The country of Gabon is situated in Western Central Africa on the equator. Human settlement in this country can be dated to thousands of years back and there is evidence of tool making as well as pottery in the region which can be traced to the late Stone Age. The original inhabitants of this region were the Pygmies and some of their descendants, the Baka people still inhabit the northeastern area of the country around River Ivindo. The Bantu speaking people are said to be the very first immigrants into the region and probably arrived about 500 B.C.E. They were iron workers and by around 100 C.E, had already started working on and using iron. By 1400s, the Vili people of the Loango Kingdom in the Democratic republic of Congo were said to have extended their Kingdom into Gabon. This became a part of the Kongo empire which stretched all the way to neighboring Angola. The Myene people set themselves up along the Northern Coast by the 1500s. The Orungu people also established themselves in the area surrounding Cape Lopez while the Mpongwe set themselves up along River Gabon. The Fang people also migrated into the region from the Northern side. The immigration of the Bantus into the region continued well into the 15th and 16th century.
Gabon's Political History
Gabon’s political history is said to focus mainly on the Fang people. Their migration into the region lasted for around 150 years and is said to have been triggered by the Peulh conquest which took place in northern Cameroon which drove them southwards towards Gabon. The Fang people were mostly traders and warriors and they despised agriculture. Soon, they emerged as the dominant ethnic group in Gabon. The Gabon ethnic groupings however did not have any significant political systems. Even the Fang who were the dominant group did not have any established structures for administration that could cover more than one village.
Gabon Economy
The economic history on the other hand, focused mostly on the Mpongwe people. The Gabon people were the most dominant ethnic group of traders and acted as middlemen and merchants as well as entrepreneurs. Their trade items were mostly slaves and later ivory and wood. This trade however faced problems with the decline in ivory trade. The Fang expansion as well as the penetration of Europeans into the region also served as a hindrance to trade among the Mpongwe. The expansion of the Fang people is said to have been aided by their guns acquisition as well as the profitability of trade in ivory which benefited their hunting activities. In the end, the supply of ivory was exhausted and rubber soon replaced it as the major export of the region. the Europeans set up posts for trading and used the Mpongwe as their agents in the rubber trade. The French in particular did not participate fully in this trade and even appeared ready to leave the region by the 1870s. However, they did not do so and in fact went ahead to colonize Gabon.
REFERENCES
Marshall Cavendish Corporation, MacDonald, F. Paren, E., Shillington, K. Stacey, G, Steele, P. Peoples of Africa. Marshall Cavendish, 2001.
Thompson, V.M. Adloff, R. The emerging States of French Equatorial Africa. Stanford Unversity Press, 1960.
Fage, J.D, Flint, J.E, Oliver, R. The Cambridge History of Africa: From C. 1790 to C. 1870. Cambridge University Press, 1976.
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