The Democratic Republic of the Congo has been independent since it was settled.
The territory of the DR Congo was first settled by humans around 90,000 years ago .
Leopold formally acquired rights to the Congo territory at the Conference of Berlin in 1885 and made the land his private property .	Conference of Berlin	Conference of Berlin
During the Free State the colonial military unit , the Force Publique , forced the local population into producing rubber , and from 1885 to 1908 millions of Congolese died as a consequence of disease and exploitation .	colonial	Colonialism	Force Publique	Force Publique	rubber	rubber
In 1908 Belgium , despite initial reluctance , formally annexed the Free State from Leopold , which became the Belgian Congo .	Belgian Congo	Belgian Congo	Belgium	Belgium
The Belgian Congo achieved independence on 30 June 1960 under the name Republic of the Congo -LRB- Lopoldville -RRB- .	Republic of the Congo	Republic of the Congo	Belgian Congo	Belgian Congo
