| The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2001-07. |
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| Libreville |
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(l br vl´) (KEY) , city (1993 est. pop. 362,400), capital of Gabon, a port on the Gabon River estuary, near the Gulf of Guinea. Primarily an administrative center, it is also a trade center for a lumbering region. The city was founded in 1843 as a French trading station. Freed slaves were sent there, and in 1848 it was named Libreville [Fr.,=freetown]. It was the chief port of French Equatorial Africa before the development (1934–46) of Pointe-Noire, in the Congo. Gabon’s school of administration and school of law are in Libreville. An international airport is nearby. |
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| | | The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. Copyright © 2007 Columbia University Press. |
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