History

The earliest inhabitants of the area were Pygmy peoples, which were largely replaced and absorbed by Bantu tribes during Bantu migrations.

Gabon's first confirmed European visitors were Portuguese traders who arrived in the 15th century and named the country after the Portuguese word gabao - a coat with sleeve and hood that was thought to resemble the shape of the Komo river estuary. The coast soon became a centre of the slave trade, with Dutch, English, and French traders arriving in the 16th century.

France assumed the status of protector by signing treaties with Gabonese coastal chiefs in 1839 and 1841. In 1849, the French captured a slave ship and released the passengers at the mouth of the Komo river. The slaves named their settlement Libreville - French for 'free town'.

In 1875, French explorer Pierre Savorgnan de Brazza led his first mission to the Gabon-Congo area in his search for the headwaters of the Congo river. He founded the town of Franceville, and later became its colonial governor.

France occupied Gabon in 1885, but did not administer it until 1903. In 1910, the country became one of the four territories of French Equatorial Africa, a federation that survived until 1959. The former territories all became independent in August, 1960, as Chad (August 11), the Central African Republic (August 13), Congo-Brazzaville (August 15) and finally Gabon on August 17.

Léon M'ba was the first president of Gabon, elected in 1961, with Omar Bongo Ondimba as his vice president. When M'Ba died in 1967, Bongo replaced him as president, and has been the head of state ever since, winning each contested election with a substantial majority.