Fang, Bantu-speaking peoples occupying the southernmost districts of Cameroon south of the Sanaga River, mainland Equatorial Guinea, and the forests of the northern half of Gabon south to the Ogooué River estuary.
The Fang are reported to have moved from the northeast centuries ago and settled in the region to farm. Because they are a warrior like people they quickly conquered the native inhabitants. Using slash and burn techniques the Fang still farm as their chief occupation, though, during the early years of European settlement many resorted to elephant hunting to provide ivory for the traders.
The main ethnic group in Equatorial Guinea is the Fang, also known as the Fãn or Pahouin, who make up around 85% of the country’s total population and are concentrated in the Río Muni region. With almost 25% of the population, the Fang are Gabon’s largest ethnic group. They are among the most important and powerful ethnic groups in various nations and areas where they reside, particularly in Cameroon.
Before Fang came to Gabon, the Europeans’ only trading partners were the Mpongwe, or Myene-speaking people. Traveler and historian T.E. Bowdich made the first mention of Fang in Gabon in 1819. First encounters between Fang and Europeans: Wilson (1843) described the region near the Gaboon mouth in “The Missionary Herald.” vol. XXXIX. June 1843, describing how the Fang gradually moved into the Estuary in 1844 and then moved southward to the Ogooué River starting in 1866.
Forest clearings are home to Fang communities. They are composed of a few huts constructed from trunks, branches, and straw; the roof is conical or has two slopes, and the majority of daily tasks, such as cooking, grinding cereal, and making banana paste in big mortars, are done outside because the interior of the huts is small, dark, and is only used for sleeping under cover from the rain.
More than 1,520,000 people speak Fang, a significant transnational language of western equatorial Africa, which is spread over southern Cameroon (about 130,000), continental Equatorial Guinea (about 665,500), Gabon (about 704,000), and Congo (Brazzaville) (8,500). Along with four other Bantu languages spoken in southern Cameroon, Fang is a member of A70 (Beti-Fang, Ewondo-Fang) of the “zone” A of Bantu languages. These languages are Eton (52,000 speakers), Ewondo (578,000 speakers), Bebele-Bebil (30,000 speakers), and Bulu (-Bene) (174,000 speakers). On a level of partial mutual intelligibility, the five A70 languages are closely linked. Speaking these languages gives the speakers a sense of belonging to an interethnic group known as be-tí (or “lords”).
The Fang kinship system is strongly patrilineal, with large, patriarchal families and out-marrying clans traced through the male line. Among the southern Fang there is little political organization, whereas in the north some Beti groups have clan chiefs.
