Franceville is one of the four largest cities in

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 ...

, with a population of 110,568 at the 2013 census. It lies on the Mpassa River and at the end of the Trans-Gabon Railway and the N3 road. It grew from a village named Masuku.

Overview

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, ...

chose the village of Masuku to resettle former slaves and renamed it Francheville (meaning "city of the freed") in 1880. This name later was modified to Franceville, after the country’s former ruler (meaning "city of France"). Features of the town include St Hilaire's Church (built in 1899), a large statue of President

Omar Bongo Omar Bongo Ondimba (born Albert-Bernard Bongo; 30 December 1935 – 8 June 2009) was a Gabonese politician who was the second president of Gabon from 1967 until Death and state funeral of Omar Bongo, his death in 2009. A member of the Gabonese De ...

(who was born in Franceville), a

primate Primates is an order (biology), order of mammals, which is further divided into the Strepsirrhini, strepsirrhines, which include lemurs, galagos, and Lorisidae, lorisids; and the Haplorhini, haplorhines, which include Tarsiiformes, tarsiers a ...

medical research Medical research (or biomedical research), also known as health research, refers to the process of using scientific methods with the aim to produce knowledge about human diseases, the prevention and treatment of illness, and the promotion of ...

institute, and a golf course. Its

airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial Aviation, air transport. They usually consist of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surf ...

is west, in Mvengué. Bongo was buried in Franceville on June 18, 2009. There is a market where numerous items can be purchased, including clothing, fruit and vegetables, electronics, meats, and the market also sells

bushmeat Bushmeat is meat from wildlife species that are Hunting, hunted for human consumption. Bushmeat represents a primary source of animal protein and a cash-earning commodity in poor and rural communities of humid tropical forest regions of the worl ...

, which includes Central African rock python,

monkey Monkey is a common name that may refer to most mammals of the infraorder Simiiformes, also known as simians. Traditionally, all animals in the group now known as simians are counted as monkeys except the apes. Thus monkeys, in that sense, co ...

and local species of animals. There are a few hotels, of which the best known is the Hôtel Poubara, overlooking the president's holiday home. Franceville also has many waterfalls. One of the best known is the Poubara Falls, which is co-located with a hydroelectric plant that provides the area with constant electricity.

Population

The population was 31,183 in 1993.Gabon: Provinces, Major Cities & Localities.
Citypopulation.de. Retrieved 2012-01-24. The 2010 population was approximated at 56,000. Another population number is 42,967, possibly retrieved following the disputed census of 2003 (alternately a 2004 estimate). Another recent estimate gives the population as 75,000.

Climate

Franceville 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 ...

(

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

''Aw''). There are a lot of thunderstorms in the city.

Education

Franceville is home to the University of Science and Technology of Masuku (USTM), Gabon's hard sciences university, with the other subjects being taught in

Libreville Libreville (; ) is the capital and largest city of Gabon, located on the Gabon Estuary. Libreville occupies of the northwestern province of Estuaire Province, Estuaire. Libreville is also a port on the Gabon Estuary, near the Gulf of Guinea. A ...

. It welcomes students from all African countries. It is home to the Canadian-sponsored Polytechnic and Faculty of Science and the National Higher Institute of Agronomy and Biotechnology, which trains agricultural engineers. The city is also home to a doctoral school in the 2nd

arrondissement An arrondissement (, , ) is any of various administrative divisions of France, Belgium, Haiti, and certain other Francophone countries, as well as the Netherlands. Europe France The 101 French departments are divided into 342 ''arrondissem ...

. Schools include École publique conventionnée de Franceville.École publique conventionnée de Franceville
"

AEFE The Agency for French Education Abroad, or Agency for French Teaching Abroad, (; AEFE), is a national public agency under the administration of the Minister of Foreign Affairs (France), Ministry of Foreign Affairs of France that assures the qualit ...

. Retrieved on May 3, 2015.

International relations

Twin towns – sister cities

Franceville is twinned with: * Vire,

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

(since 1983)

References

Bibliography

*Maria Petringa, ''Brazza, A Life for Africa''. Bloomington, IN: AuthorHouse, 2006.

External links

Franceville map and weather
at

Mindat.org Mindat.org is a non-commercial interactive online database covering minerals around the world. Originally created by Jolyon Ralph as a private project in 1993, it was launched as a community-editable website in October 2000. it is operated by ...

Oklo mine info
site of over a dozen Precambrian natural nuclear reactors {{Authority control 1880 establishments in Africa Geological type localities Populated places established in 1880 Populated places in Haut-Ogooué Province People of Liberated African descent Repatriated Africans Repatriated slaves