@node Geography (Gabon)
@section Geography (Gabon)

@display

Location:
  Western Africa, bordering the Atlantic Ocean at the Equator between the
  Congo and Equatorial Guinea
Map references:
  Africa, Standard Time Zones of the World
Area:
 total area:
  267,670 km2
 land area:
  257,670 km2
 comparative area:
  slightly smaller than Colorado
Land boundaries:   total 2,551 km, Cameroon 298 km, Congo 1,903 km, Equatorial Guinea 350 km
Coastline:
  885 km
Maritime claims:
 contiguous zone:
  24 nm
 exclusive economic zone:
  200 nm
 territorial sea:
  12 nm
International disputes:
  maritime boundary dispute with Equatorial Guinea because of disputed
  sovereignty over islands in Corisco Bay
Climate:
  tropical; always hot, humid
Terrain:
  narrow coastal plain; hilly interior; savanna in east and south
Natural resources:
  petroleum, manganese, uranium, gold, timber, iron ore
Land use:
 arable land:
  1%
 permanent crops:
  1%
 meadows and pastures:
  18%
 forest and woodland:
  78%
 other:
  2%
Irrigated land:
  NA km2
Environment:
  deforestation



@end display

@node People (Gabon)
@section People (Gabon)

@display

Population:
  1,122,550 (July 1993 est.)
Population growth rate:
  1.45% (1993 est.)
Birth rate:
  28.63 births/1,000 population (1993 est.)
Death rate:
  14.08 deaths/1,000 population (1993 est.)
Net migration rate:
  0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1993 est.)
Infant mortality rate:
  97.3 deaths/1,000 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.)
Nationality:
 noun:
  Gabonese (singular and plural)
 adjective:
  Gabonese
Ethnic divisions:
  Bantu tribes including four major tribal groupings (Fang, Eshira, Bapounou,
  Bateke), Africans and Europeans 100,000, including 27,000 French
Religions:
  Christian 55-75%, Muslim less than 1%, animist
Languages:
  French (official), Fang, Myene, Bateke, Bapounou/Eschira, Bandjabi
Literacy:
  age 15 and over can read and write (1990)
 total population:
  61%
 male:
  74%
 female:
  48%
Labor force:
  120,000 salaried
 by occupation:
  agriculture 65.0%, industry and commerce 30.0%, services 2.5%, government
  2.5%
 note:
  58% of population of working age (1983)



@end display

@node Government (Gabon)
@section Government (Gabon)

@display

Names:
 conventional long form:
  Gabonese Republic
 conventional short form:
  Gabon
 local long form:
  Republique Gabonaise
 local short form:
  Gabon
Digraph:
  GB
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
Independence:
  17 August 1960 (from France)
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
National holiday:
  Renovation Day, 12 March (1968) (Gabonese Democratic Party established)
Political parties and leaders:
  Gabonese Democratic Party (PDG, former sole party), El Hadj Omar BONGO,
  president; National Recovery Movement - Lumberjacks (Morena-Bucherons);
  Gabonese Party for Progress (PGP); National Recovery Movement
  (Morena-Original); Association for Socialism in Gabon (APSG); Gabonese
  Socialist Union (USG); Circle for Renewal and Progress (CRP); Union for
  Democracy and Development (UDD)
Suffrage:
  21 years of age; universal
Elections:
 National Assembly:
  last held on 28 October 1990 (next to be held by NA); results - percent of
  vote NA; seats - (120 total, 111 elected) PDG 62, National Recovery Movement
  - Lumberjacks (Morena-Bucherons) 19, PGP 18, National Recovery Movement
  (Morena-Original) 7, APSG 6, USG 4, CRP 1, independents 3
 President:
  last held on 9 November 1986 (next to be held December 1993); results -
  President Omar BONGO was reelected without opposition
Executive branch:
  president, prime minister, Cabinet
Legislative branch:
  unicameral National Assembly (Assemblee Nationale)
Judicial branch:
  Supreme Court (Cour Supreme)
Leaders:
 Chief of State:
  President El Hadj Omar BONGO (since 2 December 1967)
 Head of Government:
  Prime Minister Casimir OYE-MBA (since 3 May 1990)



