Lambaréné

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Lambaréné is the capital of the political district Moyen-Ogooué in Gabon. The city counts 24.000 inhabitants and is located a few kilometres south of the equator. Lambaréné is based in the Central African Rainforest at the river Ogooué. This river divides the city into 3 districts: Rive Gauche, Ile Lambaréné and Rive Droite. The average temperature is 27°C. The rainy season starts in October and ends in June (including a short dry season in December/January. The long dry season is from July to September.

Albert Schweitzer (Nobel Peace Prize winner) founded the world known hospital in Lambaréné in 1913. Today, the Albert Schweitzer Hospital hosts departments for Internal Medicine, Surgery, Paediatrics, a maternity clinic, a dentistry clinic and since 1981 a Medical Research Unit, which focuses on malaria research.

The hospital and the districts Adouma und Abongo are located on Rive Droite. The districts Atongowanga, Sahoty, Dakar, Grand Village, Château, Lalala and Bordamur build the so call Ile Lambaréné. The majority of the people in Lambaréné live in the district Isaac located on Rive Gauche. This district hosts the Lambaréné airport too.

Today there are mainly Bantu-ethnics (Fang, Bapounou, Eshira, Myéné ...) living in Lambaréné, who displaced the Pygmies to the east and north of Gabon.

Lambaréné is the political and economic centre of Moyen-Ogooué. The main economy is the fishery. A new port is under construction.