Provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo
The Belgian Congo became an independent country in 1960, named Republic of the Congo. By 1963, the country was organised into 21 provinces (informally called "provincettes") plus the capital city of Léopoldville, similar to the original 22 districts under colonial rule. In 1966, the 21 "provincettes" were grouped into eight provinces, and the capital city was renamed Kinshasa.
White Africans of European ancestry
Thousands of Flemings, along with the Dutch, migrated to South Africa for many years between the 17th century and the 20th century. Immigration into the RSA has slowed down drastically, but the remnants of a huge Flemish population still exist in Southern Africa. Many Flemish colonials, including farmers and mineowners, moved to the Belgian Congo to seek their fortunes during the colonial era, entrenching a system of racial segregation not unlike those practiced in most other European-ruled African territories. The old segregated Belgian neighbourhoods, in fact, are still visible in Kinshasa (formerly Léopoldville in French, Leopoldstad in Dutch), the Democratic Republic of the Congo's capital city. Despite the mass emigration of white people to Belgium, the Netherlands, and South Africa during the Congo Crisis, there are still a little under 5,000 Flemings estimated to be living in the Congo.