Congo Free State
Territory in Central Africa (1885–1908)
Summary
The Congo Free State (CFS), also known as the Independent State of the 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. In legal terms, the two separate countries were in a personal union. The Congo Free State was not a part of, nor did it belong to, Belgium. Leopold was able to seize the region by convincing other European states at the Berlin Conference on Africa that he was involved in humanitarian and philanthropic work and would not tax trade. Via the International Association of the Congo, he was able to lay claim to most of the Congo Basin. On 29 May 1885, after the closure of the Berlin Conference, the king announced that he planned to name his possessions "the Congo Free State", an appellation which was not yet used at the Berlin Conference and which officially replaced "International Association of the Congo" on 1 August 1885. The Free State was privately controlled by Leopold from Brussels; he never visited it.
Originally created by Tannin
3/2/2003, 12:59:32 AM
Modified
5/30/2026, 5:11:22 PM
Recent revisions
Undid revision [[Special:Diff/1356914325|1356914325]] by [[Special:Contributions/~2026-32305-17|~2026-32305-17]] ([[User talk:~2026-32305-17|talk]]) – old wording is better, since the state wasn't technically a colony
/* Congo Reform Association */
Grammar, copy edit
Undid revision [[Special:Diff/1355774463|1355774463]] by [[Special:Contributions/Kikipretch|Kikipretch]] ([[User talk:Kikipretch|talk]]) Undid well intentioned edit—this article is flagged as using "oxford spelling" which for this word is "ageing"
/* Mutilation */ I fixed the incorrect spelling of “ageing” to the correct spelling “aging”.
Undid revision [[Special:Diff/1353817489|1353817489]] by [[Special:Contributions/Josephguy15|Josephguy15]] ([[User talk:Josephguy15|talk]]) – seems unnecessary, why should the two be confused?
Undid revision [[Special:Diff/1349231525|1349231525]] by [[Special:Contributions/YukiKoKo|YukiKoKo]] ([[User talk:YukiKoKo|talk]]) – no, Oxford spelling uses -ize, not -ise; and "Free State" is more readable than "CFS"
Comply with Use Oxford English template
Reverting vandalism - "Tank Dempsey" is a Call of Duty character
Undid revision [[Special:Diff/1344997783|1344997783]] by [[Special:Contributions/~2026-18102-20|~2026-18102-20]] ([[User talk:~2026-18102-20|talk]]) – restore tag note removed without explanation
/* Background */ minor edit
Reverted 1 edit by [[Special:Contributions/~2026-15967-18|~2026-15967-18]] ([[User talk:~2026-15967-18|talk]]): WP:V violation, unsourced content.
I edited by adding a population estimate of pre colonial congo
Consistently lower-case "the state" (mostly this was already the case)
Undid revision [[Special:Diff/1340156005|1340156005]] by [[Special:Contributions/~2026-12145-96|~2026-12145-96]] ([[User talk:~2026-12145-96|talk]]) – non-standard acronym, not needed here
Undid 2 revisions from [[Special:Diff/1339859671|1339859671]] until [[Special:Diff/1339860213|1339860213]] – old, more explicit version is better to get the relevant info across
