The Berlin Conference set rules for European claims over African territory during the Scramble for Africa.
The conference met in Berlin from 15 November 1884 to 26 February 1885 at the invitation of German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck. Fourteen states participated, although African governments were not represented as negotiating powers. The discussions focused on trade, navigation, and procedures for recognizing European claims in Africa.
The General Act of the Berlin Conference established principles including free trade in the Congo Basin, freedom of navigation on the Congo and Niger rivers, and the requirement of “effective occupation” for a European power to claim authority over territory. The act also condemned the international slave trade in principle.
The conference did not draw every colonial boundary directly, but its rules accelerated European competition and helped legitimize imperial expansion. African societies retained their own political authority and resisted conquest, yet European powers subsequently occupied most of Africa. Ethiopia and Liberia remained outside formal European colonial rule.