<P> In 1882, realizing the geopolitical extent of Portuguese control on the coasts, but seeing penetration by France eastward across Central Africa toward Ethiopia, the Nile, and the Suez Canal, Britain saw its vital trade route through Egypt and its Indian Empire threatened . Under the pretext of the collapsed Egyptian financing and a subsequent riot, in which hundreds of Europeans and British subjects were murdered or injured, the United Kingdom intervened in nominally Ottoman Egypt . Through it, the UK also ruled over the Sudan and what would later become British Somaliland . </P> <P> Owing to the European race for colonies, Germany started launching expeditions of its own, which frightened both British and French statesmen . Hoping to quickly soothe this brewing conflict, King Leopold II convinced France and Germany that common trade in Africa was in the best interests of all three countries . Under support from the British and the initiative of Portugal, Otto von Bismarck, German Chancellor, called on representatives of 13 nations in Europe as well as the United States to take part in the Berlin Conference in 1884 to work out joint policy on the African continent . </P> <P> The conference was opened on November 15, 1884 and continued till its closure on 26 February 1885 . Whilst the number of plenipotentiaries varied per nation, the following 14 countries did send representatives to attend the Berlin Conference and sign the subsequent Berlin Act: </P> <Ul> <Li> Austria - Hungary </Li> <Li> Belgium </Li> <Li> Denmark </Li> <Li> France </Li> <Li> German Empire </Li> <Li> Italy </Li> <Li> Netherlands </Li> <Li> Ottoman Empire </Li> <Li> Portugal </Li> <Li> Russian Empire </Li> <Li> Spain </Li> <Li> Sweden - Norway </Li> <Li> United Kingdom </Li> <Li> United States--though the United States reserved the right to decline or to accept the conclusions of the Conference . </Li> </Ul>

Who got the most land in the berlin conference