State · 1885 – 1908
Congo Free State
A state of 1885 – 1908 — 23 years in sub-Saharan Africa. It replaced International Association of the Congo and Tippu Tip's state. It was replaced by Belgian Congo. The atlas records 2 things within it — wars and battles 1 · unrest and atrocity 1. Its line of rulers holds 1 person.
For the full story, the article on Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0); this page holds what the record says of the state.
- Stood
- 23 years
- 1885 – 1908
- Rulers
- 1
- the Sovereign of the Congo Free State
- Most ground
- 2.32 million km²
- in 1900
- Within it
- 2
- recorded rows
- Symbols
- 2
- on record, with years
Where it sits in time
Five thousand years, 3000 BCE to 2026; the state in gold, what it replaced or followed and what replaced or followed it in grey.
Before and after
The states the record files it as replacing or following, and those that replaced or followed it - Wikidata's own statements, each read from this state's side.
Before it
- Tippu Tip's state · replaces
- International Association of the Congo · replaces · 1879 – 1885
After it
- Belgian Congo · replaced by · 1908 – 1960
Rulers
The line of Sovereign of the Congo Free State - the office this state names as its head of state.
| Ruler | Reign | Length | How it ended · source | To the ruler before |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Leopold II of Belgium | 1885 – 1908 | 23 years | left office aliveread off the dates alone |
1 rulers, 1 with terms dated as terms, covering 1885 – 1908. Only 23 years of the line are dated - too short for a median. A blank in the last column means no kin on record, which is coverage, never “unrelated”.
Ground held, by year
km² inside its borders as the borders dataset draws them, measured on an equal-area grid; a step series, held between the years the dataset maps.
1.83 million km² in 1890, 2.32 million km² in 1908; at its largest 2.32 million km² in 1900. Cliopatria, CC BY 4.0.
Flags and arms, in order
Each symbol with the years its own statement gives; the timeline flies the one of the year on screen.
flag, undatedFlag of the Congo Free State · Public domain 
coat of arms, undatedCoat of arms of the Congo Free State · CC BY-SA 3.0
What happened within it, by century
Every row the atlas hosts under this state, by the century it began in: wars and battles in red, risings, regime changes and massacres beside them, everything else in grey. A tall bar is a century the record is full for, which is partly a fact about Wikipedia.
1800 – 18992 rows · 1 wars and battles · 1 risings, regime changes and massacres
- Atrocities in the Congo Free State · atrocity · 1885 – 1908
- Congo Arab war · war · 1892
Among all states
Each measure against the states that carry it, never against all of them: a bar is the share of those states below this one.
- How long it stood23 years
stood longer than 23% of 3,187 states with a recorded end or still standing.
- The most ground it held2,318,000 km²
held more ground at its peak than 93% of 1,465 states with a border in Cliopatria.
- Wars recorded per century1.0
had more wars on record per century than 94% of 3,187 states, counting the wars the atlas hosts under each.
- Rulers on record1
has more rulers on record than 13% of 1,968 states with a line of rulers.
What led to it, and what came of it
The investigation's own picture: 10 causes the record names and 1 result, the strongest six of each at their own years, joined to the state by the kind of claim - a recorded statement solid, the article's sentence dashed, a theory dash-dot.
Open the investigation: every row with its evidence, the conditions at the time, the theories condition by condition, and the succession analysed.
Open in the atlas
- On the timeline, 1875 – 1918, with everything that stood beside it.
- On the map in 1900, live: scrub the year and watch its borders move.
- Investigate it: what led to it, what came of it, and its succession analysed.
Wikidata Q76048 (CC0) · borders Cliopatria, CC BY 4.0 · coast and rivers Natural Earth · symbols from Wikimedia Commons, each credited above · data built 2026-10-06 · Pastlas v2.9.1, by Oleh Voronko. The published atlas and its data are for non-commercial use.