Editing Libreville (section)

== History ==
{{see also|Timeline of Libreville}}
[[File:082 Gabon. - L'entrée de Libreville.jpg|thumb|left|The entrance to Libreville, 1899]]
Various native peoples lived in or used the area that is now Libreville before colonization, including the [[Mpongwé]] tribe. French admiral [[Édouard Bouët-Willaumez]] negotiated a trade and protection treaty with the local Mpongwé ruler, Antchoué Komé Rapontcombo (known to the French as King Denis), in 1839.<ref>{{cite web |title=Gabon |url=https://lionkingmagazine.ubagroup.com/2017c/files/assets/basic-html/page26.html |website=The Lion King Magazine |access-date=12 October 2022 |pages=26 |date=July–September 2017}}</ref>

American missionaries from New England established a mission in Baraka, Gabon, on what is now Libreville, in 1842. In 1846, the Brazilian slave ship ''L'Elizia'', carrying slaves from the Congo, was captured near Loango by the French navy which was tasked with contributing to the British [[Blockade of Africa]]. Fifty-two of the freed slaves were resettled on the site of Libreville (French for "Freetown") in 1849.<ref>Britannica,
[https://www.britannica.com/place/Libreville Libreville], britannica.com, USA, accessed on 30 June 2019</ref> Following the [[French Revolution of 1848]] and establishment of the [[French Second Republic]], the former slaves organized an election to select leaders of the new village in 1849. A former slave named Mountier was elected Mayor of Libreville.<ref>{{cite web |title=Historique de la Ville |url=http://www.libreville.ga/historique-de-la-ville#.Y0bxXXbMKUl |website=Mairie de Libreville |access-date=12 October 2022 |date=13 November 2012}}</ref> Libreville was the administrative capital of France's Congo-Gabon colony between 1888 and 1904, when the capital moved to [[Brazzaville]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Historique de la Ville |url=http://www.libreville.ga/historique-de-la-ville#.Y0bxXXbMKUl |website=Mairie de Libreville |access-date=12 October 2022 |date=13 November 2012}}</ref>

In 1910, Gabon became part of [[French Equatorial Africa]] (''Afrique équatoriale française'', AEF). French companies were allowed to exploit the [[Middle Congo]] (modern-day Congo-Brazzaville). It soon became necessary to build a railroad that would connect [[Brazzaville]], the terminus of the river navigation on the [[Congo River]] and the [[Ubangi River]], with the Atlantic coast. 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. {{citation needed|date=October 2021}} Libreville received its first bank branch when Paris-based [[Banque de l'Afrique Occidentale]] opened a branch in 1930. In 1940, Libreville was the central focus of the [[Battle of Gabon]] as [[Charles de Gaulle]]'s [[Free France|Free French]] forces, supported by the Royal Navy, moved to consolidate control over French Equatorial Africa.<ref>Roman Adrian Cybriwsky, ''Capital Cities around the World: An Encyclopedia of Geography, History, and Culture'', ABC-CLIO, USA, 2013, p. 154</ref>

With national independence on the horizon, [[Léon M'ba]] won Libreville's first free mayoral election in 1956.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Zuber |first1=David |title=LÉON M'BA (1902-1967) |url=https://www.blackpast.org/global-african-history/people-global-african-history/leon-mba-1902-1967/ |access-date=12 October 2022 |date=31 March 2022}}</ref> Mba was later the first president of independent Gabon. The city's population was only 32,000 at independence, but grew rapidly thereafter. It now houses one-third of the national population.