formerly Léopoldville
Capital and largest city (pop., 1994 est.: 4,655,313), Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Situated on the southern bank of the Congo River , it was founded as Léopoldville in 1881 by Henry Morton Stanley . It became the capital of the Belgian Congo in the 1920s. After World War II it emerged as the largest city in sub-Saharan Africa and became the capital of the independent republic in 1960. It was given its present name in 1966. A major river port and a commercial centre, it is the seat of the University of Kinshasa (1954).