CONGO (Democratic Republic)

CONGO Democratic Republic / République démocratique du CONGO.

Commemoration of Independence of Belgium, June 30, 1960.
Simplified political map of the independent Republic.
Fourth stamp in a set of 10, issued on 30.06.1960.
Face value: 1.50 Congolese franc.
Printing: Photogravure.

Catalogues
- Scott No. 359.
- Michel No. 4.
- StampWorld No. 4.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 395.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 375.

In the 1870s European exploration of the Congo Basin was carried out, first led by Henry Morton Stanley under the sponsorship of Leopold II of Belgium. Leopold formally acquired rights to the Congo territory at the Berlin Conference in 1885 and declared the land his private property, naming it the Congo Free State. During the Free State, his colonial military unit, the Force Publique, forced the local population to produce rubber. From 1885 to 1908, millions of the Congolese people died as a consequence of disease and exploitation. In 1908, Leopold, despite his initial reluctance, ceded the so-called Free State to Belgium, thus it became known as the Belgian Congo.

Congo achieved independence from Belgium on 30 June 1960 under the name Republic of the Congo.