Libreville, Gabon

Libreville is the administrative capital of the West African nation of Gabon. From its roots as a port city for the timber industry along the Gabon River, Libreville grew to national prominence during the French occupation in the nineteenth century and remained the capital after the country gained its independence in 1960. Libreville grew rapidly during the twentieth century, fueled by economic expansion, suburban sprawl, and the city's increasing importance as a transportation hub.

Landscape

Libreville is located on the northern banks of the Gabon River, as the river expands into an estuary that leads to the Gulf of Guinea. The city is surrounded by year-round vegetation due to the numerous small streams branching from the Gabon River. Most of the urban area is arranged on a plateau rising to fifteen meters (forty-nine feet) above sea level. Portions of the city were built to have scenic views of the Gulf of Guinea, while other residential zones are arranged along the river.

Gabon is located in an equatorial, tropical zone with warm temperatures, high humidity, and frequent rainfall. Average temperatures vary from 23 degrees to 28 degrees Celsius (73 degrees to 83 degrees Fahrenheit) with little seasonal variation. Precipitation is common and averages 236 millimeters (9.3 inches) on a monthly basis; yearly rainfall in Libreville totals an average of over three meters (150 inches) per year. The average humidity is 83 percent, though occasionally humidity levels reach 99 percent.

Libreville is divided into a number of urban districts arranged in an irregular grid. The busiest portion of the city is the City Centre, which contains hotels, administrative buildings, and businesses. Most of the neighborhoods retain names given during the French occupation, such as Quartier Louis and Quartier Batterie IV, while others have been given African names such as the Nombekele Commercial District. The European portion of the city, which once housed the colonial government, is the most modern and has been converted to house the national government.

People

In 2022, over 90.7 percent of the Gabonese population lived in urban areas; the population of Libreville was 857,000. Gabon has over forty ethnic groups, most of which are offshoots of the Bantu ethno-linguistic family. The Fang ethnic group, a subset of the Bantu, accounts for 23.2 percent of the population, while other Bantu groups including the Bapounou, Nzebi, and Obamba make up a large part of the remaining population. In Libreville and other cities, European expatriates constitute a significant portion of the population and there are over 10,700 French and 11,000 people with dual citizenship living in Gabon.

French is the national language of Gabon and is spoken by over 90 percent of the population. Ethnic languages, such as Fang, Myene, Nzebi, Bapounou/Eschira, and Bandjabi are also common, especially in rural districts and villages. French and English are commonly taught in the Gabonese school system, and in 2020 the literacy rate was estimated at 85.5 percent.

The religious composition of Gabon was heavily influenced by the nation's European period. Approximately 88 percent of the population observes some form of Christianity. Animist religions are practiced in rural communities and occasionally in major cities. Islam has been growing in Gabon in recent years and accounts for approximately 6.4 percent of the population as a whole.

Gabonese culture blends traditional African cultural elements with French elements, which remain as the legacy of the colonial occupation. Libreville has elements of modern European culture, including global cuisine, dance clubs, bars, and theater. Elements of traditional African cultures also abound, particularly in open markets, which are often used as social centers. Gabonese cuisine makes extensive use of rice and other grains blended with vegetables and locally produced fruits.

Economy

The economy of Gabon is stronger than that of many sub-Saharan African nations, but the country is still plagued by high levels of government debt, poverty, income inequality, and an unemployment rate of 21.47 percent (2022 estimate). A lack of adequate employment has contributed to the sparse population of Gabon, except in cities like Libreville, where Gabonese can often find employment in the services and hospitality industries. In 2022, higher oil prices and increased production benefited Gabon's economy, increasing its gross domestic product (GDP) by 3 percent.

Oil production and refinement is the primary industry followed by industrial manufacturing. Other industrial products produced in Gabon include minerals and precious metals, textiles and lumber. Libreville is the major hub for the Gabonese lumber industry and is also a globally important shipbuilding and ship repair facility. Libreville's ports ship lumber to Europe and to other African nations.

Agriculture is an important source of employment for the Gabonese, and approximately 64 percent of the population is involved in either subsistence or production agriculture. Despite its prevalence, agricultural exports account for less than 5 percent of the GDP. Gabonese farms produce a variety of fruits and vegetables, as well as a number of plantation products, including rubber, cocoa, and sugar.

China, France, and Belgium are Gabon's most important trading partners. Other trading partners include the United States, Ireland, Netherlands, South Korea, Australia, and Italy (2017).

The outskirts of Libreville are organized into low-rent housing districts. Most of the population of the outskirts live in poverty. The inner, urban districts are relatively prosperous and feature infrastructure improvements such as paved roads, functional sewage systems, and public transportation. Libreville International Airport is the country's busiest airport and provides business to nearby hotels and restaurants in Libreville. The Trans-Gabon Railway System, which opened in the late 1970s, connects Gabon to several of the nation's other larger cities.

