The African capital city known during colonial times as Leopoldville was Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The modern city began as a trading post established by Henry Morton Stanley in 1881. Stanley named it Léopoldville in honor of King Leopold II of Belgium, whose Congo interests supported the expedition. The name referred to the broader colonial settlement, while Kinshasa was originally the name of a nearby village.
Léopoldville became the capital of the Belgian Congo during the 1920s, replacing Boma. Its position on the Congo River, near Pool Malebo and opposite Brazzaville, helped it grow into a major administrative, commercial, and transport center. The city was renamed Kinshasa in 1966 under President Mobutu Sese Seko's policy of restoring African place names.
A common mix-up is confusing Kinshasa with Brazzaville, the capital of the neighboring Republic of the Congo. They face each other across the Congo River and form one of the world's closest pairs of national capitals.