Moanda is one of the largest towns in Gabon, lying on the N3 road in

Haut Ogooué Haut may refer to: * ''Haut'' (newspaper), a newspaper published in Luxembourg {{disambiguation ...

. It is also one of the most important manganese mining towns in the world, under the auspices of the '' Compagnie Minière de l'Ogooué'' (COMILOG), which began mining in 1957. Moanda has a population of around 39,298 inhabitants (2010 est.) and is the second largest city in the

Haut Ogooué Haut may refer to: * ''Haut'' (newspaper), a newspaper published in Luxembourg {{disambiguation ...

Region, after Franceville. It is also a border town, lying 100 km away from the border with the

Republic of Congo The Republic of the Congo (french: République du Congo, ln, Republíki ya Kongó), also known as Congo-Brazzaville, the Congo Republic or simply either Congo or the Congo, is a country located in the western coast of Central Africa to the w ...

History

Moanda was originally a village lying on the

swamp A swamp is a forested wetland.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p. Swamps are considered to be transition zones because both land and water play a role in ...

y banks of the

Miosso River The Miosso River is a river flowing south of the town of Moanda in Gabon. It enters the Mberece River. The Miosso River banks are swampy and admit a significant fish population. The resulting Miosso Swamp isolates the Third Zone District and Rigobe ...

. The discovery and exploitation of manganese in the nearby

Bangombe Plateau The Bangombe Plateau (sometimes written as ''Bongombé'') is a plateau covering east of Moanda, in the Haut Ogooue Region of Gabon. Exploitation of manganese deposits started on the plateau in 1953 by the ''Compagnie Minière de l'Ogooué'' (COMI ...

from 1953 led to the emergence of the city. In 1977 Moanda had an estimated 230 million tons of manganese, some one-fifth of the world's deposits. In 1959, the 75 km

COMILOG Cableway The COMILOG Cableway was one of the longest cableways in the world, until its closure in 1986. The ropeway conveyor ran for 76 km from Moanda in the Haut-Ogooué Province of south eastern Gabon to Mbinda in the Republic of Congo. In 1954, the ...

to the railway at

Mbinda Mbinda is a town in the Republic of Congo, lying on the border with Gabon. It is a transport hub and lies at the end of a railway line to Brazzaville. Overview The town prospered as the southern end of the 75 km COMILOG Cableway from Moanda ...

in the

was constructed to export the manganese, but it was eventually closed in 1986 when the Trans-Gabon Railway was completed. The city further grew during the 1990s owing to an influx of refugees from then war-torn Republic of Congo.

Geography and climate

Moanda lies on several adjacent plateaus lying between the higher and larger Bangombe plateau in the north, and the Miosso swamp in the south. Rocky formations

Mount Boundinga Mount Boundinga is a sandstone rock lying south of Moanda, a manganese mining town in Gabon. It is larger than its neighbour, Mount Moanda, but lower in height. The road connecting Moanda to Bakoumba passes between the two rocks. The rock is resp ...

and Mount Moanda lie further south. The climate is equatorial, with an alternation of thunderstorms and hot temperatures between January and March, and cool temperatures from July to September.

Divisions

Moanda is divided into three areas. The first area is built on the main plateau and its slopes and includes the commercial centre and populous districts Ankoula, Montagne Sainte and Fumier. The second area includes the most populous districts Alliance, Rio and L'Oasis. The third area is on the easternmost plateau and includes Lekolo and Leyima. Another plateau is home to Rigobert Landji High School, the largest high school in the city. Other districts include the Third Zone in the southwest, and the Mukaba District, on the slopes of the

Economy

On 24 April 1953 a joint corporation was established to mine a deposit estimated at 50 million tons of manganese ore in Gabon owned by the Bureau of Mines of Overseas France (21%), Eastern Tjbangi Mining Company (15%), Société Mokta El Hadid (15%) and the

U.S. Steel United States Steel Corporation, more commonly known as U.S. Steel, is an American integrated steel producer headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, with production operations primarily in the United States of America and in severa ...

(49%). A railway had first to be built to the coast, so full production was not expected until at least 1960. The Compagnie minière de l'Ogooué (Comilog) had initial capital of CFA 150 million. The first ore was shipped from Moanda on 2 October 1962. Moanda is now one of the largest manganese mining centres in the world. The operating company, COMILOG, exports an average 3.5 million tons of manganese a year. This makes Gabon one of the three largest manganese exporters in the world. The manganese so far is exploited on the

(42 km²).

Education

French international schools include: * Lycée Henri-Sylvoz *École primaire ComilogAccueil
"
Archive
. École primaire Comilog. Retrieved on 3 May 2015.

Sport

The main stadium is Stade Henri Sylvoz, the home of AS Mangasport.

Transport

Moanda is served by Moanda Railway Station situated outside the city, north of the

. Moanda is also home to an airfield, and lies about 50 km to Mvengue Airport, none of which, as of 2016, had any commercial airline service. The city is crossed by the N3 road and is the northern end of the Moanda-Mbinda Road, which connects Moanda to

Congo Congo or The Congo may refer to either of two countries that border the Congo River in central Africa: * Democratic Republic of the Congo, the larger country to the southeast, capital Kinshasa, formerly known as Zaire, sometimes referred to a ...

. Moanda Railway Station is the last stop before Franceville, the southern terminus of the Trans-Gabon Railway. The road to the Republic of Congo goes between Mount Moanda and

References

{{Authority control Populated places in Haut-Ogooué Province