Landmarks

In the center of downtown Libreville is the Marché de Mont-Bouet, the city's largest open-air market, in which hundreds of vendors sell food and local crafts. The market is a popular destination for tourists and also serves as a meeting place for friends and family.

Another popular cultural attraction is the Musée des Arts et Traditions du Gabon, which contains a broad collection of art and artifacts from Gabon's indigenous cultures as well as from the various periods of occupation. The National Museum of Gabon is also located in Libreville and houses a collection of Gabonese artifacts and cultural relics.

The National Library of Gabon is housed in Libreville. The library's collection is divided between several buildings, together containing more than 25,000 books with a focus on Gabonese and African history. For those interested in the history of the French in Gabon, the Saint-Exupéry French Cultural Centre, named for French author and aviator Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, is a small museum dedicated to collections of art and photography documenting the French involvement in Libreville and the rest of the nation.

Visitors to Libreville are often drawn to the Arboretum de Sibang, a park full of native and imported tree species. The park also provides scenic hiking and picnicking grounds. Alternatively, visitors may choose to visit one of Libreville's nearby beaches, including Pointe-Denis, which is one of the country's most popular locations for swimming and water sports.

History

Although the body of archeological evidence has grown in recent years, the early history of Gabon is uncertain. Some historians believe that African Pygmy groups were the first to inhabit the region, followed by a succession of tribes from the Bantu group. The Mpongwe were the first tribe to occupy the Gabon River Estuary and had developed a large scale trading enterprise when Portuguese explorers arrived in 1474.

The Portuguese did not settle Gabon, but news of the region's resources spread throughout Europe and the British, Dutch, and French visited Gabon and bartered for timber and minerals and captured slaves. In the mid-nineteenth century, the French established the first European colony in Gabon by bartering extensively and instigating warfare between various ethnic groups.

As the abolition of slavery spread through the European colonial powers in the nineteenth century, the French were forced to patrol the oceans to prevent slave trading. The French government established the city of Libreville (free town) as a home for captured slaves and the site attracted missionaries from across Europe. At the Conference of Berlin in 1885, the other European powers recognized France's claim to Gabon and the nation eventually became part of French Equatorial Africa. From 1888 to 1904, Libreville was the capital of French Equatorial Africa.

During the early nineteenth century, hundreds of representatives of the Fang ethnic group moved into the estuary region and largely replaced the Mpongwe as the most populous group near Libreville. Many of the Mpongwe moved to the urban areas where the Fang eventually followed.

An independence movement surfaced among the Fang ethnic group in the early twentieth century and continued with periodic revolts until World War II, when the country was claimed by both the Free French and the fascist Vichy French. At the close of World War II, the independence movement resurfaced with increased vigor, and France decided to make Gabon an overseas territory with internal autonomy. The Gabonese continued to protest French involvement and eventually developed a more sophisticated political lobby, which convinced the French to grant independence in 1960.

Libreville has served as the nation's administrative capital since independence and has grown rapidly since the 1960s. The potential for employment in the city's industrial and services facilities resulted in the doubling of the population in the 1960s and has fueled a continued increase in urbanization. During the forty-two-year presidency of El Hadj Omar Bongo Ondimba ( born Albert-Bernard Bongo) between 1967 and 2009, the city's French colonial architecture was co-opted for use by the Gabonese government, and many new buildings have been constructed to meet the needs of the nation's increasing population. After his death in 2009, his son Ali Bongo Ondimba was elected to the presidency. His allegedly fraudulent re-election in August 2016 triggered opposition protests in Libreville, including the burning of the Parliament building. After reviewing the election results, the Constitutional Court upheld them. Soon after it was announced that Bongo has won the presidential election in 2023, military officers from the presidential guard arrested Bongo and seized control of the country. They installed General Brice Oligui Nguema as Gabon's leader.

Bibliography

Archbald, Henry and Elizabeth Murray. "What to Know About Gabon's Coup." United States Institute of Peace, 31 Aug. 2023, www.usip.org/publications/2023/08/what-know-about-gabons-coup. Accessed 26 Feb. 2024.

Central Intelligence Agency. "Gabon." World Factbook, Central Intelligence Agency, 20 Feb. 2024, www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/gabon/. Accessed 26 Feb. 2024.

Cybriwsky, Roman A. Capital Cities around the World. ABC-CLIO, 2013.

"Discover Gabon." LeGabon.org: Official Portal of the Gabonese Republic, www.legabon.org/discover-gabon/understand/key-dates. Accessed 29 Dec. 2016.

PRS Group. "Gabon." Political Risk Yearbook: Gabon Country Report, 2014, pp. 1–50. Business Source Complete. Web. 24 Mar. 2014.

Leildé, Anne, and S. B. Bekker. Reflections on Identity in Four African Cities. African Minds, 2006.

Libreville. Revue Noire, 1992.

World Trade Press. Gabon: Society & Culture. World Trade, 2011.