Booué is a small town in central

Gabon Gabon ( ; ), officially the Gabonese Republic (), is a country on the Atlantic coast of Central Africa, on the equator, bordered by Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the north, the Republic of the Congo to the east and south, and ...

. It is situated in Lopé Department, southwest side of the Ogooué-Ivindo Province. The town lies just 6.6 miles to the south of the

Equator The equator is the circle of latitude that divides Earth into the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Southern Hemisphere, Southern Hemispheres of Earth, hemispheres. It is an imaginary line located at 0 degrees latitude, about in circumferen ...

and is the province's only Department capital in the Southern Hemisphere.

History

Booué is a bad transcription and a

francization Francization (in American English, Canadian English, and Oxford English) or Francisation (in other British English), also known as Frenchification, is the expansion of French language use—either through willful adoption or coercion—by more an ...

effort of the word "Mbue" or "Mboue" from the Shiwe language erroneously attributed to a town located in Ogooué-Ivindo province, Gabon by

Pierre Savorgnan de Brazza Pierre Paul François Camille Savorgnan de Brazza (born Pietro Paolo Savorgnan di Brazzà; 26 January 1852 – 14 September 1905) was an Italian-French explorer. With his family's financial help, he explored the Ogooué region of Central Africa, ...

in 1878. Booué is still referred to as "Mboue" by the Shiwe people who were the first settlers of this town and who named it Nangashiki, but was changed to Mboue and subsequently to Booué. From all historical accounts, this change resulted from a miscommunication between De Brazza and Mpami Nani Shui, a Shiwe Chief, during some negotiation talks between the two men. Many accounts from the Shiwe people indicate that while negotiating his passage to the upper

Ogooué River The Ogooué (or Ogowe), also known as the Nazareth River, some long, is the principal river of Gabon in west-central Africa and the fourth largest river in Africa by volume of discharge, trailing only the Congo, Kasai and Niger. Its watershed ...

, De Brazza asked Mpami Nani Shui the name of his village. Thinking that De Brazza was actually asking the name of an aquatic plant floating on the Ogooué River, he answered "Mboung" as the Shiwe people called it. De Brazza, thinking that he had been told the actual name of the village, wrote and recorded it as "Mboue", then Booué later on. Thus Mboue, as a village and later a town, was founded by the Shiwe people originating from the southeast of

Cameroon Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon, is a country in Central Africa. It shares boundaries with Nigeria to the west and north, Chad to the northeast, the Central African Republic to the east, and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the R ...

between the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries; but the name Mboue itself and later its transcription "Booué" was mistakenly attributed to the village and later to the town by De Brazza. During the French colonization, Mboue was the capital city of the then Ogooué-Ivindo region until 1953. Today, it is just one of the four Department capital cities of the Ogooué-Ivindo Province.

Transport

Visitors from other parts of Gabon and from overseas use generally the TRANSGABONAIS trains to get to Booué. It is perhaps the cheapest and safest way to travel to Booué, but it also can be very tiring and time-consuming. Booué does have an airfield; but it may not be very practical because it is not tarred. In addition, air tickets may be very expensive since there is no regular airline serving this town. Visitors from other cities in the Ogooué-Ivindo province generally use rented mini buses, cars, and trucks to travel to Booué. Once in Booué, there are some local cabs to get around. If one is interested in crossing the Ogooué River for an adventure in the bush, a ferry is available at no cost; but you will need a car for the ferry to make the trip!

References

Populated places in Ogooué-Ivindo Province {{Gabon-geo-stub

History

Transport

See also

References