Map of Gabon | Geography | People | Government | Economy | Energy | Communication
Military | Transportation | Transnational Issues | Year: Guide19891990199119921993199419951996199719981999200020012002200320042005200620072008200920102011201220132014201520162017201820192020202120222023 | More stats

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Background: Gabon has been ruled by autocratic presidents since independence from France in 1960.


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Location

Geographic coordinates

Map reference

Area

Land boundaries: 2,551 km total; Cameroon 298 km, Congo 1,903 km, Equatorial Guinea 350 km

Coastline: 885 km

Maritime claims: Contiguous zone:24 nm;

Climate: tropical; always hot, humid

Terrain: narrow coastal plain; hilly interior; savanna in east and south

Elevation

Natural resources: crude oil, manganese, uranium, gold, timber, iron ore

Land use: 1% arable land; 1% permanent crops; 18% meadows and pastures; 78% forest and woodland; 2% other

Irrigated land

Major rivers

Major watersheds area km²

Total water withdrawal

Total renewable water resources

Natural hazards

Geography


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Population: 1,068,240 (July 1990), growth rate 0.8% (1990)

Nationality: noun--Gabonese (sing., pl.; adjective--Gabonese

Ethnic groups: about 40 Bantu tribes, including four major tribal groupings (Fang, Eshira, Bapounou, Bateke; about 100,000 expatriate Africans and Europeans, including 27,000 French

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

Religions: 55-75% Christian, less than 1% Muslim, remainder animist

Demographic profile

Age structure

Dependency ratios

Median age

Population growth rate

Birth rate: 28 births/1000 population (1990)

Death rate: 15 deaths/1000 population (1990)

Net migration rate: - 6 migrants/1000 population (1990)

Population distribution

Urbanization

Major urban areas

Environment
Current issues: deforestation geoad2

Air pollutants

Sex ratio

Mothers mean age at first birth

Maternal mortality ratio

Infant mortality rate: 106 deaths/1000 live births (1990)

Life expectancy at birth: 50 years male, 56 years female (1990)

Total fertility rate: 4.0 children born/woman (1990)

Contraceptive prevalence rate

Drinking water source

Current health expenditure

Physicians density

Hospital bed density

Sanitation facility access

Hiv/Aids

Major infectious diseases

Obesity adult prevalence rate

Alcohol consumption

Tobacco use

Children under the age of 5 years underweight

Education expenditures

Literacy: 61.6%

School life expectancy primary to tertiary education

Youth unemployment


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Country name: conventional long form: Gabonese Republic

Government type: republic; one-party presidential regime since 1964

Capital: Libreville

Administrative divisions: 9 provinces; Estuaire, Haut-Ogooue, Moyen-Ogooue, Ngounie, Nyanga, Ogooue-Ivindo, Ogooue-Lolo, Ogooue-Maritime, Woleu-Ntem

Dependent areas

Independence: 17 August 1960 (from France)

National holiday: Renovation Day (Gabonese Democratic Party established), 12 March (1968)

Constitution: 21 February 1961, revised 15 April 1975

Legal system: based on French civil law system and customary law; judicial review of legislative acts in Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court; compulsory ICJ jurisdiction not accepted

International law organization participation

Citizenship

Suffrage: universal at age 21

Executive branch: Chief of State--President El Hadj Omar BONGO (since 2 December 1967; Head of Government--Prime Minister Leon MEBIAME (since 16 April 1975)

Legislative branch: Army, Navy, Air Force, paramilitary Gendarmerie

Judicial branch: Supreme Court (Cour Supreme)

Political parties and leaders

International organization participation: ACP, AfDB, CCC, Conference of East and Central African States, EAMA, EIB (associate), FAO, G-77, GATT, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICCO, ICO, IDA, IDB--Islamic Development Bank, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IPU, ITU, NAM, OAU, OIC, OPEC, UDEAC, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO

Diplomatic representation
In the us: Ambassador Jean Robert ODZAGA; Chancery at 2,034 20th Street NW, Washington DC 20,009; telephone (202) 797-1000; US--Ambassador Keith L. WAUCHOPE; Embassy at Boulevard de la Mer, Libreville (mailing address is B. P. 4,000, Libreville; telephone 762,003 or 762,004, 761,337, 721,348, 740,248

