Ogooué-Lolo

Ogooué-Lolo covers 25,380 km². It borders the Niari region of the Republic of the Congo to the south, and four Gabonese provinces: Ngounié, Moyen-Ogooué, Ogooué-Ivindo and Haut-Ogooué.

The province has four departments: Lolo-Bouenguidi (capital Koulamoutou), Mulundu (Lastoursville), Lombo-Bouenguidi (Pana) and Offoué-Onoye (Iboundji). Lastoursville was the administrative centre of the region until the capital moved to Koulamoutou in 1949.

The 2013 general population and housing census (RGPL) counted 65,771 inhabitants, a density of 2.6 inhabitants per km², including 30,643 in Lolo-Bouenguidi department and 27,750 in Mulundu. The 2026 census counts 75,128. These 2026 census results, validated by the Constitutional Court on 27 August 2026, are well above World Bank estimates and have been debated in the press.

In Koulamoutou, most of the working population is employed in public administration. Local development has relied on the introduction of coffee and cocoa and on timber harvesting, as the province has large areas of equatorial forest.

Mineral resources

Compagnie minière de l'Ogooué (Comilog, Eramet group) operates a dolomite deposit near Lastoursville under a temporary quarry permit issued on 18 July 2016. According to the ministry of mines, this dolomite is not exported: it is used as an input by the Moanda metallurgical complex (Haut-Ogooué) to produce silicomanganese.

A manganese mining project in Lastoursville, in Mulundu department, is also being developed by the Chinese company Africa Mining Development (AMD), active in the area since 2021. In April 2025, the upcoming start of operations was announced publicly; the sources consulted do not give a production timetable.

The Transgabonais railway, 669 km long between Owendo and Franceville, crosses the province. Lastoursville station is 484 km from Owendo. The Booué-Lastoursville section opened on 28 March 1986 and the Lastoursville-Franceville section on 30 December 1986. The line has been operated since 2005 by Société d'exploitation du Transgabonais (Setrag), a Comilog subsidiary, under a 30-year concession. Koulamoutou is served by rail through Lastoursville station.

Lastoursville also lies on national road 3 (N3). Koulamoutou has an airport, about 7 km from the town centre.

Two of the national parks created in 2002 extend partly into the province: Lopé National Park and Monts Birougou National Park, about 69,000 hectares, shared with Ngounié.

Around Lastoursville, dolomite formations contain a group of caves in primary forest, where traces of ancient human activity have been found. The Lastoursville caves have been on the World Heritage tentative list of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) since 20 October 2005, as a mixed (cultural and natural) property.