White people in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

White Congolese
*Congolais blanc*
Total population
(60,000)
Regions with significant populations
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Languages
Predominantly French
Religion
Catholicism

White Congolese is a term which can apply to people from the Democratic Republic of the Congo who are of European descent and who do not regard themselves, or are not regarded as, being part of another racial group.

The white population in the Congo is tied to the creation of the Belgian colonial empire and fluctuated during and after Belgian rule. During the existence of the Congo Free State the European population is estimated at 1500 people. Following annexation and the formation of the Belgian Congo, that number grew to 17,000 in 1930 but plummeted to 11,000 in 1934. In 1947, the white population was 24,000 and 89,000 in 1959. The post-World War II white population increased steadily until 1960 when Belgium granted the Republic of the Congo its independence.

White settlers were primarily government officials and missionaries, and disproportionately young men. Belgians made up between 40 and 65 percent of the white population until after World War II. During the existence of the Congo Free State and the early years of the Belgian Congo, the majority of White Congolese were Scandinavian. Demographics shifted throughout the 1950s. By 1959, 0.9 percent of the total Belgian population lived in the Congo.

Because of the Congo's large land area and population, White Congolese made up only about 0.8 percent of the total population in 1959. Belgian officials discouraged large scale immigration of white settlers to set up small businesses until the final 15 years of the colony's existence.

The White Congolese population contracted after the end of colonization and the Congo Crisis but smaller numbers remained in Zaire and later the Democratic Republic of Congo. White Congolese settlers participated in and supported the secession of the State of Katanga.

White Congolese Belgian nuns were at the center of the 1976 Ebola outbreak at a clinic in Yambuku, with several white health workers becoming fatally ill with the virus.

Genocide Watch reports a 2012 White Congolese population that is almost exclusively Belgian. The report suggests that White Congolese face a moderate to severe risk of massacres and genocide in the aftermath of the Second Congo War.

References

Vanthemsche, Guy. Belgium and the Congo, 1885-1980. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2012.
"Democratic Republic of Congo Country Profile." Genocide Watch, 1 December 2012.

Ethnic groups in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Indigenous	Alur Amba Avukaya Baka Bakwa Dishi Banda Banyamulenge Bemba Bembe Boa Budu Bunda Bwile Chokwe Dengese Efé Furiiru Garanganze Gbaya Great Lakes Twa Hema Hemba Holoholo Hutu Iyaelima Kakwa Kango Kele Keliko Kongo Konjo Lega Lele Lendu Logo Luba Lugbara Lulua Lunda Lungu M'Baka Mangbetu Mbo Mbole Mbunda Mbuti Mongo Mongo Twa Mono Moru Mpama Ndaka Ngando Ngata Ngbandi Nyanga Pende Sanga Songora Songye Suku Tagbu Teke Tetela Topoke Tumbwe Turumbu Tutsi Vira Wochua Yaka Yakoma Yombe Yulu Zande Zyoba

Non-indigenous	Chinese Europeans Greek Jewish

White people

Caucasian race European peoples West Asian peoples North African peoples Bold refers to countries and territories in which White/European people are the majority group

Worldwide diaspora, descendants and immigrants	Africa Algeria Angola Botswana Democratic Republic of the Congo Kenya Morocco Namibia Saint Helena South Africa Tunisia Zambia Zimbabwe Asia Pakistan United States Canada Bermuda Bahamas Barbados Cayman Islands Israel Jamaica Latin America Argentina Bolivia Brazil Chile Colombia Costa Rica Cuba Dominican Republic Ecuador El Salvador Guatemala Haiti Honduras Mexico Nicaragua Peru Puerto Rico Uruguay Venezuela Oceania Australia New Caledonia New Zealand

Historical concepts	Aryan First white child Honorary whites Play the white man Racial whitening Branqueamento / Blanqueamiento White Australia policy The White Man's Burden White gods

Sociological phenomena and theories	Acting white (Passing as white) Angry white male Missing white woman syndrome Skin whitening White flight South African farm attacks White fragility White guilt White privilege Whiteness studies Whitewashed film roles White savior

White American caricatures and stereotypes	Poor Whites Redlegs Rednecks Mountain whites

Identity politics in the United States	US definitions of whiteness One-drop rule Christian Identity Non-Hispanic whites White Anglo-Saxon Protestant White ethnic White Hispanic White nationalism White pride White separatism White supremacy

Scientific racism	Human skin color Color terminology for race Alpine Armenoid Dinaric East Baltic Irano-Afghan Mediterranean

Commons

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White people in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

See also

References