King Leopold II is a strong contender for the person responsible for committing the most evil acts in human history. The Congo was his personal property after the 'Scramble for Africa'. He used a Mercenary Army to extract vast sums which were redirected to construction projects in Belgium, becoming known as 'The Builder King'. Consensus is that these buildings cost about 10 million Congolese lives. Leopoldville was renamed Kinshasa in 1966, after a village that was in the area. Today Kinshasa has an urban population of around 12 million people. It is the largest French speaking city, recently surpassing Paris. It is on the banks of the second longest river in Africa (after the Nile). On the other side of the river is Brazzaville, which is the capital its neighbouring country. The second closest capitals after Rome and the Vatican City.
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