It had its origins in the Équateur District of the Congo Free State, the private property of King Leopold II of Belgium.

[1] The word "Équateur" is French for the Equator, which lies less than 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) south of the provincial capital of Mbandaka, a city on the Congo River.

[2] At first there was no commissioner for Equateur, but on 25 June 1889 the governor general placed Van Kerchhoven, successor to Camille Coquilhat, in command of the District of Ubangi and Uele based at Nouvelle-Anvers (formerly Bangala Station).

On 25 April 1966 Cuvette Centrale, Moyen-Congo and Ubangi were reunited as Équateur province.

In 2015 when it was again split under the terms of the 2006 Constitution, it formed five new provinces:[6] Under the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the province was divided into the cities of Mbandaka, Gbadolite and Zongo and the districts of Équateur, Nord-Ubangi, Sud-Ubangi, Mongala and Tshuapa.