Map of the Belgian
Colonial Empire around 1920
The Belgian colonial empire consisted of three
colonies possessed by Belgium between 1901 and 1962: Belgian Congo
(now Democratic Republic of the Congo), Rwanda and Burundi. The
empire was unlike those of the major European imperial powers in
that roughly 98% of it was just one colony (about 76 times larger
than Belgium)—the Belgian Congo—which had originated as
the private property of the country's king, Leopold II, rather than
being gained through the political action of the Belgian state.
There was a tendency within Belgium to refer to its overseas
possessions as 'the colonies' rather than 'the empire'. In
addition, unlike other countries of the period with far-flung
colonies, such as Britain or France, colonial Belgium did not have
a monarch styled 'Emperor'.
Belgium itself achieved independence only in 1830.
(Immediately prior to that (1815-1830), it had formed part of the
United Kingdom of the Netherlands.) By the time Belgium entered a
position in which it was able to consider an overseas empire, major
imperial powers such as the United Kingdom and France, and to some
degree, Spain, Portugal and the Netherlands already had the most
economically promising territories for colonization within their
spheres of influence. In 1843, King Leopold I signed a contract
with Ladd & Co. to colonize the Kingdom of Hawaii, but the deal
fell apart when Ladd & Co. ran into financial difficulties.
Leopold II tried to interest his government in establishing
colonies, but it lacked the resources to develop the candidate
territories and turned down his plans.