page_title: Colonization of the Congo basin
section_title: Stanley's exploration
hierarchical_section_title: Colonization of the Congo basin / Stanley's exploration
caption_attribution_description: English: Location map for the Demoratic Republic of the Congo Français&#160;: Carte de localisation de la République démocratique du Congo
context_page_description: Colonization of the Congo refers to the European colonization of the Congo region of tropical Africa. It was the last part of the continent to be colonized. By the end of the 19th century, the Congo Basin had been carved up by European colonial powers, into the Congo Free State, the French Congo and the Portuguese Congo.
context_section_description: 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 1,000 miles (1,600 km) down the Lualaba (Upper Congo) to the large lake he named Stanley Pool (now called Pool Malebo). Then, rather than perish in the impenetrable country of the cascades, Stanley took a wide detour overland to come within striking distance of the Portuguese trading station at Boma on the Congo estuary.
caption: The Congo Free State
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