GABUN, a district on the west coast of Africa, one of the colonies forming French Equatorial Africa (q.v.). It derives its name from the settlements on the Gabun river or Rio de Gabao. The Gabun, in reality an estuary of the sea, lies immediately north of the equator. At the entrance, between Cape Joinville or Santa Clara on the north and Cape Pangara or Sandy Point on the south, it is about io m. wide. It is 7 m. broad for 4o m. inland, when it contracts into what is known as• the Rio Olambo, which is not more than 2 or 3 m. wide. Several rivers, of which the Komo is the chief, discharge into the estuary. The Gabun was discovered by Portuguese navigators at the end of the 15th century, and was named from its fanciful resemblance to a gabdo or cabin. Libreville, on the estuary near its mouth, the capital of Gabun colony, was founded by the French in