|
Basic Facts |
Country name |
conventional long form: Gabonese Republic
conventional short form: Gabon local long form: Republique gabonaise local short form: Gabon |
Gevernment type | republic; multiparty presidential regime |
Capital |
name: Libreville
geographic coordinates: 0 23 N, 9 27 E time difference: UTC+1 (6 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) |
Flag description | three equal horizontal bands of green (top), yellow, and blue |
Currency | Communaute Financiere Africaine franc (XAF); note - responsible authority is the Bank of the Central African States |
Internet country code | .ga |
Ports and terminals | Gamba, Libreville, Lucinda, Owendo, Port-Gentil |
Agriculture products | cocoa, coffee, sugar, palm oil, rubber; cattle; okoume (a tropical softwood); fish |
Industries | petroleum extraction and refining; manganese, gold; chemicals, ship repair, food and beverages, textiles, lumbering and plywood, cement |
Geography |
Location | Western Africa, bordering the Atlantic Ocean at the Equator, between Republic of the Congo and Equatorial Guinea |
Coordinates | 1 00 S, 11 45 E |
Continent | Africa |
Area |
total: 267,667 sq km
land: 257,667 sq km water: 10,000 sq km |
Boundaries |
total: 2,551 km
border countries: Cameroon 298 km, Republic of the Congo 1,903 km, Equatorial Guinea 350 km |
Coastline | 885 km |
Climate | tropical; always hot, humid |
Terrain | narrow coastal plain; hilly interior; savanna in east and south |
Natural resources | petroleum, natural gas, diamond, niobium, manganese, uranium, gold, timber, iron ore, hydropower |
Natural hazards | NA |
People |
Population | 1,424,906
note: estimates for this country explicitly take into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality and death rates, lower population and growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (July 2006 est.) |
Ethnic groups | Bantu tribes, including four major tribal groupings (Fang, Bapounou, Nzebi, Obamba); other Africans and Europeans, 154,000, including 10,700 French and 11,000 persons of dual nationality |
Religions | Christian 55%-75%, animist, Muslim less than 1% |
Languages | French (official), Fang, Myene, Nzebi, Bapounou/Eschira, Bandjabi |