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Cape Lopez () is a headland on the coast of Gabon, west central
Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
. The westernmost point of Gabon, it separates the Gulf of Guinea from the South
Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the "Old World" of Afr ...
. Cape Lopez is the northernmost point of a low, wooded island between two mouths of the
Ogooué River The Ogooué (or Ogowe), also known as the Nazareth river, some long, is the principal river of Gabon in west central Africa and the fifth largest river in Africa by volume of discharge, trailing only the Congo, Kasai, Niger and Zambezi. Its w ...
. There is an oil terminal at the southeast side of the cape, and the seaport of
Port-Gentil Port-Gentil () or Mandji is the second-largest city of Gabon, and it is a leading seaport. It is the center of Gabon's petroleum and timber industries. The city is located on a delta island in the Ogooue delta with no bridges to the mainland. Nea ...
lies about 10 km southeast of the cape. A
lighthouse A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid, for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways. Lighthouses mark ...
has existed on the Cape since 1897; the current tower was built in 1911, but has been inactive for many years and is in danger of collapsing from erosion.Phare du Cap Lopez
/ref> It is named after the
Portuguese explorer Portuguese maritime exploration resulted in the numerous territories and maritime routes recorded by the Portuguese as a result of their intensive maritime journeys during the 15th and 16th centuries. Portuguese sailors were at the vanguard of Eu ...
Lopes Gonçalves Lopes Gonçalves or Lopo Gonçalves was a Portuguese explorer of the African coast. He was the first European sailor to cross the equator, the first to reach the point where the coast turns south and the first to reach Gabon. In 1473 or 1474 he ...
, who reached it circa 1474. In 1602, the Dutch explorer and writer
Pieter de Marees Pieter de Marees was a Dutch trader and explorer who is notable for writing an extensive report about his trip to the Gold Coast in 1602. This ''Beschrijvinghe ende historische verhael van het Gout Koninckrijck van Gunea anders de Gout-custe de ...
published some images of its people. File:Johann Theodor de Bry - Inwoners van Kaap de Lopo Gonsalves RP-P-BI-5268.jpg, Inhabitants of ''Kaap de Lopo Gonsalves'', 1602


See also

*
Battle of Cape Lopez The Battle of Cape Lopez was fought in early 1722 during the Golden Age of Piracy. A Royal Navy man-of-war under Captain Chaloner Ogle defeated the pirate ship of Bartholomew Roberts off the coast of Gabon, West Africa. Background Roberts was ...


References

Landforms of Gabon Peninsulas of Africa Ogooué River Ogooué-Maritime Province Headlands of Gabon {{Gabon-geo-stub