When the word “genocide” is mentioned, the Holocaust is almost always the first that comes to mind. It was one of humanity's most horrific and inhumane events, but it was not the deadliest or even the most brutal genocide. While approximately six million Jews were murdered, an even deadlier incident occurred forty years earlier in what is now known as the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In twenty-five horrible years, more than ten million Congolese were massacred and mutilated (“Congo Free State, 1885-1908”). In fact, the genocide is considered one of the worst in history due to the number of people massacred. Although this genocide is not as well known as other more infamous ones like the Holocaust, the Belgian-Congolese genocide is still considered one of the deadliest. The Democratic Republic of Congo is located in the central region of Africa. It covers 2,344,858 square kilometers of land, about a quarter the size of the United States. Most of Congo is a low plateau, with mountains to the east. Its warm, humid climate allows a variety of plants and shrubs, such as the rubber tree, to flourish. The Congo River basin covers most of the country, forming lakes in various areas ("Democratic Republic of Congo"). The rains are perennial and the rainy season lasts from April to October (Mukenge 5). In summer, temperatures can reach nearly 100 degrees Fahrenheit. The Congo is also home to over two hundred ethnic groups and languages ​​(Dickovick 173). The majority of its citizens arrived during the Bantu migration. The Bantus originally lived in West Africa, and by 1000 BC they migrated east and south. , to the Congo region ("Bantu migrations, 3000 BC - 1100 AD") Before colonization, there was ma...... middle of paper ......World History: The modern world Boston Mass. : Pearson. /Prentice Hall, 2007. 292-94. Gondola, Ch. Didier. The History of the Congo, CT: Greenwood, 2002. Hochschild, Adam. “The Ghost of King Leopold: A Story of Greed and Terror.” , and heroism in colonial Africa. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1998. James, Andre C. “The Butcher of the Congo: King Leopold II of Belgium - Andre C James.” DigitalJournal, April 4, 2011. January 13, 2014. "King Leopold II. Fights for the Congo." New York Herald October 14, 1903: 11. Middleton, Dorothy. “Sir Henry Morton Stanley.” Encyclopedia Britannica Online. EncyclopediaBritannica, nd January 5, 2014..Mukenge, Tshilemalema. Culture and customs of Congo. Connecticut: Greenwood Publishing Group, Inc..., 2002.