Port-Gentil

In 1473, the Portuguese navigator Lopo Gonçalves sailed near Cape Lopez. In 1722, pirates led by Bartholomew Roberts fought a battle in the Cape Lopez Bay against the Royal Navy. The encounter ended in Roberts' death. The settlement was established on Mandji Island in the delta of the Ogooué River by the French, who signed a treaty with the Orungu people in 1873. It was used as a base for Pierre Savorgnan de Brazza's expeditions into the interior, then in 1894 a customs post was set up, becoming the nucleus of a trading center that included Hatton & Cookson, John Holt, Woermann, Société du Haut-Ogooué, and Compagnie d'Exploitations Forestières Africaines. The main products were initially rubber and ivory, gradually supplemented by wood, particularly okoumé for plywood. The town was named after the French colonial administrator Émile Gentil in 1900. …

The Köppen-Geiger climate classification system classifies Port-Gentil's climate as tropical wet and dry (Aw). Despite the fact that the city lies in close proximity to the equator, Port-Gentil experiences noticeably warmer and cooler periods of the year with average temperatures in July (the city's coolest month) hovering at around 23.5 °C (74.3 °F) and average temperatures in February and March (the city's warmest months) at around 27 °C (81 °F). Port-Gentil features a lengthy wet season that runs from October through May and a relatively short dry season that covers the remaining four months. The city receives roughly 2,000 millimetres (79 in) of precipitation annually. The highest recorded temperature was 38.0 °C (100.4 °F) on 26 February 2016; the lowest recorded temperature was 13.2 °C (55.8 °F) on 1 August 1953.

The city has an airport, Port-Gentil International Airport, serving as the main channel of transportation with the world. Regular flights connect it with Libreville, capital of Gabon. Port-Gentil is connected to the mainland by a series of roads and bridges, stretching 93 km southwards along the coast to Omboué. The project was funded by a loan from the Export–Import Bank of China and constructed by the China Road and Bridge Corporation and GAUFF Engineering. The limited number of paved roads within the city are poorly maintained. The roads are paved in the inner city up to the outskirts of the new residential districts in N'Tchengue, where sandy paths with frequent potholes prevail. Traffic jams are common in road junctions such as the Carrefour Tobia or Léon Mba, close to the downtown area. …