The area north of the Congo River came under French sovereignty in 1880 as a result of Pierre de Brazza's treaty with Makoko of the Bateke. This Congo Colony became known first as French Congo, then as <answer>Middle Congo</answer> in 1903. In 1908, France organized French Equatorial Africa (AEF), comprising <answer>Middle Congo</answer>, Gabon, Chad, and Oubangui-Chari (the modern Central African Republic). The French designated Brazzaville as the federal capital. Economic development during the first 50 years of colonial rule in Congo centered on natural-resource extraction. The methods were often brutal: construction of the Congo–Ocean Railroad following World War I has been estimated to have cost at least 14,000 lives.
What was the French Congo's name changed to in 1903?
Middle Congo