Prior to the creation of the Congo Free State, the
International Association of the Congo (IAC) had signed treaties with over 300 native Congolese chiefs and in effect exercised sovereignty over a large area of the
Congo Basin. The IAC was headquartered in Belgium and run by a committee under the presidency of
Maximilien Strauch. Prior to the creation of the office of Administrator-General, authority on the ground in the Congo had been exercised by a Chief of Expedition, who until April 1884 was
Henry Morton Stanley. ==Congo Free State==