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Alphonse Van Gèle
Alphonse van Gèle, also written van Gele or Vangele (25 April 1848 – 23 February 1939), was a Belgian soldier who served as the Vice-Governor General of the Congo Free State from December 1897 until January 1899. He established the Equator Station, or Station de l’Équateur, today Mbandaka, and concluded a treaty with the powerful Zanzibar trader Tippu Tip at the Stanley Falls station, today Kisangani. He is known for having confirmed that the Uele River was the upper part of the Ubangi River. Early years Alphonse van Gèle was born in Brussels on 25 April 1848. He enlisted as a volunteer in the 8th Line Regiment in 1867, was made a sub-lieutenant in 1872 and became a lieutenant in the 3rd Line Regiment in 1878. He was appointed ''Adjoint d'État-Major'' (Deputy Chief of Staff) in 1881. Colonial career Route to Léopoldville (1882–1883) In 1881 Van Gèle offered his services to the International African Association as Deputy Lieutenant to the State Major, and received ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Brussels
Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Brussels Hoofdstedelijk Gewest), is a region of Belgium comprising 19 municipalities, including the City of Brussels, which is the capital of Belgium. The Brussels-Capital Region is located in the central portion of the country and is a part of both the French Community of Belgium and the Flemish Community, but is separate from the Flemish Region (within which it forms an enclave) and the Walloon Region. Brussels is the most densely populated region in Belgium, and although it has the highest GDP per capita, it has the lowest available income per household. The Brussels Region covers , a relatively small area compared to the two other regions, and has a population of over 1.2 million. The five times larger metropolitan area of Brusse ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stanley Falls, Congo
Boyoma Falls, formerly known as Stanley Falls, is a series of seven cataracts, each no more than high, extending over more than along a curve of the Lualaba River between the river port towns of Ubundu and Kisangani (also known as Boyoma) in the Orientale Province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.Stanley, H.M., 1899, Through the Dark Continent, London: G. Newnes, Vol. One , Vol. Two The seven cataracts have a total drop of . They form the largest waterfall by volume of annual flow rate in the world, exceeding both the Niagara Falls and the Iguazu Falls. The two major cataracts are the first below Ubundu, forming a narrow and crooked stream that is hardly accessible, and the last that can be seen and visited from Kisangani. At the bottom of the rapids, the Lualaba is known as the Congo River. A 1m-gauge portage railway bypasses the series of rapids, connecting Kisangani and Ubundu. The last of the seven cataracts of the Boyoma Falls is also known as the Wagenia Falls (fre ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Edmond Hanssens
Edmond-Winnie-Victor Hanssens (25 July 1843 – 28 December 1884) was a Belgian soldier and colonial administrator. He did much to establish the Belgian presence on the Upper Congo River in the last two years of his life. Early years (1843–1881) Edmond-Winnie-Victor Hanssens was born in Veurne, Belgium on 25 July 1843. He entered the École Militaire (Military School) on 1 March 1860 and was appointed second lieutenant on 22 March 1862. He was posted to the 11th line regiment. On 3 July 1867 he was appointed lieutenant. He entered the École de Guerre in 1871 and obtained the certificate of deputy ''état-major'' in 1875. He was promoted to captain in 1876, and became a tutor of the military art course at the École Militaire. Journey to Léopoldville (1881–1882) In 1881 Hanssens volunteered for the Upper Congo Study Committee of the Military Cartographic Institute. He left for Africa at the end of January 1882, and reached Banana, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Banana on ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lake Tumba
Lake Tumba (or Ntomba) is a shallow lake in northwestern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, in the Bikoro Territory of the Province of Équateur. The lake covers about depending on the season, connected via the Irebu channel with the Congo River. Water may flow into or out of the lake through this channel depending on the floods. Lake Tumba has 114 species of fish and supports important fisheries. The lake lies at the center of the Tumba-Ngiri-Maindombe area, designated a Wetland of International Importance by the Ramsar Convention in 2008. Lake Tumba was explored in 1883 by Henry Morton Stanley. The swamp forest surrounding the lake is inhabited by the Mongo people, who in this area are divided into two castes: the ''Oto'', who farm, and the ''Twa'', Pygmies In anthropology, pygmy peoples are ethnic groups whose average height is unusually short. The term pygmyism is used to describe the phenotype of endemic short stature (as opposed to disproportionate dwar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lulonga River
The Lulonga is a river in the Equateur province of Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is about 200 km long from its beginning at the town of Basankusu. The Lopori and the Maringa join to form the Lulonga there. The Lulonga River flows into the Congo River The Congo River ( kg, Nzâdi Kôngo, french: Fleuve Congo, pt, Rio Congo), formerly also known as the Zaire River, is the second longest river in Africa, shorter only than the Nile, as well as the second largest river in the world by discharge ... at the village of Lulonga. References Province of Équateur Tributaries of the Congo River Rivers of the Democratic Republic of the Congo {{DRCongo-river-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ruki River
The Ruki is a river in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is a left tributary of the Congo River. It may be seen as the lower reach of the Busira River, which in turn may be seen as the lower reach of the Tshuapa River. Location The Ruki is a major river in the Cuvette Centrale of the middle Congo River basin. The watershed covers about . The drainage basin is almost entirely pristine lowland forest and swamp forest. As of 2020, 248 species of fish had been identified in 26 families. The main rivers are the Ruki-Busira, Momboyo-Luilaka, Tshuapa River, Tshuapa, Lomela River, Lomela and Salonga River, Salonga. The most important town in the river basin is Boende on the Tshuapa, upstream from where it joins the Lomela to form the Busira. The Ruki River forms above Ingende where the Momboyo River joins the Busira River from the left and flows in a west-northwest direction. It enters the Congo from the east, flowing past the north of the town of Mbandaka. The Ruki and its main t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
