Place details
Place nameGabon
Other namesRépublique Gabonaise, République gabonaise, Gabun, Gaboon, Gabon Republic, Gabonese Republic, Gabón, Gabão, GAB, GA, ISO266, GB00, Gabonese
Latitude-1
Longitude11.75
SourceThesaurus of Geographic Names
Overview
Area had Paleolithic settlements; Bantu-speakers immigrated around 100 BC; Portuguese visited area in 15th cen., naming it with word for a coat, after shape of Komo estuary; Dutch, British, & French traded here; was part of French Equatorial Africa; official language is French, though Fang, Myene, & Bateke dialects are also spoken.