  colonization of the congo refers to the period of henry morton stanley's first exploration of the congo (1876) until its annexation as a personal possession of king leopold ii of belgium (1885). ==early european exploration== the congo river was the last part of the african continent to yield to european explorers. one by one the other great mysteries had been investigated: * the coasts by prince henry the navigator's portuguese sailors in the 15th century. * the blue nile by james bruce in 1773. * the remote upper niger by mungo park in 1796. * the vast sahara by competitors laing, cailliÃ©, and clapperton in the 1820s. * the fever-ridden mangroves of the lower niger by the lander brothers in 1830. * southern africa and the zambezi by livingstone and john clafton in the 1850s. * the upper nile by burton, speke, and baker in a succession of expeditions between 1857 and 1868. though the congo had been one of the first to be attempted, it remained a mystery. since the 15th century, european explorers had sailed into the broad congo estuary, planning to fight their way up the falls and rapids that begin only 100 miles (160&nbsp;km) inland, and then travel up the river to its unknown source. all failed. the rapids and falls, had they known it, extended for 220 miles (350&nbsp;km) inland, and the terrain close by the river was impassable, and remains so to this day. repeated attempts to travel overland were repulsed with heavy casualties, accidents, conflicts with natives, and, above all, disease saw large and well-equipped expeditions got no further than 40 miles (60&nbsp;km) or so past the western-most rapid, the legendary cauldron of hell. ==stanley's exploration==  it was not until 1867 that the congo was explored by europeans, and even then it was not from the sea, but from the other side of the african continent. setting out from zanzibar, henry morton stanley, a british-born american journalist and explorer aimed to find the famous dr. livingstone. livingstone had not been heard from in several years and was, in fact, exploring the upper reaches of a great navigable inland river called the lualaba, which livingstone hoped was connected to the nile, but which turned out to be the upper congo. after leaving livingstone, stanley sailed for 1000 miles (1600&nbsp;km) down the lualaba (upper congo) to the large lake he named stanley pool (now called pool malebo). then, rather than perish in 
Belgian_Congo Belgian_colonisation_in_Africa History_of_Central_Africa History_of_the_Democratic_Republic_of_the_Congo