Franceville

Masuku

Coat of arms

Franceville

Location in Gabon

Coordinates:  [ ⚑ ] 1°38′S 13°35′E﻿ / ﻿1.633°S 13.583°E﻿ / -1.633; 13.583
Country|  Gabon
Province| Haut-Ogooué Province
Department| Mpassa Department
Population

(2013 census)

• Total| 110,568

Franceville is one of the four largest cities in Gabon, with a population of 110,568 at the 2013 census. It lies on the River Mpassa and at the end of the Trans-Gabon Railway and the N3 road. It grew from a village named Masuku when Pierre Savorgnan de Brazza chose it to resettle former slaves and renamed it Francheville (meaning "city of the freed") in 1880. The city later came to be called Franceville.

## Contents

* 1 Overview
* 2 Population
* 3 Climate
* 4 Industry
* 5 Education
* 6 Notable residents
* 7 International relations
* 7.1 Twin towns – sister cities
* 8 See also
* 9 References
* 10 Bibliography
* 11 External links

## Overview

Brazza founded Franceville on June 13, 1880. The former name was Masuku. As time went on, it became known as Franceville.[1]

Features of the town include St Hilaire's Church (built in 1899), a large statue of President Omar Bongo (who was born in Franceville), a primate medical research institute, and a golf course. Its airport is 20 km west, in Mvengué.

There is a market where numerous items can be purchased, including clothing, fruit and vegetables, electronics, meats, and the market also sells bushmeat, which includes African Rock Python, monkey and local species of animals.

Franceville's infrastructure is overall of better quality than the rest of the country, most probably because of the city's significance.

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. President Omar Bongo was buried in Franceville on June 18, 2009.

## Population

The population was 31,183 in 1993.[2] The 2010 population was approximated at 56,000. Another population number is 42,967,[3] possibly retrieved following the disputed[2] census of 2003 (alternately a 2004 estimate[4]). Another recent estimate gives the population as 75,000.[5]

## Climate

Franceville has a tropical savanna climate (Köppen climate classification Aw). There are a lot of thunderstorms in the city.

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## Industry

Franceville has a cement works.

## Education

Schools include:

* École publique conventionnée de Franceville[7]

## Notable residents

* Yannick Mitoumba - Olympic boxer

## International relations

### Twin towns – sister cities

Franceville is twinned with:

* Vire, France (since 1983)[8]

## See also

* Oklo
* Oklo Mine
* Natural nuclear fission reactor
* Franceville, New Hebrides
* Cement in Africa
* Railway stations in Gabon

## References

1. ↑ "Gabon : Franceville s'apprête à célébrer son 125ème anniversaire" , Xinhua, May 21, 2005 Script error: The function "in_lang" does not exist..
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Gabon: Provinces, Major Cities & Localities. Citypopulation.de. Retrieved 2012-01-24.
3. ↑ Franceville. GeoNames. Retrieved 2012-01-24.
4. ↑ City Data for Masuku. Wolfram|Alpha. Retrieved 2012-01-24.
5. ↑ Leclerc, Jacques: "Gabon". L'aménagement linguistique dans le monde. Retrieved 2012-01-24.
6. ↑ "Weatherbase: Historical Weather for Franceville, Gabon". Weatherbase. 2011. http://www.weatherbase.com/weather/weather.php3?s=35546&refer=wikipedia. Retrieved on November 24, 2011.
7. ↑ "École publique conventionnée de Franceville." AEFE. Retrieved on May 3, 2015.
8. ↑ "National Commission for Decentralised cooperation" (in fr). Délégation pour l’Action Extérieure des Collectivités Territoriales (Ministère des Affaires étrangères). http://www.cncd.fr/frontoffice/bdd-region.asp?action=getRegion&id=4#tabs3.

## Bibliography

* Maria Petringa, Brazza, A Life for Africa. Bloomington, IN: AuthorHouse, 2006. ISBN 978-1-4259-1198-0

## External links

* Franceville map and weather
* Mounana mine info at Mindat.org
* Oklo mine info, site of over a dozen Precambrian natural nuclear reactors

[ ⚑ ]  1°38′S 13°35′E﻿ / ﻿1.633°S 13.583°E﻿ / -1.633; 13.583

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