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Henry Morton Stanley - Exploration and Mapping of the Congo River (1874-1877), Solving the Last Great Mystery of African Continent

Henry Morton Stanley (1841-1904), one of the world’ s most famous explorers, had a very important role in the mapping of the African continent. One of his many achievements was to solve the last great mystery of African exploration by tracing the course of the Congo River to the sea. During the so called Anglo-American expedition (1874-1877), he passed through central Africa, from the Indian to the Atlantic Oceans. He reached the sea in August 1877, after an epic journey that he later described in his book Through the Dark Continent (1878). He was the first European who navigated along the river’ s length and reported that the Lualaba was not a source of the Nile as had been suggested. As a former soldier in the American military service, Stanley was not only an explorer, but also an excellent cartographer. During his exploration of the Congo River, he made a certain number of maps, which were the first reliable maps of that part of the African continent. Stanley’ s maps significantly improved cartographical knowledge of central Africa and corrected many mistakes recorded on older maps. Based on his field work and his manuscript maps, the first accurate maps of the Congo River were compiled and printed for the very first time.

cartographical sources; Africa; river Congo; urban development

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