Gabon

Facts & Figures

Map of Gabon

President: Ali Bongo Ondimba (2009)

Prime Minister: Raymond Ndong Sima (2012)

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

Population (2012 est.): 1,608,321 (growth rate: 1.977%); birth rate: 35/1000; infant mortality rate: 49/1000; life expectancy: 52.29

Capital and largest city (2009 est.): Libreville, 619,000

Monetary unit: CFA Franc

National name: République Gabonaise

Current government officials

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: 63.2% (1995 est.)

Economic summary: GDP/PPP (2011 est.): $24.28 billion; per capita $16,000. Real growth rate: 5.6%. Inflation: 1.6% (2011). Unemployment: 21% (2006 est.). Arable land: 1.21%. Agriculture: cocoa, coffee, sugar, palm oil, rubber; cattle; okoume (a tropical softwood); fish. Labor force: 728,100 (2011); 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: $10.86 billion (2011 est.): crude oil, timber, manganese, uranium. Imports: $3.239 billion (2011 est.): machinery and equipment, foodstuffs, chemicals, construction materials. Major trading partners: U.S., China, France, Trinidad and Tobago, Netherlands, Cameroon, Belgium, Spain, Australia, Malaysia, China (2010).

Member of French Community

Communications: Telephones: main lines in use: 30,400 (2010); mobile cellular: 1.61 (2010). Broadcast media: state owns and operates 2 TV stations and 2 radio broadcast stations; a few private radio and TV stations; transmissions of at least 2 international broadcasters are accessible; satellite service subscriptions are available (2007). Internet hosts: 103 (2011). Internet users: 98,800 (2009).

Transportation: Railways: total: 649 km (2009). Highways: total: 9,170 km; paved: 937 km; unpaved: 8,233 km (2004 est.). Waterways: 1,600 km (310 km on Ogooue River) (2007). Ports and harbors: Gamba, Libreville, Lucinda, Owendo, Port-Gentil. Airports: 44 (2010).

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.

Major sources and definitions

Index

Gabon Main Page
Longest-Serving Head of State Bongo Is Sworn in As Gabon's President

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.