I | INTRODUCTION |
Gabon, officially Gabonese Republic (French
République Gabonaise), independent nation in west central Africa, bounded
on the northwest by Equatorial Guinea, on the north by Cameroon, on the east and
south by the Republic of the Congo, and on the west by the Atlantic Ocean. The
area of Gabon is 267,667 sq km (103,347 sq mi). Libreville is the capital and
largest city.
II | LAND AND RESOURCES |
A belt of coastal lowlands, generally narrow
in width, is found in the western part of Gabon. To the interior is the plateau
zone, which extends over the entire northern and eastern sections of Gabon and
part of the south. The Cristal Mountains in the north are about 900 m (about
3,000 ft) high. The central Chaillu Mountains contain Mount Iboundji (972
m/3,189 ft), the highest summit in the country. This escarpment is crossed by
numerous rivers, notably the Ogooué River, which empties into the Atlantic
Ocean. Virtually the entire country is contained in the basin of the Ogooué
River, which is navigable to Ndjolé. Some 81 percent of the land is covered by a
dense equatorial rain forest.
A | Climate |
Gabon has a hot and humid climate. The
temperature varies only slightly throughout the year. The average daily
temperature is 27°C (80°F). The dry seasons are from May to September and
December to January, while the rainy seasons are from February to April and
October to November. At Libreville the average annual rainfall averages 2,520 mm
(99 in).
B | Natural Resources |
Gabon is rich in mineral resources. The
country has deposits of uranium, manganese, and petroleum, all of which are
being exploited; large deposits of iron ore, considered among the richest in the
world, have also been found, and lead and silver ores have been discovered.
Gabon also has valuable forest resources, mainly in its stands of okoume,
mahogany, kevazingo, and ebony.
C | Environmental Issues |
Mineral production in Gabon has kept
pressure off the forests as a source of revenue. As a result, about 69.3 percent
(1995) of Gabon remains covered in forest, and wildlife is abundant. Protected
areas cover 2.8 percent (1997) of the country, and hunting is prohibited.
However, enforcement is weak, and some species of wildlife are under threat from
poaching.
III | POPULATION |
The ethnic makeup of the Gabonese is diverse,
although almost all the inhabitants are Bantu-speaking. Of the country’s
approximately 40 ethnic groups, most people belong to the Fang, Mpongwe, M’Bete,
and Punu groupings. Europeans, mostly French, form a small but prominent
minority. Pygmies are believed to have been the original inhabitants of the
country, but only a few thousand remain. About 90 percent of the population is
Christian, primarily Roman Catholic, and about 5 percent is Muslim. The official
language is French.
A | Population Characteristics |
Gabon has a population (2008 estimate) of
1,484,149. The overall population density is 6 persons per sq km (15 per sq mi).
Some 85 percent of the people live in urban areas. Much of the country’s
interior is uninhabited.
B | Principal Cities |
Libreville, the capital and largest city of
Gabon, has a population (2003 estimate) of 611,000. Port-Gentil (125,000) is the
center of the plywood and petroleum industries. Lambaréné is the center for the
oil-palm plantations in the region and the site of the hospital established by
German-born medical missionary Albert Schweitzer.
C | Education |
Schooling is officially compulsory in Gabon
for all children between the ages of 6 and 16, though not all children in that
age group actually attend schools. In the 2000 school year 265,700 pupils
attended primary schools, and 101,700 students were enrolled in secondary
schools. The country has technical institutions and teachers colleges, as well
as a university, the Université Omar Bongo (founded in 1970). An estimated 71
percent of adults in Gabon are literate.
IV | ECONOMY |
The economy of Gabon is largely dependent on
the exploitation of mineral and forest resources, particularly oil. While
Gabon’s gross domestic product of $7,282.50 per capita in 2006 was the highest
in Africa, the economy fluctuates with world petroleum prices. The national
budget in 1993 included revenues of $1.3 billion and expenditures of 1.6
billion.
A | Agriculture |
The economy of Gabon has a large
subsistence agriculture sector, occupying 52 percent of the active labor force.
Cassava, plantains, sugarcane, yams, and taro are grown for home consumption,
and small amounts of cacao, coffee, palm oil, peanuts, and pepper are grown for
export. Surplus sugarcane is also refined and exported.
B | Forestry and Fishing |
Gabon is the world’s largest producer of
okoume, a softwood that is used to make plywood. In 2006 the timber cut in Gabon
was 4 million cu m (142 million cu ft). The government is engaged in
preservation and reforestation programs. The fish catch in 2005 was 43,941
metric tons.
C | Mining |
Mining has developed rapidly since Gabon’s
independence in 1960. Annual production of extremely high-grade manganese ore,
from Moanda in the southeast, was 1,090,000 metric tons in 2004. The rich
deposits of iron ore located at Mekambo and Bélinga in the northeast have
reserves estimated at more than 500 million metric tons. Exploitation of the
iron ore has been hampered by the lack of transportation facilities,
particularly railroads. Uranium production annually totaled about 710 metric
tons in the early 1990s. Petroleum is extracted along the coast and offshore.
Petroleum production, which stood at 56.8 million barrels annually in the late
1980s, was declining due to depletion of reserves until a major new field was
tapped. Production increased to 88 million barrels in 2004. Oil refineries are
located at Port-Gentil and Pointe Clairette. Production of petroleum products is
about 491,000 metric tons per year. Some gold also is mined.
D | Manufacturing |
Gabon has a small manufacturing sector,
the leading products being refined petroleum and wood items. Other manufactures
include processed food, beer, and cement. Some 1,487 million kilowatt-hours of
electricity were generated in 2003. Hydroelectric facilities, primarily an
installation at Kinguélé, near Libreville, accounted for 65 percent of the total
amount.
