colony · Central and Southern Africa

Gabon (French colony)

1843 CE – 1958 CE · capital Libreville

French rule over the Gabon estuary and its hinterland, from coastal treaty posts in the 1840s to an autonomous republic in 1958.

Origins

French naval officers signed treaties with Mpongwe rulers of the Gabon estuary, including King Denis Rapontchombo in 1839 and King Louis in 1842, and built a fort in 1843 to support anti-slave-trade patrols. Libreville was founded in 1849 by Africans freed from a captured slave ship. Pierre Savorgnan de Brazza's expeditions from the 1870s pushed claims inland.

Rule and society

Gabon was long administered with the French Congo and from 1910 as part of French Equatorial Africa. Concession companies, timber cutting, especially of okoumé, and forced labour shaped the economy, while Catholic and Protestant missions spread schooling. Albert Schweitzer ran his hospital at Lambaréné from 1913.

Decline and legacy

In 1958 Gabon became an autonomous republic within the French Community and gained full independence on 17 August 1960 under Léon M'ba, keeping close economic and military ties with France and Libreville as its capital.

Connections (4)

More states of Central and Southern Africa →

Cite this page
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Gabon (French colony). In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/gabon-french-colony
MLA
“Gabon (French colony).” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/gabon-french-colony. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Gabon (French colony).” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/gabon-french-colony.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Gabon (French colony)’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/gabon-french-colony (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