Province

Ogooué-Ivindo

Gabon's largest and least densely populated province, Ogooué-Ivindo lies in the north-east of the country, along the border with the Republic of the Congo. Its capital is Makokou, on the Ivindo river. Forest covers most of the territory, which includes both of Gabon's UNESCO World Heritage sites, Lopé and Ivindo, as well as the Belinga iron ore deposit.

Capital: Makokou
Area: 46,075km²
Population (2026): 93,482inhabitants

World Heritage

Lopé (2007) and Ivindo (2021) are Gabon's two UNESCO-listed sites.

Belinga iron ore

The deposit's reserves are estimated at about one billion tonnes.

Transgabonais railway

Booué station, open since 1983, puts the province on the Owendo to Franceville line.

Forest

Forest covers about 87% of the country's largest province.

At a glance

Area

46,075 km²

Source: Ogooué-Ivindo (opens in a new tab)

Population (2026 census)

93,482

2026

Source: Gabon : 62 % de la population concentrée dans l'Estuaire, l'urgence de repeupler l'intérieur du pays (opens in a new tab)

Population (2013 census)

63,293

2013

Source: Résultats globaux du recensement général de la population et des logements de 2013 (RGPL 2013) (opens in a new tab)

Departments

Source: Résultats globaux du recensement général de la population et des logements de 2013 (RGPL 2013) (opens in a new tab)

93,482 inhabitants

Lopé (2007) and Ivindo (2021) are Gabon's two UNESCO-listed sites.

Source: Gabonmediatime (opens in a new tab), 2026

Territory and population

Ogooué-Ivindo covers about 46,075 km², making it the country's largest province. It takes its name from the Ogooué river and its tributary the Ivindo, whose name means "black river". Forest covers about 87% of its area; the Lopé department also includes savannahs. Mount Belinga, in the north-east, rises to 1,024 metres.

The 2013 general population and housing census (RGPL) counted 63,293 inhabitants, or 1.4 people per km², the lowest density in the country. The 2026 census results, validated by the Constitutional Court on 27 August 2026, report 93,482 inhabitants. These national results are well above United Nations and World Bank estimates and have been debated in the Gabonese press.

The province has four departments: Ivindo (Makokou, 31,073 inhabitants in 2013), Zadié (Mékambo, 15,816), Lopé (Booué, 12,382) and Mvoung (Ovan, 4,022). Booué was founded in 1883; Makokou, established in 1908, has been the provincial capital since 1958.

Economic activities

The forest, still lightly exploited, is the province's main renewable resource. The subsoil contains mainly iron ore, as well as gold.

The Belinga iron ore deposit, in the north-east, was discovered in 1895 and its reserves are estimated at about one billion tonnes of ore. Its development has been considered for decades: the first Transgabonais railway studies, in 1968, concerned an Owendo to Belinga mineral line, and a 237 km rail branch from Booué has been studied to carry the ore. The project has been postponed several times for lack of financing.

Infrastructure

The Transgabonais railway, operated since 2003 by the Transgabonais operating company (SETRAG, Eramet group), crosses the south-west of the province. Booué station, open since 1983, brought new activity to the town; Booué also has an airfield.

Makokou lies on the N4 national road and is served by an airfield. A Transgabonais branch to Makokou was originally planned, then abandoned.

Elephants in the Lopé savannah with a forest edge and hills in the background — Lopé National Park, inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2007.

National parks and environment

The province includes both of Gabon's UNESCO World Heritage sites:

Lopé National Park (about 4,942 km²): the country's first protected area, created in 1946 as a wildlife reserve, inscribed in 2007 as the "Ecosystem and relict cultural landscape of Lopé-Okanda". This mixed site combines a mosaic of forest and savannah with many archaeological remains, including more than 1,600 rock engravings.
Ivindo National Park (nearly 300,000 hectares), straddling Ogooué-Ivindo and Ogooué-Lolo, inscribed in 2021. It is known for the Kongou and Mingouli falls on the Ivindo and includes the Ipassa biosphere reserve near Makokou and the Langoué clearing.

Mwagna National Park (about 1,167 km²) is also in the province. Minkébé National Park, listed under Woleu-Ntem, extends across the north-east of the country; from 1997 the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) based one of its two management centres in Makokou. The parks are managed by the national parks agency (ANPN).