@end display

@node Government (Gabon 2. usage)
@section Government (Gabon 2. usage)

@display

Member of:
  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 US:
 chief of mission:
  (vacant)
 chancery:
  2034 20th Street NW, Washington, DC 20009
 telephone:
  (202) 797-1000
US diplomatic representation:
 chief of mission:   Ambassador John C. WILSON IV
 embassy:
  Boulevard de la Mer, Libreville
 mailing address:
  B. P. 4000, Libreville
 telephone:
  (241) 762003/4, or 743492
 FAX:
  [241] 745-507
Flag:
  three equal horizontal bands of green (top), yellow, and blue



@end display

@node Economy (Gabon)
@section Economy (Gabon)

@display

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.
National product:
  GDP - exchange rate conversion - $4.6 billion (1991)
National product real growth rate:
  13% (1990 est.)
National product per capita:
  $4,200 (1991 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
  0.7% (1991 est.)
Unemployment rate:
  NA%
Budget:
  revenues $1.4 billion; expenditures $1.4 billion, including capital
  expenditures of $247 million (1990 est.)
Exports:
  $2.2 billion (f.o.b., 1991)
 commodities:
  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.)
 commodities:
  foodstuffs, chemical products, petroleum products, construction materials,
  manufactures, machinery
 partners:
  France 64%, African countries 7%, US 5%, Japan 3%
External debt:   $4.4 billion (1991)
Industrial production:
  growth rate - 10% (1988 est.); accounts for 45% of GDP, including petroleum
Electricity:
  315,000 kW capacity; 995 million kWh produced, 920 kWh per capita (1991)
Industries:
  petroleum, food and beverages, lumbering and plywood, textiles, mining -
  manganese, uranium, gold, cement
Agriculture:
  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
Economic aid:
  US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-90), $68 million; Western (non-US)
  countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-90), $2,342 million;
  Communist countries (1970-89), $27 million
Currency:
  1 CFA franc (CFAF) = 100 centimes



@end display

@node Economy (Gabon 2. usage)
@section Economy (Gabon 2. usage)

@display

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)
Fiscal year:
  calendar year



@end display

@node Communications (Gabon)
@section Communications (Gabon)

@display

Railroads:
  649 km 1.437-meter standard-gauge single track (Transgabonese Railroad)
Highways:
  7,500 km total; 560 km paved, 960 km laterite, 5,980 km earth
Inland waterways:
  1,600 km perennially navigable
Pipelines:
  crude oil 270 km; petroleum products 14 km
Ports:
  Owendo, Port-Gentil, Libreville
Merchant marine:
  2 cargo ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 18,563 GRT/25,330 DWT
Airports:
 total:
  68
 usable:
  56
 with permanent-surface runways:
  10
 with runways over 3,659 m:
  0  with runways 2,440-3,659 m:
  2
 with runways 1,220-2,439 m:
  22
Telecommunications:
  adequate system of cable, radio relay, tropospheric scatter links and
  radiocommunication stations; 15,000 telephones; broadcast stations - 6 AM, 6
  FM, 3 (5 repeaters) TV; satellite earth stations - 3 Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT
  and 12 domestic satellite



@end display

@node Defense Forces (Gabon)
@section Defense Forces (Gabon)

@display

Branches:
  Army, Navy, Air Force, Presidential Guard, National Gendarmerie, National
  Police
Manpower availability:
  males age 15-49 269,066; fit for military service 135,836; reach military
  age (20) annually 9,680 (1993 est.)
Defense expenditures:
  exchange rate conversion - $102 million, 3.2% of GDP (1990 est.)



@end display