The Antwerp International Exposition (Dutch; Flemish: Wereldtentoonstelling van Antwerpen, French: Exposition Internationale d'Anvers) was a world's fair held in Antwerp, Belgium, between 2 May and 2 November 1885. It covered 54.3acres, attracted 3.5 million visits and broke even[1] after spending 4 million Belgian francs [2] There were 25 official participating nations including: Austria, Canada, France, Germany, Great Britain, the Ottoman Empire,Portugal, Serbia, Spain, Romania, the United States and some South American states.[2] Australian wool growers sent exhibitions and won prizes.[3]
Taking place 20 years after the accession of King Leopold II, and the same year of the creation of the Congo Free State, the fair was the first in which a Congolese village was displayed, a feature that also appeared in the later 1897 Brussels fair.[4]