Lastoursville or Mandji is a city in east-central

Gabon Gabon ( ; ), officially the Gabonese Republic (), is a country on the Atlantic coast of Central Africa, on the equator, bordered by Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the north, the Republic of the Congo to the east and south, and ...

, lying on 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 fourth largest river in Africa by volume of discharge, trailing only the Congo, Kasai and Niger. Its watershed ...

, the

Trans-Gabon Railway The Trans-Gabon Railway () is the only railway in Gabon. It runs east from Owendo port station in Libreville to Franceville via numerous stations, the main ones being Ndjolé, Lopé, Booué, Lastoursville and Moanda. History A railw ...

and the N3 road. It was founded as a

slave Slavery is the ownership of a person as property, especially in regards to their labour. Slavery typically involves compulsory work, with the slave's location of work and residence dictated by the party that holds them in bondage. Enslavemen ...

depot named ''Mandji'', renamed ''Maadiville'' in 1883 before being named for François Rigail de Lastours in 1886. It grew around

palm oil Palm oil is an edible vegetable oil derived from the mesocarp (reddish pulp) of the fruit of oil palms. The oil is used in food manufacturing, in beauty products, and as biofuel. Palm oil accounted for about 36% of global oils produced from o ...

production and as an

administrative centre An administrative centre is a seat of regional administration or local government, or a county town, or the place where the central administration of a commune, is located. In countries with French as the administrative language, such as Belgi ...

, and soon became a major

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group who is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thoma ...

centre. The town is also known for its

cave Caves or caverns are natural voids under the Earth's Planetary surface, surface. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. Exogene caves are smaller openings that extend a relatively short distance undergrou ...

s. The town lies at an elevation of 206 m.

Caves

Occupying a 90-sq-km site, there are more than 40 caves identified, located in dense primary rainforest close to town. Traces of human activity dates back 7000 years, when the caves were used in rituals.

World Heritage Status

The caves were added to the

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

World Heritage World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

Tentative List on October 20, 2005 in the Mixed (Cultural + Natural) category.Grottes de Lastourville - UNESCO World Heritage Centre
/ref>

Climate

Notes

References

Grottes de Lastourville - UNESCO World Heritage Centre
Retrieved 2009-03-19.
Lastoursville caves website www.grottes-de-lastoursville.org
Populated places in Ogooué-Lolo Province Mouloundou Department {{Gabon-geo-stub