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France assumed the status of protector by signing treaties with Gabonese coastal chiefs in 1839 and 1841.
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American missionaries from New England established a mission at Baraka (Libreville) in 1842.
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In 1849 the French captured a slave ship and released the passengers at the mouth of the Como River. The slaves named their settlement Libreville meaning "free town."
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In 1910 Gabon became one of the four territories of French Equatorial Africa, a federation that survived until 1959. The territories became independent in 1960 as the Central African Republic Chad Congo (Brazzaville) and Gabon.
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The territories became independent in 1960 as the Central African Republic, Chad, Congo (Brazzaville), and Gabon.
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Under the 1961 constitution, Gabon became a republic with a presidential form of government.
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Leon M'Ba and Omar Bongo are elected President and Vice President. M'Ba died later that year, and Omar Bongo became President.
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Bongo was elected President in February 1975, and the position of vice president was abolished and replaced by the position of prime minister, who had no right to automatic succession.
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Bongo was re-elected President in December 1979 to a 7-year term.
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President Omar Bongo coasted to easy re-election in December 1998, with large majorities of the vote.
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In November 2005, President Omar Bongo was elected for his sixth term.
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On June 8, 2009, President Omar Bongo died of cardiac arrest at a Spanish hospital in Barcelona, ushering in a new era in Gabonese politics.
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Omar Bongo’s son, ruling party leader Ali Bongo Ondimba, was inaugurated into Presidency on October 16, 2009.
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Bongo was re-elected President again in November 1986 to a 7-year term.