En Avant (steam Launch)
The ''En Avant'' was a small steam launch used in the early days of European exploration of the Congo River basin. It was carried in sections past the cataracts of the lower Congo, reassembled at Stanley Pool (Pool Malebo) and launched in February 1881, the first powered vessel on the long navigable section between the cataracts and the Stanley Falls (Boyoma Falls). In the years that followed it played an important role in carrying the Europeans up and down the river and its tributaries as they established trading stations. Construction The ''En Avant'' was a steel side-wheel paddle steamer. She was built in Belgium by John Cockerill for the International Association of the Congo (AIA). She weighed 9 tons. The loading capacity was 5 tons. She was long, wide and had a draft of . The engine had a nominal 6 horsepower. The boat was painted gray, and had a striped awning fringed with red. The steam boiler, engine and wheels were in the center of the boat, with the rudder in front o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Léopoldville
Kinshasa (; ; ln, Kinsásá), formerly Léopoldville ( nl, Leopoldstad), is the capital and largest city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Once a site of fishing and trading villages situated along the Congo River, Kinshasa is now one of the world's fastest growing megacities. The city of Kinshasa is also one of the DRC's 26 provinces. Because the administrative boundaries of the city-province cover a vast area, over 90 percent of the city-province's land is rural in nature, and the urban area occupies a small but expanding section on the western side. Kinshasa is Africa's third-largest metropolitan area after Cairo and Lagos. It is also the world's largest nominally Francophone urban area, with French being the language of government, education, media, public services and high-end commerce in the city, while Lingala is used as a ''lingua franca'' in the street. Kinshasa hosted the 14th Francophonie Summit in October 2012. Residents of Kinshasa are known as ''Kinoi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Camille Coquilhat
Captain Camille-Aimé Coquilhat (18531891) was a Belgian soldier, explorer and colonial civil servant who finished his career as Vice Governor-General of the Congo Free State from 1890 until his death in 1891. He was notably an associate of Henry Morton Stanley during his expeditions in the Haut-Congo during the mid-1880s. Career Camille-Aimé Coquilhat was born into a family of French origin in Liège, Belgium on 15 October 1853. He volunteered for service in the French Republic's Army of the North during the Franco-Prussian War (1870–71). He returned to Belgium after the conflict where he became a junior officer in the Belgian Army. In 1882, he volunteered to join the International African Association (IAA) expedition to Haut-Congo led by Henry Morton Stanley and served at Stanleyville until 1884. After this, he was involved in setting up colonial stations among the Bangala people in the Équateur region of the future Congo Free State (modern-day Democratic Republic of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Charles-Marie De Braconnier
General Charles-Marie de Braconnier, or Carlos Braconnier (28 June 1849 – 13 March 1917) was a Belgian soldier who participated in the expeditions led by Henry Morton Stanley and was the founder and first commander of the station of Léopoldville. Family General Braconnier came from a family of Ancien Régime nobility that originated in the Duchy of Lorraine. In the 16th century one of his ancestors, the knight Jean de Braconnier, was master alderman and member of the parliament of Metz. During 1789 the Braconniers had to leave France to escape the massacres of the French Revolution. Charles-Marie was thus the heir to a line of officers of French origin who put themselves in the service of the young Kingdom of Belgium, whose army was sorely lacking in experienced officers during its independence in 1831. Charles-Marie de Braconnier was born in Arlon on 28 June 1849. His parents were Charles Michel Louis Braconnier and Éléonore Zélie Aimée de Fraudigney. His father was a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Boma, Democratic Republic Of The Congo
Boma is a port town on the Congo River, some upstream from the Atlantic Ocean, in the Kongo Central province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, adjacent to the border with Angola. It had an estimated population of 162,521 in 2012. Boma was the capital city of the Congo Free State and Belgian Congo (the modern Democratic Republic of the Congo) from 1 May 1886 to 1923, when the capital was moved to Léopoldville (since renamed Kinshasa). The port handles exports of tropical timber, bananas, cacao, and palm products. History Boma was founded by European merchants in the 16th century as an entrepôt, including for the slave trade. Trade was chiefly in the hands of Dutch merchants, but British, French and Portuguese firms also had factories there. No European power exercised sovereignty, though claims were from time to time put forward by Portugal. British explorer Henry Morton Stanley arrived here on 9 August 1877, after crossing Africa from east to west.Stanley, H. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Manyanga
Manyanga was a staging post on the route from the coast to Léopoldville during the days of the Congo Free State. It was at the upper end of a navigable reach of the Congo River from Isangila, further downstream to the west. Above Manyanga goods had to be carried by land round the falls and rapids to Stanley Pool. Location The lower part of the Congo River below Stanley Pool first descends through the Livingstone Falls and rapids, then has a navigable section from Manyanga to Isangila, and then has further rapids and cataracts down to Matadi, from where it is navigable to the Atlantic Ocean. History In February 1881 Henry Morton Stanley heard rumours that English missionaries were planning to build a post in the region, and asked Louis Valcke to establish an International African Association (AIA) post at Isanghila before they did so. While Valcke continued to develop the Isanghila post, Stanley took the steamers '' En Avant'' and ''Royal'' up the navigable stretch of the river ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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