Polity · 1890 CE – 1962 CE
Belgian Congo
Congo belge · Belgisch-Kongo · Belgisch-Congo
- Peak recorded area
- 2,358,480 km²
- 1917 CE
- Data series
- 12
- 1890 CE–1959 CE
Overview
The Belgian Congo was a Belgian colony in Central Africa from 1908 until independence in 1960. It is today the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
Lead section from Wikipedia, reused under CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the article.
Territory
10 dated territorial extents on record from Cliopatria. Areas are measured off the recorded polygons; the line steps because each extent holds until the next one is recorded — nothing is interpolated.
The record
The best-attested series in each category; where several projects publish the same quantity, the one with the most observations is shown. Each row is the most recent value the record holds at or before 1962 CE, shown with the year that value belongs to. Some statistical series also publish forward projections — the year column is the honest guide. Nothing on this page is interpolated or estimated by us.
People
| Series | Value · year · source |
|---|---|
| Population10 obs · 1950 CE–1959 CE | 980.7Kpersons1959 CE · Maddison Project Database 2023 |
| Community Size5 obs · 1900 CE–1950 CE | 3ordinal1950 CE · D-PLACE Ethnographic Atlas (Murdock) |
Economy
6 of 7 series| Series | Value · year · source |
|---|---|
| GDP per capita10 obs · 1950 CE–1959 CE | 1,9772011 int'l $1959 CE · Maddison Project Database 2023 |
| Agriculture Intensity7 obs · 1890 CE–1950 CE | 3ordinal1950 CE · D-PLACE Ethnographic Atlas (Murdock) |
| Subsistence Agriculture7 obs · 1890 CE–1950 CE | 7ordinal1950 CE · D-PLACE Ethnographic Atlas (Murdock) |
| Subsistence Fishing7 obs · 1890 CE–1950 CE | 1ordinal1950 CE · D-PLACE Ethnographic Atlas (Murdock) |
| Subsistence Gathering7 obs · 1890 CE–1950 CE | 0ordinal1950 CE · D-PLACE Ethnographic Atlas (Murdock) |
| Subsistence Hunting7 obs · 1890 CE–1950 CE | 1ordinal1950 CE · D-PLACE Ethnographic Atlas (Murdock) |
Governance
| Series | Value · year · source |
|---|---|
| Jurisdictional Hierarchy7 obs · 1890 CE–1950 CE | 2ordinal1950 CE · D-PLACE Ethnographic Atlas (Murdock) |
| Political Succession6 obs · 1900 CE–1950 CE | 2ordinal1950 CE · D-PLACE Ethnographic Atlas (Murdock) |
Development
| Series | Value · year · source |
|---|---|
| Class Stratification6 obs · 1900 CE–1950 CE | 4ordinal1950 CE · D-PLACE Ethnographic Atlas (Murdock) |
Language & currency
- Official & national languages
- Dutch, French
- Currency
- Congolese franc (CDF)
Sources
Every figure above comes from one of these. Nothing on this page is estimated, interpolated or model-generated.
Seshat Global History Databank. Cliopatria: a historical basemap of polity borders (cliopatria.geojson).
D-PLACE Ethnographic Atlas (Murdock)Ethnographic Atlas (D-PLACE 2.3)
Kirby, K.R. et al. (2016). D-PLACE: A Global Database of Cultural, Linguistic and Environmental Diversity. PLoS ONE 11(7).
CC BY 4.0
Maddison Project Database 20232023
Bolt, J. & van Zanden, J.L. (2024). Maddison Project Database 2023. University of Groningen GGDC.
CC BY 4.0
Wikipedia contributors. Article lead sections, reused under CC BY-SA 4.0.
CC BY-SA 4.0
Belgian Congo is one of the polities with a sourced record deep enough to publish.