EUROPE AND AFRICA 
The new state came into existence with a territory of 
about 900,000 square miles and a population of approxi- 
mately 15,000,000, chiefly Bantus. The Association had 
been rewarded for its remarkable explorations by being 
entrusted with the government of this vast region with 
nearly three times the population of Belgium (5,520,000 
in 1880) and 80 times its area (11,378 square miles). It had 
access to the Atlantic and possessed practically all of the vast 
drainage basin of the Congo, from the Kwango River to 
Lake Tanganyika, and from the Ubangi to the Upper 
Luapula, at lat. 12° S. 
The primary purpose, both of the International Associa- 
tion and of the promoters of the Berlin Conference, was to 
secure free navigation and free trade on the Congo and its 
tributaries, and to have the development of the region, as 
well as the protection of the natives, placed in the hands of 
some responsible but independent organization. To this 
end the Congo Independent State, joined to Belgium only 
through a personal union, was created. And the Confer- 
ence marked off for free trade the entire region between the 
Atlantic and Indian Oceans lying between lat. 2° 30’ S. 
and the Loji River (lat. 7° 50’ S.) on the West Coast and 
lat. 5° N. and the mouth of the Zambesi on the East Coast, 
including all the territory drained by the Congo and its 
branches. Navigation of every foot of the Congo and its 
tributaries was to be free; and an international commission, 
composed of representatives of states signing the act, was to 
supervise the navigation of the river, the levying of river 
tolls and pilotage dues, the surveillance of quarantine sta- 
tions, and all matters necessary for the upkeep of the river. 
Conditions on the Congo were well known to many mem- 
bers of the conference; and Stanley was present to explain 
both the claims of the Association and the needs of the 
natives, with whom he was deeply in sympathy. The