Franceville: Information from Answers.com

Disambiguation: Masuku redirects here. For the tv show see Masukuman.

Franceville
Franceville Location in Gabon
Coordinates: 1°38′S 13°35′E / 1.633°S 13.583°E / -1.633; 13.583
Country	Gabon
Province	Haut-Ogooué Province
Department	Mpassa Department

Franceville is one of the four largest cities in Gabon, with a population of around 22,000 people. It lies on the River Mpassa and at the end of the Trans-Gabon Railway and the N3 road. It grew from a village named Masuku when Savorgnan de Brazza chose it to resettle former slaves and renamed it in 1880.

1 Overview
2 Industry
3 See also
4 References

Overview

Franceville was founded by Brazza on June 13, 1880.^[1]

Features of the town include St Hilaire's Church (built in 1899), a large statue of President Omar Bongo (who was born in Franceville), and a primate medical research institute. The town also has a golf course, while its airport lies 20 km west in Mvengué.

There is a market where numerous items can be purchased, including clothing, fruit and vegetables, electronics, meats, and the market also sells bushmeat, which includes African Rock Python, monkey and local species of animals.

The infrastructure of Franceville is overall of better quality than the rest of the country, most probabley because of the cities significane.

There are a few of hotels of which the best known is the Hotel Poubara, overlooking the president's holiday (vacation) home.

Franceville also has many waterfalls, of which one the best known is the Poubara Falls, which is co-located with a hydroelectric plant, which provides the area with constant electricity. President of Gabon Omar Bongo was buried in Franceville on June 18, 2009.