Ngounié is a province of south-central

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 ...

covering an area of . Its capital is

Mouila Mouila is the capital of the Ngounié region of Gabon. It lies on the Ngounié River and the N1 road and has a population of about 20,000 people. Its main sight is Lac Bleu, a lake known for its bright blue water. Mouila is very spread out ...

. At the 2013 census it had 100,838 inhabitants. In 2016, its governor was Benjamin Nzigou.

History

The province is named after the Ngounié River, which crosses it with its many tributaries. In December 1858 the French explorer

Paul Du Chaillu Paul Belloni Du Chaillu (July 31, 1831 (disputed)April 29, 1903) was a French-American traveler, zoologist, and anthropologist. He became famous in the 1860s as the first modern European outsider to confirm the existence of gorillas, and later t ...

navigated the Nguoiné river upstream to Fougamou. On his journey, he met several local tribes whom he described in his diaries of his second voyage. Later,

Catholic missions Missionary work of the Catholic Church has often been undertaken outside the geographically defined parishes and dioceses by religious orders who have people and material resources to spare, and some of which specialized in missions. Eventually, p ...

were built in Mandji,

Sindara Sindara is a town in Gabon. Notable residents * André Raponda Walker, the anthropologist and priest worked here.savannah A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the Canopy (forest), canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to rea ...

and forest to the Monts de Cristal in the north to the Chaillu and Ikoundou ranges further south. Steep sloping mountains abut plains and dense forests, savannah, lakes, and rich farmland.

Population

Estimated at 101,415 inhabitants, the population of the Ngounié includes significant ethnic diversity including Eshira, , Punu, Tsogo, ,

Massango Massango is a town and municipality in Malanje Province in Angola , national_anthem = "Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , r ...

Vungu The kingdom or polity of Vungu was a historic mini-state located on the north bank of the Congo River near the modern day town of Matadi in the Democratic Republic of Congo. In the sixteenth century its name was written as "Bungu" reflecting the am ...

and , who immigrated to Gabon in successive waves, and have lived together peacefully for many centuries. All of these ethnic groups are

Bantu Bantu may refer to: *Bantu languages, constitute the largest sub-branch of the Niger–Congo languages *Bantu peoples, over 400 peoples of Africa speaking a Bantu language * Bantu knots, a type of African hairstyle *Black Association for National ...

Ethnic distribution

Ethnic group and number of inhabitants * Punu- Eshira: 35260 * -Dyma: 22260 * Okandé- Tsogho: 11815 * Kota-Kélé: 2435 Traditional social and religious organizations are still very present in the daily life of the province, especially

Bwiti Bwiti is a spiritual discipline of the forest-dwelling Punu people and Mitsogo peoples of Gabon (where it is recognized as one of three official religions) and by the Fang people of Gabon and Cameroon. Modern Bwiti incorporates animism, ancest ...

and (female secret society).

Legends and myths

Popular legends say that the province of Ngounié is protected by several genies. Thus the sirens Ipeti and Mougoumi, female genies living in Dola and Ngounié respectively, would according to legend be the protectors of

Ndendé Ndendé is a town and capital of the Dola Department in Ngounié Province, southern Gabon. It is located 549 kilometres southeast of Libreville Libreville is the capital and largest city of Gabon. Occupying in the northwestern province of ...

and

. Tsamba, a male genie, and Magotsi, a female genie, would be the protectors of Fougamou, which they watch over from the top of the Empress Eugenie Falls. These genies are the symbolic protectors of the departments of the province. They inspire fear and respect in the inhabitants, who honor them by throwing coins and pouring liquor into the rivers they cross. To the southeast, Ngounié borders the

Niari Region Niari (can also be written as ''Niadi'') is a department of the Republic of the Congo in the western part of the country. It borders the departments of Bouenza, Kouilou, and Lékoumou, and internationally, Gabon, the Democratic Republic of th ...

of 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 Congo, is a country located in the western coast of Central Africa to the w ...

. Domestically, it borders the following provinces: *

Nyanga Nyanga may mean: *Nyanga Province, of Gabon * Nyanga River, in Gabon and Congo *Nyanga people, an ethnic group from Congo *Nyanga, Zimbabwe, a town *Nyanga District, Zimbabwe *Nyanga National Park in Zimbabwe * Nyanga, Western Cape, a township in S ...

– south * Ogooué-Maritime – west * Moyen-Ogooué – north * Ogooué-Ivindo – northeast, at a

quadripoint A quadripoint is a point on Earth where four distinct territories meet. The territories can be of different types, such as national and provincial. In North America, several such places are commonly known as Four Corners. Several examples exist ...

* Ogooué-Lolo – east

Departments

Ngounié is divided into 9 departments: * Boumi-Louetsi Department ( Mbigou) * Dola Department (

) * Douya-Onoy Department (

) * Louetsi-Wano Department ( Lébamba) * Ndolou Department ( Mandji) * Ogoulou Department (

Mimongo Mimongo is a place in the region of Province de la Ngounie in Gabon at 1°37'12" south of the equator and 11°36'36" east of the Greenwich Prime Meridian. Mimongo has a population of approximately 3,307 people. Facts on Mimongo: Name: Mimongo ...

) *

Tsamba-Magotsi Department Tsamba-Magotsi is a department of Ngounié Province in southern Gabon. The capital lies at Fougamou Fougamou is a small town in Ngounié Province in Gabon. It has a population of about 4,100 and is the capital of Tsamba-Magotsi Department. ...

( Fougamou) *Louetsi-Bibaka Department (Malinga) *Mougalaba Department (Guietsou)

References

Provinces of Gabon {{Gabon-geo-stub