Gabon
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The Gabonese Republic, or Gabon, is a nation of west central Africa. It borders on Equatorial Guinea, Cameroon, Republic of the Congo and the Gulf of Guinea. Ruled by autocratic presidents since independence from France on August 17, 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 countries in the region.
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| National motto: None | |||||
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| Official language | French | ||||
| Capital | Libreville | ||||
| Capital's coordinates | Template:Coor dm | ||||
| President | Omar Bongo | ||||
| Prime Minister | Jean-Fran篩s Ntoutoume Emane | ||||
| Area - Total - % water | Ranked 74th 267,667 km² xx% / Negligible | ||||
| Population
| Ranked 148th
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| Independence
| (From France) | ||||
| Currency | CFA franc | ||||
| Time zone | UTC +1 (DST, yes or not) | ||||
| National anthem | La Concorde | ||||
| Internet TLD | .ga | ||||
| Calling Code | 241 | ||||
| Contents |
History
Main article: History of Gabon
Several Bantu groups occupied the area that is now Gabon when France occupied it in 1885. In 1910, Gabon became one of the four territories of French Equatorial Africa, a federation that survived until 1959. These territories became independent on August 17, 1960.
The first president of Gabon, elected in 1961, was L鯮 M’ba, with Omar Bongo as his vice president. When M'Ba died in 1967, Bongo replaced him as president, and has been the head of state ever since and also won re-election.
Politics
Main article: Politics of Gabon
In March 1991 a new constitution was adopted. Among its provisions are a Western-style bill of rights, the creation of the National Council of Democracy that also oversees the guarantee of those rights and a governmental advisory board which deals with economic and social issues. Multi-party legislative elections were held in 1990-91 even though opposition parties had not been declared formally legal.
President El Hadj Omar Bongo was re-elected in December 1998, obtaining 66% of the votes cast. Although the main opposition parties claimed that the elections had been manipulated, there was none of the civil disturbance that followed the 1993 election. The president retains strong powers, such as authority to dissolve the National Assembly, declare a state of siege, delay legislation, conduct referenda, and appoint and dismiss the prime minister and cabinet members.
See: List of Presidents of Gabon
Geography
Main article: Geography of Gabon
Gabon is located on the Atlantic coast of central Africa. Clockwise from the northwest, it is bounded by Equatorial Guinea, Cameroon, and the Republic of Congo.
Gabon's largest river is the [[Ogoou靝. Gabon is also noted for efforts to preserve the natural environment with what may be the largest area of nature parks in the world.
See: List of places in Gabon, Provinces of Gabon
Economy
Gabon_sm04.png
Main article: Economy of Gabon
Gabon is more prosperous than most nearby countries, with a per capita income of four times the average for Sub-Saharan Africa. This is in large part due to offshore oil production that has produced substantial wealth, although the distribution of income from this industry is extremely unequal.
About sixty percent of the workforce is engaged in agriculture.
During the 1990s, devaluation of the CFA franc left Gabon struggling to pay its overseas debt; France and the IMF have provided further loans and aid in exchange for the implementation of changes to the economy.
Demographics
Main article: Demographics of Gabon
Culture
Main article: Culture of Gabon
Miscellaneous topics
- Communications in Gabon
- Transportation in Gabon
- Military of Gabon
- Foreign relations of Gabon
- Postage stamps and postal history of Gabon
- List of Gabon-related topics
References
- David E. Gardinier, Historical Dictionary of Gabon, 2nd ed. (The Scarecrow Press, 1994) - a comprehensive work, with a bibliography of 1,453 items
- James F. Barnes, Gabon: Beyond the Colonial Legacy (Boulder: Westview, 1992)
External links
Government
- Assembl饠Nationale du Gabon (http://www.assemblee.ga/) official site
- Le S鮡t de la R鰵blique Gabonaise (http://www.senat.ga/) official site (in French)
- Gabonese Embassy in London (http://gabon.embassyhomepage.com/) government information and links
News
- AllAfrica.com - Gabon (http://allafrica.com/gabon/) news headline links
Overviews
- BBC News Country Profile - Gabon (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/country_profiles/1023203.stm)
- CIA World Factbook - Gabon (http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/gb.html)
Directories
- LookSmart - Gabon (http://search.looksmart.com/p/browse/us1/us317836/us317916/us559898/us559899/us10065674/us559922/) directory category
- Open Directory Project - Gabon (http://dmoz.org/Regional/Africa/Gabon/) directory category
- Stanford University - Africa South of the Sahara: Gabon (http://www-sul.stanford.edu/depts/ssrg/africa/gabon.html) directory category
- University of Pennsylvania - African Studies Center: Gabon (http://www.sas.upenn.edu/African_Studies/Country_Specific/Gabon.html) directory category
- Yahoo! - Gabon (http://dir.yahoo.com/Regional/Countries/Gabon/) directory category
Tourism
| Countries in Africa | ||
|
Algeria | Angola | Benin | Botswana | Burkina Faso | Burundi | Cameroon | Cape Verde | Central African Republic | Chad | Comoros | Democratic Republic of the Congo | Republic of the Congo | Cte d'Ivoire | Djibouti | Egypt | Equatorial Guinea | Eritrea | Ethiopia | Gabon | The Gambia | Ghana | Guinea | Guinea-Bissau | Kenya | Lesotho | Liberia | Libya | Madagascar | Malawi | Mali | Mauritania | Mauritius | Morocco | Mozambique | Namibia | Niger | Nigeria | Rwanda | So Tom and Prncipe | Senegal | Seychelles | Sierra Leone | Somalia | Somaliland | South Africa | Sudan | Swaziland | Tanzania | Togo | Tunisia | Uganda | Zambia | Zimbabwe | Western Sahara | ||
| Dependencies: Canary Islands | Ceuta and Melilla | Madeira Islands | Mayotte | Runion | Saint Helena and dependencies | ||