Makokou is the regional capital of the Ogooué-Ivindo province 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 nort ...

. Its coordinates are . Its altitude is 308 m. Its population in 2004 is around 16,600. The city lies on the

Ivindo River The Ivindo River is the most important tributary of the Ogooué River, which flows in Gabon. Course The Ivindo River flows from northeast Gabon to the southwest, eventually emptying into the Ogooué River. It flows through some of the wildest an ...

and the N4 road. It grew around iron ore mining and lies near the Ivindo National Park.

Transport

A branch of the

Trans-Gabon Railway The Trans-Gabon Railway (french: Transgabonais) is the only railway in Gabon. It runs east from Owendo port station in Libreville to Franceville via numerous stations, the main ones being Ndjolé, Lopé, Booué, Lastoursville and Moand ...

was originally planned to terminate in the town, but the route was abandoned for what are often described as political reasons. At the time, the price of iron ore from the nearby iron ore mines was depressed. In 2006, proposals to build this branch with a possible extension to other iron ore mines at Mbala, Cameroon are being considered. At new

deep water port A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Ham ...

at Santa Clara would be part of the project. The town has one airport, Makokou Airport.

Religion

Its Cathédrale Notre-Dame des Victoires is the see of the

Apostolic Vicariate of Makokou The Apostolic Vicariate of Makokou is the last Roman Catholic missionary jurisdiction in Gabon, Equatorial Africa, as the rest of the country forms the ecclesiastical province of the Metropolitan Archbishop of Libreville. The vicariate is directly ...

, the country's last Roman Catholic missionary circonscription.

Famous Citizens

Emmanuel Issoze-Ngondet the one time Prime Minister of Gabon was born in this city.

Climate

Makokou has a tropical dry savanna climate (

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 ...

''As'').

References

External links