Boma, Democratic Republic of the Congo

Boma was founded by European merchants in the 16th century as an entrepôt, including for the slave trade.[3] 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.[4]

In 1884 the people of Boma were forced to grant a protectorate of their country to the International Association of the Congo, made up of European powers.[5] In 1886 King Leopold of Belgium established the Congo Free State, designating Boma as its capital. He ran the state as his personal fiefdom for several years, nearly enslaving many Congolese with a private military, and abusing them to force rubber production. International outrage and action by the Belgian legislature resulted in the government taking over supervision of what was established as the colony of the Belgian Congo in 1908.

Boma continued as the capital of the Belgian Congo until 1923.[6] Léopoldville, since renamed as Kinshasa, was designated as the new capital.

Boma lies on the north bank of the Congo River, some 100 km upstream from Muanda, where the river flows into the Atlantic Ocean. The great width and depth of the river allow seagoing ships to reach Boma, which is the second-largest port of DR Congo, after Matadi. Between 1889 and 1984, the port was served by a 610 mm gauge railway line from Tshela.

• Antoine-Roger Bolamba, politician and poet, was born here in 1913.[7]

Köppen-Geiger climate classification system classifies its climate as tropical wet and dry (Aw).

The highest record temperature was 41 °C (106 °F) on February 25, 1976, while the lowest record temperature was 10 °C (50 °F) on October 21, 1976.[8]

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  Boma pier, 1899
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  Authorities at the end of the pier, Boma, 1899
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  The nine old kings of Boma (phot. H. A. Shanu, 1898), Royal Museum for Central Africa
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  Fort de Shinkakasa – fortification on the Congo River near Boma
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  Church of Boma, which still exists; oldest in the country
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  Residence of the Governor-General in Boma
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  Henry Morton Stanley's map of the area during his expedition down the Congo River
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  Church of Boma, January 2007

• Transport in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Media related to Boma, Congo-Kinshasa at Wikimedia Commons

• "(Boma)" – via Digital Public Library of America. (Images, etc.)
• Boma Panorama

05°51′00″S 13°03′00″E