Flag description: three equal horizontal bands of green (top), yellow, and blue

National symbols

National anthem

National heritage


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Economy overview: The economy, dependent on timber and manganese until the early 1970s, is now dominated by the oil sector. During the period 1981-85 oil accounted for about 46% of GDP, 83% of export earnings, and 65% of government revenues on average. The high oil prices of the early 1980s contributed to a substantial increase in per capita income, stimulated domestic demand, reinforced migration from rural to urban areas, and raised the level of real wages to among the highest in Sub-Saharan Africa. The three-year slide of Gabon's economy, which began with falling oil prices in 1985, stabilized in 1989 because of a near doubling of oil prices over their 1988 lows. The agricultural and industrial sectors are relatively underdeveloped, accounting for only 8% and 10%, respectively, of GDP in 1986.

Real gdp purchasing power parity

Real gdp growth rate

Real gdp per capita ppp

Gross national saving

Gdp composition by end use

Gdp composition by sector of origin

Agriculture products: accounts for 8% of GDP (including fishing and forestry; cash crops--cocoa, coffee, palm oil; livestock not developed; importer of food; small fishing operations provide a catch of about 20,000 metric tons; okoume (a tropical softwood) is the most important timber product

Industries: sawmills, petroleum, food and beverages; mining of increasing importance (especially manganese and uranium)

Industrial production growth rate: 1.7% (1986)

Labor force:

Unemployment rate: NA%

Youth unemployment

Population below poverty line

Gini index

Household income or consumption by percentage share

Distribution of family income gini index

Budget: revenues $927 million; expenditures $1.2 billion, including capital expenditures of $33 million (1988)

Public debt

Taxes and other revenues

Revenue

Fiscal year: calendar year

Current account balance

Inflation rate consumer prices

Central bank discount rate

Commercial bank prime lending rate

Stock of narrow money

Stock of broad money

Stock of domestic credit

Market value of publicly traded shares

Current account balance

Exports: $1.14 billion (f.o.b., 1989 est.)
Commodities: crude oil 70%, manganese 11%, wood 12%, uranium 6%
Partners: France 53%, US 22%, FRG, Japan

Imports: $0.76 billion (c.i.f., 1989)
Commodities: foodstuffs, chemical products, petroleum products, construction materials, manufactures, machinery
Partners: France 48%, US 2.6%, FRG, Japan, UK

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold

Debt external: $2.0 billion (October 1989)

Stock of direct foreign investment at home

Stock of direct foreign investment abroad

Exchange rates: Communaute Financiere Africaine francs (CFAF) per US$1--287.99 (January 1990), 319.01 (1989), 297.85 (1988), 300.54 (1987), 346.30 (1986), 449.26 (1985)


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Electricity access

Electricity production

Electricity consumption

Electricity exports

Electricity imports

Electricity installed generating capacity

Electricity transmission distribution losses

Electricity generation sources

Petroleum

Refined petroleum

Natural gas

Carbon dioxide emissions

Energy consumption per capita


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Telephones fixed lines

Telephones mobile cellular

Telephone system

Broadcast media

Internet country code

Internet users

Broadband fixed subscriptions


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Military expenditures
Percent of gdp: 3.2% of GDP, or $102 million (1990 est.)

Military and security forces

Military service age and obligation

Space program

Terrorist groups


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National air transport system

Civil aircraft registration country code prefix

Airports: 79 total, 68 usable; 10 with permanent-surface runways; none with runways over 3,659 m; 2 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 21 with runways 1,220-2,439 m

Airports with paved runways

Airports with unpaved runways

Heliports

Pipelines: crude oil, 270 km; refined products, 14 km

Railways

Roadways

Waterways: 1,600 km perennially navigable

Merchant marine: 2 cargo ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 18,563 GRT/25,330 DWT

Ports and terminals


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Disputes international: maritime boundary with Equatorial Guinea

Refugees and internally displaced persons

Illicit drugs