- First humans (90,000 years ago)
- Kingdom of Kongo (1390-1914)
- Atlantic slave trade (1500-1850)
- Kingdom of Luba (1585-1889)
- Kingdom of Lunda (1665-1887)
- King Leopold II rules Congo Free State (1885-1908)
- Belgian occupation (1908-1960)
- Democratic Republic of Congo gains independence (1960)
- Congo Crisis (1960-1965)
- Zaire (1971-1997)
- Allied Democratic Forces insurgency (1995 - now)
- First Congo War (1996-1997)
- Renamed to Democratic Republic of Congo (1997)
- Second Congo War (1998-2003)
- Ituri conflict (1999-2003)
- Kivu conflict (2004 - now)
- M23 rebellion (2012-2013)
- Kamwina Nsapu rebellion (2016 - now)
(This post includes any nation or civilization that occupied at least a portion of the Democratic Republic of Congo at some point. Unless specified otherwise, the dates correspond to when a nation or civilization existed, but do not necessarily correspond to occupation of the Democratic Republic of Congo.)
