Statistical information Gabon 1993Gabon

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

Gabon in the World
Gabon in the World

Pierre et Vacances


Gabon - Introduction 1993
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Background: Ruled by autocratic presidents since independence from France in 1960 Gabon introduced a multiparty system and a new constitution in the early 1990s that allowed for a more transparent electoral process and for reforms of governmental institutions. A small population abundant natural resources and foreign private investment have helped make Gabon one of the more prosperous black African countries.


Gabon - Geography 1993
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Location: Western Africa, bordering the Atlantic Ocean at the Equator between the Congo and Equatorial Guinea

Geographic coordinates

Map referenceAfrica, Standard Time Zones of the World

Area
Total: 267,670 km²
Land: 257,670 km²

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


Coastline: 885 km
Contiguous zone: 24 nm
Exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
Territorial sea: 12 nm

Maritime claims

Climate: tropical; always hot, humid

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

Elevation

Natural resources: petroleum, manganese, uranium, gold, timber, iron ore
Land use

Land use
Permanent crops: 1%
Meadows and pastures: 18%
Forest and woodland: 78%
Other: 2%

Irrigated land: NA km²

Major rivers

Major watersheds area km²

Total water withdrawal

Total renewable water resources

Natural hazards

Geography


Gabon - People 1993
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Population: 1,122,550 (July 1993 est.)
Growth rate: 1.45% (1993 est.)

Nationality
Noun: Gabonese (singular and plural)
Adjective: Gabonese

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

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


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

Demographic profile
Age structure

Age structure

Dependency ratios

Median age

Population growth rate: 1.45% (1993 est.)

Birth rate: 28.63 births/1000 population (1993 est.)

Death rate: 14.08 deaths/1000 population (1993 est.)

Net migration rate: 0 migrant(s)/1000 population (1993 est.)

Population distribution

Urbanization

Major urban areas

Environment
Current issues: deforestation

Air pollutants

Sex ratio

Mothers mean age at first birth

Maternal mortality ratio

Infant mortality rate: 97.3 deaths/1000 live births (1993 est.)

Life expectancy at birth
Total population: 54.19 years
Male: 51.46 years
Female: 57.01 years (1993 est.)

Total fertility rate: 4.02 children born/woman (1993 est.)

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: age 15 and over can read and write (1990)
Total population: 61%
Male: 74%
Female: 48%
By occupation:
agriculture 65.0%, industry and commerce 30.0%, services 2.5%, government 2.5%
58% of population of working age (1983)


School life expectancy primary to tertiary education

Youth unemployment


Gabon - Government 1993
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Country name
Conventional long form: Gabonese Republic
Conventional short form: Gabon
Local long form: Republique Gabonaise
Local short form: Gabon

Government type: republic; multiparty presidential regime (opposition parties legalized 1990)

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, 12 March (1968) (Gabonese Democratic
Party established)


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: 21 years of age; universal

Executive branch

Legislative branch: unicameral National Assembly (Assemblee Nationale)

Judicial branch: Supreme Court (Cour Supreme)

Political parties and leaders

International organization participation:
ACCT, ACP, AfDB, BDEAC, CCC, CEEAC, ECA, FAO, FZ, G-24, G-77,
GATT, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INMARSAT,
INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOC, ITU, LORCS (associate), NAM, OAU, OIC, OPEC, UDEAC,
UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCL, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO


Diplomatic representation
In the us chief of mission: (vacant)
In the us chancery: 2,034 20th Street NW, Washington, DC 20,009
In the us telephone: (202) 797-1000
From the us chief of mission: Ambassador John C. WILSON IV
From the us embassy: Boulevard de la Mer, Libreville
From the us mailing address: B. P. 4,000, Libreville
From the us telephone: (241) 762,003/4, or 743,492
From the us fax: 241 745-507

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

National symbols

National anthem

National heritage


Gabon - Economy 1993
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Economy overview: The economy, dependent on timber and manganese until the early 1970s, is now dominated by the oil sector. In 1981-85, oil accounted for about 45% of GDP, 80% 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 national 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 subsequent slide of Gabon's economy, which began with falling oil prices in 1985, was reversed in 1989-90, but debt servicing obligations continue to limit prospects for further domestic development. Real growth in 1991-92 was weak because of a combination of an overstaffed bureaucracy, a large budget deficit, and the continued underdevelopment of the whole economy outside the petroleum sector.

Real gdp purchasing power parity

Real gdp growth rate: 13% (1990 est.)

Real gdp per capita: $4,200 (1991 est.)

Gross national saving
Gdp composition by sector of origin

Gdp composition by end use

Gdp composition by sector of origin

Agriculture products: accounts for 10% 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: petroleum, food and beverages, lumbering and plywood, textiles, mining - manganese, uranium, gold, cement

Industrial production growth rate:
growth rate - 10% (1988 est.); accounts for 45% of
GDP, including petroleum


Labor force
Labor force

Unemployment rate

Youth unemployment

Population below poverty line

Gini index

Household income or consumption by percentage share

Distribution of family income gini index

Budget: revenues $1.4 billion; expenditures $1.4 billion, including capital expenditures of $247 million (1990 est.)

Taxes and other revenues

Public debt

Revenue

Fiscal year: calendar year

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: $2.2 billion (f.o.b., 1991)
Commodoties: crude oil 80%, manganese 7%, wood 7%, uranium 2%
Partners: France 48%, US 15%, Germany 2%, Japan 2%

Imports: $702 million (c.i.f., 1991 est.)
Commodoties: foodstuffs, chemical products, petroleum products, construction materials, manufactures, machinery
Partners: France 64%, African countries 7%, US 5%, Japan 3%

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold

Debt external

Stock of direct foreign investment at home

Stock of direct foreign investment abroad

Exchange rates: Communaute Financiere Africaine francs (CFAF) per US$1 - 274.06 (January 1993), 264.69 (1992), 282.11 (1991), 272.26 (1990), 319.01 (1989), 297.85 (1988)


Gabon - Energy 1993
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Electricity
Production: 315,000 kW capacity; 995 million kWh produced, 920 kWh per capita (1991)

Coal

Petroleum

Crude oil

Refined petroleum

Natural gas

Carbon dioxide emissions

Energy consumption per capita


Gabon - Communication 1993
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Telephones

Telephone system

Broadcast media

Internet

Broadband fixed subscriptions


Gabon - Military 1993
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Military expenditures
Percent of gdp: exchange rate conversion - $102 million, 3.2% of GDP (1990 est.)

Military and security forces

Military service age and obligation

Space program

Terrorist groups


Gabon - Transportation 1993
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National air transport system

Civil aircraft registration country code prefix

Airports: 68
Usable: 56
With permanentsurface runways: 10
With runways over 3659 m: 0
With runways 2440-3659 m: 2
With runways 1220-2439 m: 22

Heliports

Pipelines: crude oil 270 km; petroleum products 14 km

Railways

Roadways

Waterways: 1,600 km perennially navigable

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

Ports and terminals


Gabon - Transnational issues 1993
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Disputes international: maritime boundary dispute with Equatorial Guinea because of disputed sovereignty over islands in Corisco Bay

Refugees and internally displaced persons

Illicit drugs


Qatar Airways


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