Tchibanga is a city in the

Nyanga Province Nyanga is the southernmost of Gabon's nine provinces. The provincial capital is Tchibanga, which had a total of 31294 inhabitants in 2013 (more than the half of the province population). Nyanga is the least populated province of the nine and the ...

of southern

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 ...

, situated on the

Nyanga River The Nyanga River, 600 km, is a river that runs through southern Gabon and northern Republic of the Congo. It is the second most important river in Gabon after the Ogooue. It is well known for the numerous rapids that break up its otherwise ...

. It has an estimated population of 24,000 (2008). The town lies on the N6 road and is home to

Tchibanga Airport } Tchibanga Airport (French: ''Aéroport de Tchibanga'') is an airport serving the city of Tchibanga, in the Nyanga Province of Gabon. The runway is northwest of the city. The Tchibanga non-directional beacon (Ident: TC) is located on the field. ...

and a

market Market is a term used to describe concepts such as: *Market (economics), system in which parties engage in transactions according to supply and demand *Market economy *Marketplace, a physical marketplace or public market Geography *Märket, an ...

. It lies near the Ivela Falls. Tchibanga is the capital of the Nyanga province. Tchibanga is home to approximately 15,000 Gabonese people, but is also home to a sizeable refugee population from

Congo-Brazzaville 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 ...

. The

UNHCR The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is a United Nations agency mandated to aid and protect refugees, forcibly displaced communities, and stateless people, and to assist in their voluntary repatriation, local integrati ...

runs an office there providing services for the refugees and locals.Congolese refugees in Gabon
/ref> The majority of people living in Tchibanga, including most Congolese refugees, belong to the

Bapounou The Punu or Bapunu (Pungwe, Pungu, Uréwé) (''Sira, Ban Sira''), are a Bantu meta-ethnicity of Gabon and the Republic of Congo. History According to Magang-Ma-Mbuju and Mbumb Bwass the Punu people come from the people called «Jagas» and com ...

ethnic group. Tchibanga sits on the banks of the

. It is located in Gabon's southern

grassland A grassland is an area where the vegetation is dominated by grasses (Poaceae). However, sedge (Cyperaceae) and rush (Juncaceae) can also be found along with variable proportions of legumes, like clover, and other herbs. Grasslands occur natur ...

region and does not have the deep jungle environment of many Gabonese cities. Tchibanga has a thriving commercial district, a hospital, two high schools, a post office, a large Catholic church, and an airport. A small power station and a fresh water spring provide electricity and running water to the centre of town. President

Omar Bongo El Hadj Omar Bongo Ondimba (born Albert-Bernard Bongo; 30 December 1935 – 8 June 2009) was a Gabonese politician who was the second President of Gabon for 42 years, from 1967 until his death in 2009. Omar Bongo was promoted to key positions as ...

has a summer house in Tchibanga that he has never used. The Minister of the Interior also has a house there. Tchibanga is accessible by a twelve-hour bush

taxi A taxi, also known as a taxicab or simply a cab, is a type of vehicle for hire with a driver, used by a single passenger or small group of passengers, often for a non-shared ride. A taxicab conveys passengers between locations of their choice ...

ride from

Libreville Libreville is the capital and largest city of Gabon. Occupying in the northwestern province of Estuaire, Libreville is a port on the Komo River, near the Gulf of Guinea. As of the 2013 census, its population was 703,904. The area has been inh ...

or by aircraft to Tchibanga Airport. A local green and white taxi costs approximately 200

CFA franc The CFA franc (french: franc CFA, , Franc of the Financial Community of Africa, originally Franc of the French Colonies in Africa, or colloquially ; abbreviation: F.CFA) is the name of two currencies, the West African CFA franc, used in eight Wes ...

s. Tchibanga has a number of restaurants serving both

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

and

traditional food Traditional foods are foods and dishes that are passed on through generations or which have been consumed for many generations. Traditional foods and dishes are traditional in nature, and may have a historic precedent in a national dish, region ...

. Some restaurants serve

bushmeat Bushmeat is meat from wildlife species that are hunted for human consumption, most often referring to the meat of game in Africa. Bushmeat represents a primary source of animal protein and a cash-earning commodity for inhabitants of humid tropi ...

, including

snake Snakes are elongated, Limbless vertebrate, limbless, carnivore, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes . Like all other Squamata, squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping Scale (zoology), scales. Ma ...

and

antelope The term antelope is used to refer to many species of even-toed ruminant that are indigenous to various regions in Africa and Eurasia. Antelope comprise a wastebasket taxon defined as any of numerous Old World grazing and browsing hoofed mammals ...

in a traditional

palm oil Palm oil is an edible vegetable oil derived from the mesocarp (reddish pulp) of the fruit of the oil palms. The oil is used in food manufacturing, in beauty products, and as biofuel. Palm oil accounted for about 33% of global oils produced from ...

sauce called Nyengui. Tchibanga is known for having the best manioc (

cassava ''Manihot esculenta'', common name, commonly called cassava (), manioc, or yuca (among numerous regional names), is a woody shrub of the spurge family, Euphorbiaceae, native to South America. Although a perennial plant, cassava is extensively ...

) in Gabon. Batons, or sticks of manioc wrapped in leaves, may be purchased for 100 Central African Francs at the market. A wide variety of other local produce is available at the market, including locally grown

banana A banana is an elongated, edible fruit – botanically a berry – produced by several kinds of large herbaceous flowering plants in the genus ''Musa''. In some countries, bananas used for cooking may be called "plantains", distinguis ...

peanut The peanut (''Arachis hypogaea''), also known as the groundnut, goober (US), pindar (US) or monkey nut (UK), is a legume crop grown mainly for its edible Seed, seeds. It is widely grown in the tropics and subtropics, important to both small ...

s and hot

pepper Pepper or peppers may refer to: Food and spice * Piperaceae or the pepper family, a large family of flowering plant ** Black pepper * ''Capsicum'' or pepper, a genus of flowering plants in the nightshade family Solanaceae ** Bell pepper ** Chili ...

s; the markets often sell

, such as antelope and monkey. Tchibanga is also a good place to buy traditional woven goods, including mats and baskets.

Notable people

* Annie-Flore Batchiellilys (born 1967), Gabonese singer, musician, and composer

Climate

Tchibanga has a

tropical savanna climate Tropical savanna climate or tropical wet and dry climate is a tropical climate sub-type that corresponds to the Köppen climate classification categories ''Aw'' (for a dry winter) and ''As'' (for a dry summer). The driest month has less than of p ...

(

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...

''Aw''), typical of this region of west-central Africa and not dissimilar to

Kinshasa Kinshasa (; ; ln, Kinsásá), formerly Léopoldville ( nl, Leopoldstad), is the capital and largest city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Once a site of fishing and trading villages situated along the Congo River, Kinshasa is now one o ...

Pointe-Noire Pointe-Noire (; kg, Njinji, french: Ndjindji with the letter d following French spelling standards) is the second largest city in the Republic of the Congo, following the capital of Brazzaville, and an autonomous department since 2004. Before t ...

. Unlike most places with a tropical savanna climate, the dry season from June to September is exceedingly foggy and sunless due to the influence of the cold Benguela Current. In fact, with only about 1,260 hours of sunshine per year, Tchibanga is one of the least sunny places in Africa and receives less sunshine than such cities as

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

Juneau The City and Borough of Juneau, more commonly known simply as Juneau ( ; tli, Dzánti K'ihéeni ), is the capital city of the state of Alaska. Located in the Gastineau Channel and the Alaskan panhandle, it is a unified municipality and the se ...

References

{{Authority control Populated places in Nyanga Province