Stanley Falls District (, ) was a district of the Congo Free State. It covered most of the eastern part of the colony along the Congo River south from Stanleyville (present-day Kisangani). Location The explorer Henry Morton Stanley visited the area in 1883, and established a station that became the city of Kisangani below the Boyoma Falls, a series of cataracts. The river was navigable from Léopoldville up to this point. The station was known first as Falls Station and then as Stanleyville, and the falls were known as Stanley Falls. A decree of 3 September 1886 by the Congo Free State administrator general Camille Janssen defined nine districts in the colony, each headed by a district commissioner, including Stanley Falls District. Article 3 of the decree of 16 April 1887 provided for the Congo Free State to be divided into administrative districts headed by district commissioners, assisted by one or more deputies. The decree of 1 August 1888 divided the Congo Free State into eleven districts including Stanley Falls District with capital at Stanley Falls. An 1897 map of the Congo Free State showed the huge Stanley Falls District where the later Stanleyville and Katanga districts would be created. It covered an area of about . It was bounded by Uellé District to the northeast and Aruwimi District to the northwest, then by Lualaba Kassai District to the southwest. To the south and east it was bordered by English and German possessions. The district covered almost the whole Congo Basin south of the Stanley Falls. The boundary with Aruwimi District was defined by the Lomami River. From north to south, the eastern border included Lake Albert Nyassa, Lake Albert-Edward, Lake Tanganyika, Lake Moero and Lake Bangwelo. Later, Lake Bangweulu was determined to be within Northern Rhodesia. Lake Kivu was shown as contained within the district, although later it was found to be on the border between Rwanda and the Belgian Congo. A 1910 map of the Belgian Congo shows the districts after Stanley Falls District had been separated into Stanleyville District to the north and the vice-government general of Katanga to the south, with the Lualaba portion of Lualaba Kassai District transferred to Katanga. The reorganization had been done that year. History In February 1887 Henry Morton Stanley arrived in Zanzibar. There he met Tippu Tip, his former opponent and head of a great trading empire in the eastern