E | Currency and Foreign Trade |
The currency of Gabon is the CFA
franc (523 CFA francs equal U.S.$1; 2006 average). An exchange rate of 50
CFA francs equal to 1 French franc was in force from 1948 to 1994, when the CFA
franc was devalued by 50 percent. In 2003 exports earned Gabon $2.8 billion, and
imports were valued at $835 million. Gabon is one of the few countries in Africa
to maintain a positive balance of trade. Principle partners for exports are
France, the United States, Germany, and Japan; chief partners for imports are
France and other African countries.
F | Transportation and Communications |
Gabon has 9,170 km (5,698 mi) of roads, of
which about one-tenth percent are paved. An 869-km (540-mi) highway crosses
Gabon from north to south, linking the country with Loubomo in the Republic of
the Congo and Douala in Cameroon. Government planning has stressed road
construction. Before the 1970s, the country’s only railroad linked Mbinda (the
Congo) with the Pointe Noire-Brazzaville Line. Construction began in 1974 on the
697-km (433-mi) Trans-Gabon Railroad; a section between Owendo and Booué was
completed in 1982, and the extension to Franceville in the southeast was
inaugurated in 1986. A link to the iron-ore deposits of the northeast is also
planned. Owendo and Port-Gentil are the principal ports. The Ogooué River and
its tributaries, the Ivindo and Ngounie rivers, provide navigable waterways.
Gabon has a well-developed domestic air transportation network. The government
operates television and radio stations. There were 489 radio receivers and 321
television sets in use for every 1,000 inhabitants in 1999.
V | GOVERNMENT |
Under the 1961 constitution, as amended, the
president of Gabon was directly elected for a seven-year term, serving as both
chief of state and head of government. The unicameral National Assembly
comprised 111 elected and 9 appointed members. The Gabonese Democratic Party was
the sole legal political party.
Gabon entered a period of political
transition as the 1990s began. In 1990 the ban on multiparty politics was
lifted. A new constitution was adopted in March 1991. Under this constitution, a
president serves as Gabon’s head of state. The president is directly elected to
a seven-year term. A prime minister appointed by the president serves as head of
government. There is a bicameral (two-chamber) legislature composed of a
National Assembly (lower house) and a Senate (upper house). The 120 members of
the National Assembly are directly elected to five-year terms. The 91 members of
the Senate are elected to six-year terms by local government councils.
Gabon consists of nine provinces, each with
an appointed governor. The judiciary comprises the Supreme Court, the High Court
of Justice, a court of appeal, and a court of state security, as well as several
courts of first instance. In 2004 the armed forces included an army of 3,200
personnel, a navy of 500, and an air force of 1,000.
VI | HISTORY |
Discoveries of tools from the end of the Old
Stone Age and the New Stone Age indicate early settlements in what is now Gabon,
but little is known about the first inhabitants. By the 13th century ad the Mpongwe people were established
in the country. The first contact with Europeans was with the Portuguese in the
1470s. During the following 350 years, first the Portuguese and later the
French, Dutch, and English carried on a lucrative trade in slaves. The first
permanent European settlement was made by the French, with the agreement of the
Mpongwe ruler, in 1839. Libreville was founded a decade later by freed slaves.
Over the next several years the French extended their rule inland, and in 1866
they appointed a governor to Gabon, which was then attached to the French Congo;
it became part of French Equatorial Africa in 1910.
During World War II (1939-1945) Gabon was
held by the Free French, and in 1946 it became an overseas territory of France.
The first Gabonese government council was formed in 1957, and Léon Mba became
president of the council in 1958. Also in 1958, Gabon voted to become an
autonomous republic in the French Community. Mba then became prime minister. The
country declared its independence on August 17, 1960, and in 1961 Mba was
elected president.
A military coup overthrew President Mba’s
government in 1964, but French troops, in accordance with a Franco-Gabonese
defense agreement, intervened and restored him to power; he was reelected
president in 1967. Upon Mba’s death later that year, Vice President
Albert-Bernard Bongo succeeded to the presidency. Bongo, who later assumed the
Islamic first name Omar, was reelected in 1973. During the mid-1970s Gabon began
to loosen its ties with France and the French-speaking regional organizations.
With Gabonization, the government became a partner in many foreign firms, and
native Gabonese filled management positions once held by foreigners. Favorable
markets for Gabonese exports, especially oil, natural gas, uranium, and
manganese, contributed to rapid economic expansion during the 1970s, but the
economy cooled during the following decade.
Reelected to seven-year terms in December
1979 and November 1986, President Bongo faced rising opposition as the 1990s
began. Tentative steps toward a multiparty system were taken in 1990, but the
newly legalized opposition parties accused the government of fraud in
legislative elections held in September and October. The National Assembly
enacted a new constitution in March 1991 formalizing the multiparty system. In
December 1993 Bongo received 51.1 percent of the vote in the first presidential
elections held under the new constitution. Opposition parties again accused the
government of election fraud.
Shortly after the elections a state of alert
was declared, banning all demonstrations. Paul Mba Abessole, one of the
presidential candidates of the opposition, formed an alternate government called
the High Council of the Republic, which was later renamed the High Council for
Resistance. In August 1994 the opposition agreed to participate in a
transitional coalition government until new legislative elections could be held.
These occurred in 1996, and the ruling Gabonese Democratic Party won a
significant majority. Bongo was reelected in December 1998 to a seven-year
term.
In the November 2005 presidential elections,
Bongo was again reelected to another seven-year term. International election
observers said there was no evidence of fraud, but two opposition candidates
called for a campaign of civil disobedience to protest the results, which they
said were fraudulent. Official results showed Bongo winning 79 percent of the
vote.
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