Gamba (
Lumbu
Lumbu is a Bantu language spoken in Gabon and the Republic of the Congo
The Republic of the Congo (french: République du Congo, ln, Republíki ya Kongó), also known as Congo-Brazzaville, the Congo Republic or simply either Congo or the ...
: ''N´gamb'') is a small town in
Gabon
Gabon (; ; snq, Ngabu), officially the Gabonese Republic (french: République gabonaise), is a country on the west coast of Central Africa. Located on the equator, it is bordered by Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the north ...
lying on the southern bay of the
Ndogo Lagoon.
History
Historically, the area was populated by gatherer-hunter-fishermen autochthons scattered in small villages around the
Ndogo Lagoon and the
Yenzi Lake.
With the discovery in 1967 of a major oil field by
Shell
Shell may refer to:
Architecture and design
* Shell (structure), a thin structure
** Concrete shell, a thin shell of concrete, usually with no interior columns or exterior buttresses
** Thin-shell structure
Science Biology
* Seashell, a hard o ...
in the area, the town boomed and immigration of workers from various other parts of the country resulted in the population today of over 10000 people. Though production from the Gamba field is now only a fraction of what it once was, Gamba remains an important and strategic oil hub, being one of only two
oil terminal
An oil terminal (also called a tank farm, tankfarm, oil installation or oil depot) is an industrial facility for the storage of oil, petroleum and petrochemical
Petrochemicals (sometimes abbreviated as petchems) are the chemical products obt ...
s in Gabon (the other one being
Cape Lopez
Cape Lopez () is a headland on the coast of Gabon, west central Africa. The westernmost point of Gabon, it separates the Gulf of Guinea from the South Atlantic Ocean. Cape Lopez is the northernmost point of a low, wooded island between two mouths ...
).
Population
Most people live in the heart of the town, divided into five blocks called “Plaines”, while most senior Shell staff live in
Yenzi, half a dozen miles away from the heart of the city near the
airport
An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial air transport. Airports usually consists of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surface ...
and the oil terminal.
The
Balumbu people are known to be the autochthons of the region, even though the
Punu and
Fang people
__NOTOC__
The Fang people, also known as Fãn or Pahouin, are a Bantu ethnic group found in Equatorial Guinea, northern Gabon, and southern Cameroon. are now possibly the majority ethnic groups present.
Etymology
The name Gamba stands for fog in
Vili, probably because of the foggy weather during the dry season.
Economy
Gamba attracts many tourists from all over the world because of its remarkable biodiversity, and the proximity of
Sette Cama
Sette may refer to:
People
*Alessandro Sette, Italian immunologist
*Giancarlo Sette, Italian astronomer, namesake of the asteroid 8885 Sette
*Oscar Elton Sette (1900–1972), American fisheries scientist
*Sérgio Sette Câmara (b. 1998), Brazilia ...
and the
Loango National Park
Loango National Park is a national park in western Gabon. It protects diverse coastal habitats, including part of the Iguéla Lagoon, the only significant example of a typical western African lagoon system that is protected within a national ...
. As a result of all that activity, life in Gamba is very expensive, and the ongoing economic crisis makes things more difficult for residents.
Education
Schools include:
* École Yenzi-Shell-Gabon (now closed)
École Yenzi-Shell-Gabon
" AEFE
The Agency for French Education Abroad, or Agency for French Teaching Abroad, (french: Agence pour l'enseignement français à l'étranger; abbreviation: AEFE), is a national public agency under the administration of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs ...
. Retrieved on May 3, 2015.
References
{{Authority control
Populated places in Ogooué-Maritime Province
Ports and harbours of Gabon