Berlin hosted the 1884–1885 conference that regulated European colonization of Africa.
The Berlin Conference was convened by German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck and took place from November 1884 to February 1885. Representatives of European powers and the United States discussed trade, navigation, diplomatic recognition, and rules for claiming African territory.
The meeting is associated with the principle of effective occupation. Under that principle, European powers had to demonstrate actual control or administration to have other powers recognize territorial claims. The conference also established provisions concerning the Congo Basin and navigation on the Congo and Niger rivers.
No African state was represented as a participant in the conference. Its decisions did not draw Africa’s borders by themselves, but they helped accelerate the “Scramble for Africa,” during which European empires expanded their control across most of the continent.