Port Gentil is located in the Western Gabon on an island in the Ougooue river estuary east of the Cape Lopez. Its the capital of Ougooue maritime prefecture. The city is an important center of Gabon petroleum industry as well as a sport and commercial fishing center. The exports of the city include timber, petroleum, fish and cacao and the forest products from the interior. Local industries include fish processing,oil refining saw milling and plywood fabricating .the community was originally a hunting camp called Mandji Oroungou, a French post was established in 1885.the town developed after 1932 and was organized in 1956. Port Gentil is technically on an island, and no bridge connects it to the mainland. The limited number of paved roads within the city are also poorly maintained. It has an airport serving as the main channel of transportation with the world. Regular flights are operated from the airport to Libreville, capital of Gabon. Oil company charters to other destinations are a regular sight from the airport.
Port-Gentil is the second-largest city of Gabon and a leading seaport. Although it lies inshore, the nearby mainland is a remote forest area and it is not connected by road to the rest of the nation. The city lies close to Cape Lopez, the westernmost point in Gabon. The town was named after the French colonial administrator Émile Gentil in 1900. After World War I it became a port for timber, but it grew rapidly only after Elf began oil exploration in the area.A 1947 population of 4,500 grew to 21,000 by 1960. An oil refinery was established by SOGARA in the 1960s, with natural gas added in 1968.The town is now known for its hotels and its nightlife, while attractions include the St Louis Church which was built in 1927,remains a wonder, a zoo, a casino, beaches and a golf course, as well as the wildlife in local swamps.
The settlement was found on Mandji Island in the delta of the Ogowe River by the French, who entered into a treaty with the Orungu people in the year 1873. It was used as a principal base to carry out expeditions of de Brazza into the interior, then in 1894 a customs post was established, becoming the centre of a trade inculding Hatton & Cookson, John Holt, Woermann, Société du Haut-Ogooué, and Compagnie d'Exploitations Forestières Africaines. The chief products were initially rubber and ivory, supplemented by woods, especially okoumé for plywood. Port Gentil is known in Gabon to be a city which is known for its beauty and prosperity all acroos the West African states.
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