THE BELGIAN CONGO This region, which extends over the greater part of the Congo basin, has an estimated area of over 900,000 square miles, and a population which is believed to number 15,000,000. The country consists, in the main, of a plateau of sandstone formation, which occupies the site of an old inland lake. The general slope of this plateau is toward the Atlantic, and the greater part of it has an altitude ranging from 1,000 to 2,000 feet. In the south-east it is bounded by uplands rising to the Congo-Zambesi divide, and in the east by the highlands that border the rift valley.
The Belgian Congo lies on either side of the equator, and the temperature is everywhere high throughout the year, though, on the whole, it increases from south to north. In the Katanga upland, in the south-east, the mean annual temperature is 73° F., while in the north of the country it is about 84° F. Probably the mean for the whole region is 80° F., the variation between one season and another being very slight. Except along
the coast, the rainfall is considerable ; over the greater part of the country: it occurs afiall seasons of the year, but is heaviest when the sun1is overhead. In the east and south-east it varies from 40 to 60 inches, but elsewhere it is generally over 60 inches.
Much of the soil is relatively poor, as it consists of laterite, which absorbs water very readily. In the region of heavy rain fall, and more especially in the river valleys, dense tropical forest covers the land. On the higher grounds, between the river valleys, there are lighter forests and, in places, savannas. The drier districts in the south-east and east are mainly savanna lands.
With the scanty knowledge of the country which at present exists, a division into natural regions is practically impossible.
It will suffice to direct attention to the present economic development of the forest lands and of the Katanga.