How did Kinshasa develop from the villages of Nshasa and Ntamo?

The land that became Kinshasa was originally inhabited by the Bahumbu people and frequented by Bateke fishermen and traders, centered around the villages of Nshasa and Ntamo (later known as Kintamo) on the shores of Malebo Pool.1

In 1881, the explorer Sir Henry Morton Stanley established a trading post on the site after forming an alliance with the ruler of Kintamo, a wealthy ivory trader. Stanley named this post Léopoldville in honor of Léopold II, the king of the Belgians.1

Léopoldville remained relatively unimportant until the completion of a railway line from Matadi in 1898, which connected the upper and lower Congo rivers. Following the introduction of a crude oil pipeline in 1914 and air service in 1920, the administrative headquarters of the Belgian Congo was moved to the city from Boma in 1923. The city was renamed Kinshasa in 1966.12