Gabon Through History: Who Ruled Its Lands
The land of today's Gabon appears on 39 historical border maps from 500 BC to today. Over that time it was held, in whole or in part, by 3 different states, among them Gabon, French Equatorial Africa, Kamerun.
GabonExplore the history of Gabon in the interactive map
Compare 1000 with today · Gabon as a state on the map
Who ruled the land of Gabon, map by map
Share of sample points inside today's borders held by each state on each map. Areas with no organised state on the map are left out.
| Map | Main states on this land |
|---|---|
| 1880 | Gabon 33% |
| 1900 | Gabon 33% |
| 1914 | French Equatorial Africa 88% · Kamerun 13% |
| 1920 | French Equatorial Africa 100% |
| 1930 | French Equatorial Africa 100% |
| 1938 | French Equatorial Africa 100% |
| 1945 | Gabon 100% |
| 1960 | Gabon 100% |
| 1994 | Gabon 100% |
| 2010 | Gabon 100% |
Questions
Which empires and states ruled the territory of Gabon?
On the border maps from 500 BC to today, the largest shares of the territory of modern Gabon belonged to Gabon, French Equatorial Africa, Kamerun.
What was Gabon part of in 1900?
On the border map for 1900, most of the territory of today's Gabon lay within Gabon.
Further reading
Last updated 9 November 2026. Sources: border data from historical-basemaps, land and rivers from Natural Earth; texts written for Chronica Maps from standard reference works. How we make the maps.