GABON                                                                           
GEOGRAPHY                                                                       
Total area: 267,670 km2; land area: 257,670 km2                                 
                                                                                
Comparative area: slightly smaller than Colorado                                
                                                                                
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;                                                         
Exclusive economic zone: 200 nm;                                                
                                                                                
Territorial sea: 12 nm                                                          
                                                                                
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: crude oil, manganese, uranium, gold, timber,                 
iron ore                                                                        
                                                                                
Land use: arable land 1%; permanent crops 1%; meadows and pastures              
18%; forest and woodland 78%; other 2%                                          
                                                                                
Environment: deforestation                                                      
                                                                                
PEOPLE                                                                          
Population: 1,079,980 (July 1991), growth rate 1.4% (1991)                      
                                                                                
Birth rate: 28 births/1,000 population (1991)                                   
                                                                                
Death rate: 14 deaths/1,000 population (1991)                                   
                                                                                
Net migration rate: 0 migrants/1,000 population (1991)                          
                                                                                
Infant mortality rate: 104 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)                      
                                                                                
Life expectancy at birth: 51 years male, 56 years female (1991)                 
                                                                                
Total fertility rate: 4.0 children born/woman (1991)                            
                                                                                
Nationality: noun--Gabonese (sing., pl.); adjective--Gabonese                   
                                                                                
Ethnic divisions: about 40 Bantu tribes, including four major                   
tribal groupings (Fang, Eshira, Bapounou, Bateke); about 100,000                
expatriate Africans and Europeans, including 27,000 French                      
                                                                                
Religion: Christian 55-75%, Muslim less than 1%, remainder animist              
                                                                                
Language: French (official), Fang, Myene, Bateke, Bapounou/Eschira,             
Bandjabi                                                                        
                                                                                
Literacy: 61% (male 74%, female 48%) age 15 and over can                        
read and write (1990 est.)                                                      
                                                                                
Labor force: 120,000 salaried; agriculture 65.0%, industry and                  
commerce 30.0%, services 2.5%, government 2.5%; 58% of population of            
working age (1983)                                                              
                                                                                
Organized labor: there are 38,000 members of the national trade                 
union, the Gabonese Trade Union Confederation (COSYGA)                          
                                                                                
GOVERNMENT                                                                      
Long-form name: Gabonese Republic                                               
                                                                                
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 (Gabonese Democratic Party                     
established), 12 March (1968)                                                   
                                                                                
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)                                                                       
                                                                                
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: universal at age 21                                                   
                                                                                
Elections:                                                                      
                                                                                
President--last held on 9 November 1986 (next to be held                        
November 1993);                                                                 
results--President Omar BONGO was reelected without opposition;                 
                                                                                
National Assembly--last held on 28 October 1990 (next to be                     
held by February 1992);                                                         
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, ASPG 6, USG 4, CRP 1, independent 3               
                                                                                
Communists: no organized party; probably some Communist                         
sympathizers                                                                    
                                                                                
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: Ambassador-designate Alexandre                       
SAMBAT; Chancery at 2034 20th Street NW, Washington DC 20009; telephone         
(202) 797-1000;                                                                 
                                                                                
US--Ambassador Keith L. WAUCHOPE; Embassy at Boulevard de la Mer,               
Libreville (mailing address is B. P. 4000, Libreville); telephone 762003        
or 762004, 743492                                                               
                                                                                
Flag: 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, was reversed in 1989 because of a        
near doubling of oil prices over their 1988 lows. In 1990 the economy           
continued to grow, but debt servicing problems are hindering economic           
advancement. The agricultural and industrial sectors are relatively             
underdeveloped, except for oil.                                                 
                                                                                
GDP: $3.3 billion, per capita $3,090; real growth rate 13% (1990                
est.)                                                                           
                                                                                
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 3% (1989 est.)                                
                                                                                
Unemployment rate: NA%                                                          
                                                                                
Budget: revenues $1.1 billion; expenditures $1.5 billion,                       
including capital expenditures of $277 million (1990 est.)                      
                                                                                
Exports: $1.16 billion (f.o.b., 1989);                                          
                                                                                
commodities--crude oil 70%, manganese 11%, wood 12%, uranium 6%;                
                                                                                
partners--France 53%, US 22%, FRG, Japan                                        
                                                                                
Imports: $0.78 billion (c.i.f., 1989);                                          
                                                                                
commodities--foodstuffs, chemical products, petroleum products,                 
construction materials, manufactures, machinery;                                
                                                                                
partners--France 48%, US 2.6%, FRG, Japan, UK                                   
                                                                                
External debt: $3.4 billion (December 1990 est.)                                
                                                                                
Industrial production: growth rate - 10% (1988 est.)                            
Electricity: 310,000 kW capacity; 980 million kWh produced,                     
920 kWh per capita (1989)                                                       
                                                                                
Industries: petroleum, food and beverages, timber, cement                       
plywood, textiles, mining--manganese, uranium, gold)                            
                                                                                
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 (FY70-89), $66                    
million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments          
(1970-88), $1.9 billion; Communist countries (1970-89), $27 million             
                                                                                
Currency: Communaute Financiere Africaine franc                                 
(plural--francs); 1 CFA franc (CFAF) = 100 centimes                             
                                                                                
Exchange rates: Communaute Financiere Africaine francs (CFAF)                   
per US$1--253.32 (December 1990), 171.26 (1990), 319.01 (1989), 297.85          
(1988), 300.54 (1987), 346.30 (1986), 449.26 (1985)                             
                                                                                
Fiscal year: calendar year                                                      
                                                                                
COMMUNICATIONS                                                                  
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; refined 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                                                                  
                                                                                
Civil air: 11 major transport aircraft                                          
                                                                                
Airports: 73 total, 61 usable; 10 with permanent-surface runways;               
none with runways over 3,659 m; 2 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 22 with           
runways 1,220-2,439 m                                                           
                                                                                
Telecommunications: adequate system of open-wire, radio relay,                  
tropospheric scatter links and radiocommunication stations; 13,800              
telephones; stations--6 AM, 6 FM, 8 TV; satellite earth stations--2             
Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT and 12 domestic satellite                               
                                                                                
DEFENSE FORCES                                                                  
Branches: Army, Navy, Air Force, Presidential Guard, paramilitary               
Gendarmerie, National Police                                                    
                                                                                
Manpower availability: males 15-49, 266,472; 133,648 fit for                    
military service; 9,634 reach military age (20) annually                        
                                                                                
Defense expenditures: $102 million, 3.2% of GDP (1990 est.)                     
                                                                                
