Henry Morton Stanley founds Léopoldville trading post on the Congo

Background. Leopold II, King of the Belgians, organized a private holding company in 1876 to acquire colonies in Africa. He hired explorer Henry Morton Stanley in 1878 to explore and establish a colony in the Congo region. After the International African Association crumbled, Leopold's work was carried out under the auspices of the Comité d'Études du Haut-Congo, the entity through which Stanley laid claim to the area that would later become the Congo Free State.

Establishment of the Post. The trading post, initially known as Léopoldville, was established in 1881. The station was founded on 1 August 1881 as Léopold II's Station. European urban development began in 1881, guided by rigid planning principles to preserve an orderly environment. Stanley's arrival at Stanley Pool on 3 December 1882, having traveled from a post at Vivi, postdates the founding and belongs to his later advance upriver.

Political Context. The area was under the auspices of the International African Association, which Leopold II had disguised as an international scientific and philanthropic association. Between 1879 and 1882, Leopold created the International Association of the Congo as a new umbrella organization. The formal recognition of Leopold as sovereign occurred later at the Berlin Conference of 1884–1885, leading to the establishment of the Congo Free State in 1885.