Libreville is the capital and largest city of Gabon, in western central Africa. The city is a port on the Komo River, near the Gulf of Guinea, and a trade center for a timber region. As of 2013 its census population was 703,904.

As rapids make it impossible to navigate on the Congo River past Brazzaville, and the coastal railroad terminus site had to allow for the construction of a deep-sea port, authorities chose the site of Ponta Negra instead of Libreville as originally envisaged. Construction of the Congo-Ocean Railway began in 1921, and Libreville was surpassed by the rapid growth of Pointe-Noire, farther down the coast.

Libreville was named in imitation of Freetown and grew only slowly as a trading post and a minor administrative center to a population of 32,000 on independence in 1960. It only received its first bank branch when Bank of West Africa (BAO) opened a branch in 1930. Since independence, the city has grown rapidly and now houses nearly half the national population.

Libreville features a tropical monsoon climate with a lengthy wet season and a short dry season. Libreville's wet season spans about nine months (September through May), with a heavy amount of rain falling during these months. The city's dry season lasts from June through August.

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