Figure 1.-- This photo was taken in the Haut-Ogooué Province of Gabon on a tributary of the Ogooué, Gabon's major river. It was taken during the 1990s. This is a scene not different from those that could had seen by the the first European explorer that reached the interior in the 1870s. He was Pietro Paolo Savorgnan di Brazzà, French naturalized as Pierre Paul François Camille Savorgnan de Brazza. His descriptions are a source to know the custom of local people in the 19th century. The traditional clothing were loincloths and skirts made from plant fiber. They didn't wear any footwear and the children went naked till they had reached puberty. The situation changed in the last decades. Now western style casual clothing are very common in the region, although in the rural villages often the children still wear traditional garments.

Gabon is located near th apex if the Bight of Africa, more correctly reffered to as the Bight of Biafra, in the Gulf of Guinea. It is the transition zone between West Africa, Central Africa and southern Africa, lying along the Atlantic Ocean, just south of the Bight of Biafra. As it is located north of the Congo River, it is often seen as part of West Africa The country borders Equatorial Guinea and Cameroon to the north and the Republic of the Congo to the east and south. Gabon lies square on the equator. This controls the climate. Gabon has a moist, hot climate typical of the tropics. Climate change is primarily dry and rainy seasons. The dry season (June to September) has virtually no rain but high humidity. The rainy season (October-May) can have heavy rain fall, although this tapers off (December-January). The heavy raon occurs due to the condensation of moist air resulting from the collision, off the coast, of the cold Benguela Current from the south and the warm Guinea Current from the north. Gabon has a narrow coastal plain partially covered by mangroves. Inland the terraine s hilly wuth savanna in east and south. Gabon is tied together by rivers concerging from the north, east, and south into the Gabon River and Estuarty (Estuaire du Gabon). It is a short wide estuary in the as the river coast appeaoches the coat. The capital Libreville is located along the north bank of the estuary, The most important river is the Ogooué, some 1,200 kilometres long. It rises in the south east and geeds into the Gabon stuary. It is the fourth largest river in Africa by bith volume of discharge, trailing only the Congo, Niger and Zambezi. Other important rivers are the Komo and Ebe. The Gabon Estuary empties into the Gulf of Guinea.

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Created: 4:25 PM 6/28/2015
Last updated: 4:25 PM 6/28/2015