Page:Statesman's Year-Book 1921.djvu/752

 700 BELGIAN CONGO

assisted by several vice-Governors-General. The budget is presented annually to the Chambers, and voted by them ; the financial accounts have to be verified by the Court of Accounts. An annual report on the Congo Adminis- tration has to be presented to the Chambers along with the budget.

The Annexation has been recognised by all the Powers.

Governor-General. — Maurice Lippens (appointed January 25, 1921).

The precise boundaries of the Congo Colony were defined by the neutrality declarations of August, 1885, and December, 1894, and by treaties with Germany, Great Britain, France, and Portugal.

The territory is divided into twenty-two administrative districts (March 28, 1912) : — Lower Congo, Middle Congo, Kwango, Sankuru, Kasai, Lake Leopold II., Equator, Lulonga, Bangala, Ubangi, Lower Uele, Upper Uele, Ituri, Stanleyville, Aruwimi, Lowa, Kivu, Maniema, Lomami, Tanganika — Moero, Lulua, and Upper Luapula. The last four districts form the Province of Katanga, with its capital at Elisabethville ; the first five districts form the Province of Congo- Kasai, with Leopold ville as its capital the five next districts form the Province of Equator, with its capital at Coquilhatville, and the remaining eight districts form the Eastern Province, with its capital at Stanleyville. The capital of the Colony is Boma. At the head of each Province there is a vice-governor, and at the head of eacli district a commissioner. Each district is divided into territories of which there are 179 in the whole country. In 1920 there were altogether more than 225 posts and stations at which 2,038 European officials were employed.

The districts of Puanda and Urnndi, together with the territory round lake Kivu (formerly in German Kast Africa), have been ceded to Belgium as mandatory of the League of Nations. Area about 19.000 square miles. Ruanda is populated by two races— the Wa-tusi and the Wa-hutu. Both districts are rich in cattle. In order to obtain a practicable route for a rail- way which shall join the Tanganyika Territory to Uganda, the eastern strip of the Province of Ruanda and a small part of Urundi are transferred to Great Britain. The projected line will form a link on the Cape to Cairo railway.

Area and Population. — The area of the Colony is estimated at 909.654 square miles, with a population of Bantu origin officially estimated at 11 millions. The European population in January, 1920, numbered 6, 971. Of these, 3,588 were Belgians, 818 English, 239 Americans, 657 Portuguese, 298 Italians, 53 Russians, 87 Swedish, 153 French, 183 Dutch, 75 Swiss, 308 Greeks, 22 Luxcraburgers, 21 Danish, 14 Norwegians and 11 Spaniards.

The native languages comprise many dialects, every tribe having its own. Kiswahili is the language spoken by the natives who have been under Arab influence. Bangala is the commercial language on the upper Congo ; Fioto is used on the lower Congo.

Religion and Instruction,— The religion of the natives consists of a gross fetichism, but mission work is actively carried on. There are 149 mission stations, with 1,150 missionaries, of whom 650 are Catholic and 500 Protestant. In education they co-operate with the Government, which has formed colonies where children are collected and taught. In 1920 the Government grant for education to the missionaries amounted to 887,100 francs, while the total expenditure on education was 1,297,880 francs.

Justice. — There are 7 courts of first instance, 15 county courts, and 2 courts of appeal (one at Boma and the other at Elisabethville). There are altogether 75 magistrates in the Congo. Moreover, every administrator