Banana (CD)
Banana is a small seaport in Bas-Congo province in the Democratic Republic of the Congo on the Atlantic coast. The port is situated in Banana Creek, an inlet about 1 km wide on the north bank of the Congo River's mouth, separated from the ocean by a spit of land 3 km long and 100 to 400 m wide. The port is located on the creek side of the spit, which shelters it from the ocean. It is about 8 km south-east of Muanda, to which it is connected by a paved road running along the coast.The town was developed as a port in the 19th century, largely as part of the slave trade. Henry Morton Stanley arrived at Banana in 1879 at the start of an exploratory expedition funded by Léopold II of Belgium. Following the Conference of Berlin (1884-85) the European powers recognized Léopold's claim to the Congo basin, and in a ceremony at Banana in 1885 the king announced the establishment of the Congo Free State, headed by himself, beginning the period of European colonization. Banana was the main Belgian naval base of the Congo until independence in 1960.
Postmark Examples
_a.jpg) Postal Card sent from Banana to Wolfratshausen (DE) Germany 1900 |
