Hippopotamus - Congo (Kinshasa)

Much has been done to stop or reduce importing and exporting of products made from elephant ivory, but poachers have resorted to harvesting hippopotamus teeth as a replacement material. This trend combined with loss of grassland habitat has reduced the number of wild hippopotamuses to under 200,000 individuals.

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Hippopotamus amphibus - The hippopotamus, Greek for “river horse,” is well designed for a semiaquatic life. It has small eyes and the ears are placed on top of its huge head. There is 5 centimeters of insulating fat and nostril flaps able to close when the animal is submerged. A hippopotamus can stay underwater, leisurely grazing on the plants found growing along the river bed, for up to 25 minutes. Despite its non-threatening appearance, the hippopotamus is one of the most dangerous animals in Africa.

Anthromorphic Harp - Congo (Kinshasa)

Anthromorphic harps are stringed instruments associated with the Mangbetu people. The resonator was either in an hour glass or oval form and covered with exotic animal skins. These harps were elegantly carved and usually featured a summit with an elongated head. An elongated head was highly regarded as a physical feature on humans as well. The Mangbetu would apply various methods of sustained, but gentle pressure on the skulls of their infants to change the shape of their head. 

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Belgium lagged far behind the other European powers in colonial possessions; it had none. There was growing tensions amongst the countries vying to establish or extend their colonial claims in Africa. The Berlin Conference of 1884 pulled the leading countries of Europe together with the goal of peacefully dividing Africa. King Leopold II of Belgium walked away from the conference with a substantial concession; he won control of the Congo through his privately held Association Internationale Africaine.

African Ceremonial Masks

African masks served an important role in a wide range of tribal ceremonies and allowed the user to take on the persona represented by the mask for enhanced expression. Human features were most often incorporated, but sometimes the masks took on the appearance of animals. Masks were primarily made from wood, but light weight stone, copper, pottery, and fabric were also used. Items such as straw, animal teeth, sea shells, hair, seeds, and feathers helped in fashioning the mask to each specific event.

Cities in Africa

Kinshasa was founded as Léopoldville in 1881, by Henry Stanley, a Welsh journalist and explorer. It was named in honor of King Leopold II of Belgian. In 1923, Léopoldville, replaced Boma as the colony’s capital. When the Congo declared its independence in 1960, Léopoldville became the capital. The city was renamed as Kinshasa in 1966, as a means of replacing colonial names with original or African titles.

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Founded in 1899, the city of Nairobi began as a rail junction for the Uganda Railway as a means of connecting the interior of Uganda and Kenya with the port city of Mombasa. In 1905, Nairobi replaced Mombasa as the capital of the British colony. The town became an important agricultural site for growing coffee, tea, and sisal, spurring further development in making Nairobi a financial and industrial center for Africa.

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Algiers began as Ikosim, a small seaport serving Phoenician commerce. After the Punic Wars, the town fell under Roman control and flourished as Icosium, a thriving commercial city in Mauretania Caesariensis, the Roman province covering the Northern Algerian coast.  The modern city of Algiers began to take shape in 944 through the efforts of Bologhine ibn Ziri, the founder of the Berber Zirid–Sanhaja dynasty.

Historical Flags of Afrcia

The flag for the Federal and Islamic Republic of the Comoros was used from 1996 until 2001. Since becoming independent from France in 1975, the flags of the Comoros have featured the crescent and four stars. The stars represent the number of island’s in the Comoros Archipelago. The Congo Free State existed from 1885 until 1908, and was under the private control of Belgium’s King Leopold II through an agreement reached during the 1884-1885 Berlin Conference. In 1908, the territory was administrated directly by the government of Belgium. The Ethiopian flag of 1897 featured a lion wearing a crown and carrying a staff with a cross finial. The design was changed in 1974 after the overthrow of Emperor Haile Selassie. Rwanda achieved independence from Belgium in 1962 and adopted a tricolor with a large “R” to distinguish it from Guinea’s flag.  A new flag was introduced in 2011 following a brutal civil war.