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Léopoldville to Kinshasa

Henry Morton Stanley founded a station on the Congo River in 1881 and named it Léopoldville, after King Leopold II of Belgium, who controlled the Congo Free State. In 1966 President Mobutu’s government renamed it Kinshasa, after one of the African villages that stood there first.

Written from cited sourcesLast checked 30 September 2026Suggest a correction

  1. Nshasa and Ntamo (villages)Before 1881
  2. Léopoldville1881–1966
  3. Kinshasa1966–

Stanley’s station

King Leopold II of Belgium hired the explorer Henry Morton Stanley to set up stations and sign treaties across the Congo basin. Stanley reached the wide stretch of river then called Stanley Pool, now Pool Malebo, on 27 July 1881 and founded Léopoldville on the south bank.[1] The pool is a widening of the river.[3] The French post of Pierre Savorgnan de Brazza moved to the north bank, where it became Brazzaville.[1]

The city grew out of African villages, among them Nshasa and Ntamo.[3] A railway to the port of Matadi opened in 1898, and Léopoldville became the capital of the Belgian Congo.[2] By independence in 1960 it had just over 400,000 people.[2]

Africanized names

Mobutu Sese Seko seized power in a coup in 1965 and became known for Africanizing names.[4] In 1966, as part of that policy, Léopoldville was renamed Kinshasa, after the village of Kinchassa that once stood on the site.[2][3] Its districts changed too: the former Léo-Ouest and Léo-Est lost their names.[3]

Mobutu went further in October 1971, renaming the whole country the Republic of Zaire, a name that lasted until 1997.[4] In 1974 Kinshasa became world-famous as host of the heavyweight title fight in which Muhammad Ali beat George Foreman.[2]

Timeline

  1. 188127 July 1881

    Léopoldville founded

    Stanley founds a station on the south bank of Stanley Pool.[1]

  2. 1898

    Railway

    A line links Léopoldville to the port of Matadi.[2]

  3. 1965

    Mobutu takes power

    Mobutu seizes power in a coup.[4]

  4. 1966

    Kinshasa

    Léopoldville is renamed after a local village.[3][2]

  5. 1971

    Zaire

    The country itself is renamed.[4]

  6. 197430 October 1974

    Ali v Foreman

    Ali beats Foreman in Kinshasa.[2]

More name changes

Sources

  1. [1]
    International Boundary Study No. 127: Congo – Zaire Boundary · The Geographer, US Department of State · 8 September 1972
  2. [2]
  3. [3]
    Kinshasa · Encyclopaedia Britannica
  4. [4]
    Mobutu Sese Seko · Encyclopaedia Britannica

Map geometry from Natural Earth via world-atlas. See credits.

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