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Jan 16, 2009
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Gabon

Map of Gabon
Map of Gabon
Gabonese Republic

National name: République Gabonaise

President: El Hadj Omar Bongo Ondimba (1967)

Premier: Jean Eyeghe Ndong (2006)

Current government officials

Land area: 99,486 sq mi (257,669 sq km); total area: 103,346 sq mi (267,667 sq km)

Population (2008 est.): 1,484,149 (growth rate: 1.9%); birth rate: 35.7/1000; infant mortality rate: 52.7/1000; life expectancy: 53.5; density per sq km: 5

Capital and largest city (2003 est.): Libreville, 661,600

Other large cities: Port-Gentil, 116,200; Franceville, 41,300

Monetary unit: CFA Franc

Languages: French (official), Fang, Myene, Nzebi, Bapounou/Eschira, Bandjabi

Ethnicity/race: Bantu tribes, including four major tribal groupings: Fang, Punu, Nzeiby, Mbede (Obamba/Bateke); other Africans and Europeans 10.8%, including 0.8% French and 0.8% persons of dual nationality

Religions: Christian 55%–75%, animist, Islam less than 1%

National Holiday: Independence Day, August 17

Literacy rate: 63% (1995 est.)

Economic summary: GDP/PPP (2007 est.): $20.18 billion; per capita $14,100. Real growth rate: 5.6%. Inflation: 5%. Unemployment: 21% (2006 est.). Arable land: 1%. Agriculture: cocoa, coffee, sugar, palm oil, rubber; cattle; okoume (a tropical softwood); fish. Labor force: 582,000 (2007); agriculture 60%, industry 15%, services 25%. Industries: petroleum extraction and refining; manganese, gold; chemicals, ship repair, food and beverages, textiles, lumbering and plywood, cement. Natural resources: petroleum, natural gas, diamond, niobium, manganese, uranium, gold, timber, iron ore, hydropower. Exports: $6.856 billion f.o.b. (2007 est.): crude oil 77%, timber, manganese, uranium (2001). Imports: $1.951 billion f.o.b. (2007 est.): machinery and equipment, foodstuffs, chemicals, construction materials. Major trading partners: U.S., China, France, Trinidad and Tobago, Thailand, Netherlands, Cameroon (2006).

Member of French Community

Communications: Telephones: main lines in use: 36,500 (2006); mobile cellular: 764,700 (2006). Radio broadcast stations: AM 6, FM 7 (and 11 repeaters), shortwave 3 (2001). Television broadcast stations: 3 (plus six repeaters) (2001). Internet hosts: 288 (2007). Internet users: 81,000 (2006).

Transportation: Railways: total: 814 km (2006). Highways: total: 9,170 km; paved: 838 km; unpaved: 7,626 km (2004 est.). Waterways: 1,600 km (310 km on Ogooue River) (2007). Ports and harbors: Gamba, Libreville, Lucinda, Owendo, Port-Gentil. Airports: 53 (2007).

International disputes: UN presses Equatorial Guinea and Gabon to resolve the sovereignty dispute over Gabon-occupied Mbane Island and to establish a maritime boundary in hydrocarbon-rich Corisco Bay; only a few hundred out of the 20,000 Republic of the Congo refugees who fled militia fighting in 2000 remain in Gabon.

Major sources and definitions

Flag of Gabon

Geography

This West African country with the Atlantic as its western border is also bounded by Equatorial Guinea, Cameroon, and the Congo. Its area is slightly less than Colorado's. Most of the country is covered by a dense tropical forest.

Government

Republic.

History

The earliest humans in Gabon were believed to be the Babinga, or Pygmies, dating back to 7000 B.C., who were later followed by Bantu groups from southern and eastern Africa. Now there are many tribal groups in the country, the largest being the Fang peoples, who constitute 25% of the population.

Gabon was first explored by the Portuguese navigator Diego Cam in the 15th century. In 1472, the Portuguese explorers encountered the mouth of the Como River and named it “Rio de Gabao,” river of Gabon, which later became the name of the country. The Dutch began arriving in 1593, and the French in 1630. In 1839, the French founded their first settlement on the left bank of the Gabon estuary and gradually occupied the hinterland during the second half of the 19th century. The land became a French territory in 1888, an autonomous republic within the French Union after World War II, and an independent republic on Aug. 17, 1960.

Albert-Bernard Bongo became Gabon's second president in 1967. He changed his name to Omar in 1973, on converting to Islam. Strikes and riots led to a transitional constitution in May 1990, legalizing political parties and calling for free elections. In its first multiparty election in Dec. 1993, Bongo received just over 51% of the vote, while the opposition candidate alleged fraud and tried to establish a rival government.

In Dec. 1998, President Bongo, who had by then ruled the country for 31 years, was elected for an additional seven. Gabon lacks roads, schools, and adequate health care, yet the oil-rich country has lined the pockets of its ruler, who, according to the French weekly L'Autre Afrique, is said to own more real estate in Paris than any other foreign leader. Despite his reputation for corruption and authoritarianism, Bongo has a strong national following. In July 2003, the country's constitution was changed, allowing Bongo to be reelected indefinitely; that year, he changed his name again, to El Hadj Omar Bongo Ondimba. In Dec. 2005, he was reelected for another seven-year term.

See also Encyclopedia: Gabon.
U.S. State Dept. Country Notes: Gabon


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