least developed country- Congo

least developed countries - congo 

For centuries explorers have visited Congo in search of riches, the Congo River was the key to unlocking the riches of the interior of the country.  1.5 million cubic feet of water pour from the Congo River into the Atlantic Ocean from this 3,500km long river.  However, slavery, colonialism, corruption and warm have shaped the history of this beautiful country and have inhibited its development, making it a good example of a LDC. 

SLAVERY

1482 - Ships from the first Portuguese explorers landed on the shores of the Congo for the first time.  The Portuguese encountered a complex and stable society in the Kingdom of Kongo by the ocean ruled by a king.  They traded guns and jewels for slaves with the rulers of Kongo.  The chains are still on display as a memory of slavery.  Over 4 million slaves were moved from this stretch of coast and then the Europeans destroyed the kingdom of Kongo Militarily, removing the Kings from power. 

European expeditions then tried to explore inland but they struggled. 100miles from the sea the Congo River has 120miles of rapids that stopped the Europeans from accessing the interior and the potential slaves and riches there.  The breakthrough came from the other side of Africa via Zanzibar, Lake Victoria and Lake Tanganyika. 

1877 - Explorers arrived in Boma 60 miles from the mouth of the river.  Stanley’s expedition had taken 199 days to do so and other Europeans were ready to follow. King Leopold of Belgium helped Stanley establish the Congo Free State for Belgium.  It was 80 times the size of Belgium and the size of Western Europe.  It is still the second largest country in Africa.

1883 –Kisangani was established in the interior as a base for Leopold’s army.  Today the Congo River is navigable for a thousand miles.  The river for King Leopold was a highway, able to open up the riches of the continental interior.  Then Dunlop invented the rubber bicycle tyre, and the Congo came into its own.  ½ of the world’s rubber supply was in Congo, from the tropical rainforest which is the World’s second biggest after the Amazon.  The rubber is tapped out of the trees.  It made king Leopold a vast fortune.  The Belgians used forced labour via the army, who used barbaric methods.  The locals were beaten and soldiers would kill them, dissenters had their hands cut off and could be shot. Millions of people died or were mutilated in this way.

1908 - The Belgian Congo was established by the Belgian government after a human rights campaign forced King Leopold to give up the country. 

MINING & NATURAL RESOURCES

1911 – Mining started in earnest.  Copper was a major export, Katanga province in SE Congo.  It is mined and moved out by rail.  Union Minier de Katanga brought industrial mining to Congo together with British Investment.  The Congo still has a huge wealth of minerals.  These minerals helped Europe develop and also played a major role in WW1. 

Uranium is also mined, and Congolese Uranium was used in the atomic bombs that…