At the time of independence, the area now encompassing Kongo Central was part of the greater province of Léopoldville, along with the capital city of Kinshasa and the districts of Kwango, Kwilu and Mai-Ndombe.

Under Belgian colonial rule, the province was known as Bas-Congo (as in "Lower Congo River") and was renamed Kongo Central after independence.

[7][8] Under the regime of Mobutu Sese Seko from 1965 to 1997, the Congo river was renamed as Zaire.

It is navigable from the Atlantic Ocean to the port city of Matadi after which there are a series of rapids that make it unnavigable until the Malebo Pool.

The remainder of the province is administratively divided into ten territories, the most of any province:[9] Before 2015 these territories were divisions of the Bas-Fleuve, Cataractes and Lukaya districts; except for Moanda, which was attached to Boma (a city/district hybrid).