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

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

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: 1,068,240 (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

Birth rate: 28 births/1000 population (1990)

Death rate: 15 deaths/1000 population (1990)

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

Environment
Current issues: deforestation geoad2

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)

Literacy: 61.6%

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 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)

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

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.

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%

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

Fiscal year: calendar year

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

Debt external: $2.0 billion (October 1989)

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)

Electricity
Capacity: 310,000 kW capacity; 980 million kWh produced, 920 kWh per capita (1989)

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

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

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