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

Land boundaries:

Coastline: 885 km

Maritime claims
Exclusive fishing zone: 150 nm
Territorial sea: 12 nm

Climate: tropical; always hot, humid

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

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

Population: 1,060,296 (July 1989), growth rate 0.8% (1989)

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

Birth rate: 28 births/1000 population (1989)

Death rate: 15 deaths/1000 population (1989)

Net migration rate: - 6 migrants/1000 population (1989)

Environment
Current issues: deforestation

Infant mortality rate: 108 deaths/1000 live births (1989)

Life expectancy at birth: 50 years male, 55 years female (1989)

Total fertility rate: 4 children born/woman (1989)

Literacy: 65%

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

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

Suffrage: universal over age 18

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

International organization participation: AfDB, African Wood Organization, BDECA (Central African Development Bank), 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 Peter SECCHIA; 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

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. Beginning in late 1985, however, world oil prices began to fall and in 1986 GDP declined for the first time in a decade. The agricultural and industrial sectors are relatively underdeveloped, accounting for only 8% and 10%, respectively, of GDP in 1986.

Agriculture products: commercial - cocoa, coffee, wood, palm oil, rice; main food crops - pineapples, bananas, manioc, peanuts, root crops; imports food

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%

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

Fiscal year: calendar year

Exports: $1.95 billion (f.o.b., 1986 est.)
Commodities: crude oil 67%, manganese 11%, wood 11%, uranium 6%
Partners: France 53%, US 22%, FRG, Japan

Imports: $0.95 billion (c.i.f., 1986)
Commodities: foodstuffs, chemical products, petroleum products, construction materials, manufactures, machinery
Partners: France 48%, US 2.6%, FRG, Japan, UK

Debt external: $2.5 billion (December 1988)

Exchange rates: Communaute Financiere Africaine francs (CFAF) per US$1 - 312.52 (January 1989), 297.85 (1988), 300.54 (1987), 346.30 (1986), 449.26 (1985)

Electricity
Capacity: 310,000 kW capacity; 976 million kWh produced, 930 kWh per capita (1988)

Military expenditures
Dollar figure: $135.1 million, 12.3% of central government budget (1988)

Airports: 82 total, 72 usable; 10 with permanent-surface runways; 2 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 21 with runways 1,220-2,439 m

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

Waterways: 1,600 km perennially navigable

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

Disputes international: maritime boundary with Equatorial Guinea