MAKOKOU

also spelled Makoku, town and capital of Ogoou-Ivindo province, northeastern Gabon, central Africa, on the Ivindo River where it receives the Liboumba and Mounianghi rivers. Pygmies live in the surrounding forest. The town lies in the heart of a major lumbering region, and, although it is rather isolated from the rest of the country, transportation is improving: a modern highway bridge spans the Ivindo, there is an airport, and the town is on the projected route of a northeast spur of the Trans-Gabon Railway. Pop. (196970) 5,005.