1696–1718
• Manuel II du Kongo, Manikongo, 1718–1743
• Garcia IV of Kongo, Manikongo, 1743–1752
• Alvare XI du Kongo, Manikongo, 1764–1779
• Garcia V du Kongo, Manikongo, 1803–1830
• André II of Kongo, Manikongo, 1825–1842
• Henri III du Kongo, Manikongo, 1842–1857
• Pedro VI of Kongo, Manikongo, 1859–1891

Congo Free State, 1885–1908 Draft, not yet reviewed

The Congo Free State was a state in Central Africa from 1885 to 1908, privately owned by King Leopold II of Belgium. The administration of Leopold II extracted ivory, rubber and minerals from the upper Congo Basin for sale on the world market. The Casement Report of the British Consul Roger Casement led to the arrest and punishment of officials who had been responsible for killings during a rubber-collecting expedition in 1903. In 1908 the Belgian Parliament annexed the state as a colony of Belgium after international pressure.

Seat of power: Boma

Rulers

• Leopold II of Belgium, Sovereign of the Congo Free State, 1885–1908

Belgian Congo, 1908–1960 Draft, not yet reviewed

The Belgian Congo was a Belgian colony in Central Africa from 1908 until independence in 1960. Belgium took official control of the country in 1908 after intense diplomatic pressure over the violence used by Free State officials against indigenous Congolese. In World War II the Belgian Congo became one of the major exporters of uranium to the US, particularly from the Shinkolobwe mine. The Belgian Congo achieved independence on 30 June 1960.

Seat of power: Kinshasa

Republic of the Congo (Léopoldville), 1960–1971 Draft, not yet reviewed

The Republic of the Congo, or First Congolese Republic, gained independence in 1960 and continued until a 1965 coup d'état by General Joseph Mobutu. Almost immediately after independence the country was plunged into the Congo Crisis, a series of civil wars and secessionist conflicts, notably with the break-away State of Katanga. A UN peace-keeping mission operated in the country from 1960 to 1964, deploying a multi-national force of 20,000 troops. Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba was taken captive and subsequently executed in 1961.

Seat of power: Kinshasa

Rulers

• Joseph Kasa-Vubu, President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, 1960–1965

Zaire, 1971–1997 Draft, not yet reviewed

Zaire was the Congolese state in Central Africa headed by Mobutu Sese Seko from 1965 to 1997. The renaming of the country as the Republic of Zaire was announced on 27 October 1971. Mobutu established the Popular Movement of the Revolution as the sole legal political party in 1967. In 1996 Laurent-Désiré Kabila, head of the AFDL militia, led a rebellion against Mobutu, and in 1997 the name of the country was restored to the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Seat of power: Kinshasa

Rulers

• Mobutu Sese Seko, President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, 1965–1997

Democratic Republic of the Congo, 1997 to today Draft, not yet reviewed

The Democratic Republic of the Congo, formerly named Zaire, is a country in Central Africa and by land area the second-largest country in Africa. The First Congo War, from 1996 to 1997, ended with the overthrow of Mobutu, and the name of the country was changed. The Second Congo War from 1998 to 2003 resulted in an estimated several million deaths and the assassination of President Laurent-Désiré Kabila. Kabila stepped down in 2019 after Félix Tshisekedi won the 2018 election, the first peaceful transition of power since independence.

Seat of power: Kinshasa

Rulers

• Laurent-Désiré Kabila, President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, 1997–2001
• Joseph Kabila, President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, 2001–2019
• Félix Tshisekedi, President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, 2019 to today