Airports [time series]

79 total, 68 usable; 10 with permanent-surface runways; none with runways over 3,659 m; 2 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 21 with runways 1,220-2,439 m

Civil air [time series]

11 major transport aircraft

Roadways (Highways) [time series]

7,500 km total; 560 km paved, 960 km laterite, 5,980 km earth

Waterways (Inland waterways) [time series]

1,600 km perennially navigable

Merchant marine [time series]

2 cargo ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 18,563 GRT/25,330 DWT

Pipelines [time series]

crude oil, 270 km; refined products, 14 km

Ports [time series]

Owendo, Port-Gentil, Libreville

Railways (Railroads) [time series]

649 km 1.437-meter standard-gauge single track (Transgabonese Railroad)

Telecommunication systems (Telecommunications) [time series]

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

Military and security forces (Branches) [time series]

Army, Navy, Air Force, paramilitary Gendarmerie

Military expenditures (Defense expenditures) [time series]

3.2% of GDP, or $102 million (1990 est.)

Military manpower [time series]

males 15-49, 266,110; 133,158 fit for military service; 9,282 reach military age (20) annually

Agricultural products (Agriculture) [time series]

accounts for 8% 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

Aid [time series]

US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-88), $64 million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-87), $1.7 billion; Communist countries (1970-88), $27 million

Budget [time series]

revenues $927 million; expenditures $1.2 billion, including capital expenditures of $33 million (1988)

Exchange rates (Currency) [time series]

Communaute Financiere Africaine franc (plural--francs); 1 CFA franc (CFAF) = 100 centimes

Electricity [time series]

310,000 kW capacity; 980 million kWh produced, 920 kWh per capita (1989)

Exchange rates [time series]

Communaute Financiere Africaine francs (CFAF) per US$1--287.99 (January 1990), 319.01 (1989), 297.85 (1988), 300.54 (1987), 346.30 (1986), 449.26 (1985)

Exports [time series]

$1.14 billion (f.o.b., 1989 est.); commodities--crude oil 70%, manganese 11%, wood 12%, uranium 6%; partners--France 53%, US 22%, FRG, Japan

Debt - external (External debt) [time series]

$2.0 billion (October 1989)

Fiscal year [time series]

calendar year

Real GDP (purchasing power parity) (GDP) [time series]

$3.2 billion, per capita $3,200; real growth rate 0% (1989)

Imports [time series]

$0.76 billion (c.i.f., 1989); commodities--foodstuffs, chemical products, petroleum products, construction materials, manufactures, machinery; partners--France 48%, US 2.6%, FRG, Japan, UK

Industrial production growth rate (Industrial production) [time series]

growth rate 1.7% (1986)

Industries [time series]

sawmills, petroleum, food and beverages; mining of increasing importance (especially manganese and uranium)

Inflation rate (consumer prices) [time series]

3% (1989)

Economic overview (Overview) [time series]

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, stabilized in 1989 because of a near doubling of oil prices over their 1988 lows. The agricultural and industrial sectors are relatively underdeveloped, accounting for only 8% and 10%, respectively, of GDP in 1986.

Unemployment rate [time series]

NA%

Climate [time series]

tropical; always hot, humid

Coastline [time series]

885 km

Area - comparative (Comparative area) [time series]

slightly smaller than Colorado

Contiguous zone [time series]

24 nm;

Disputes - international (Disputes) [time series]

maritime boundary with Equatorial Guinea

Environment - current issues (Environment) [time series]

deforestation

Exclusive fishing zone [time series]

200 nm;

Land boundaries [time series]

2,551 km total; Cameroon 298 km, Congo 1,903 km, Equatorial Guinea 350 km

Land use [time series]

1% arable land; 1% permanent crops; 18% meadows and pastures; 78% forest and woodland; 2% other

Natural resources [time series]

crude oil, manganese, uranium, gold, timber, iron ore

Terrain [time series]

narrow coastal plain; hilly interior; savanna in east and south

Maritime claims (Territorial sea) [time series]

12 nm

Area (Total area) [time series]

267,670 km2; land area: 257,670 km2

Administrative divisions [time series]

9 provinces; Estuaire, Haut-Ogooue, Moyen-Ogooue, Ngounie, Nyanga, Ogooue-Ivindo, Ogooue-Lolo, Ogooue-Maritime, Woleu-Ntem

Capital [time series]

Libreville

Political parties (Communists) [time series]

no organized party; probably some Communist sympathizers

Constitution [time series]

21 February 1961, revised 15 April 1975

Diplomatic representation in the US (Diplomatic representation) [time series]

Ambassador Jean Robert ODZAGA; 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, 761337, 721348, 740248

Executive branch [time series]

president, prime minister, Cabinet

Flag [time series]

three equal horizontal bands of green (top), yellow, and blue

Independence [time series]

17 August 1960 (from France)

Judicial branch [time series]

Supreme Court (Cour Supreme) Chief of State--President El Hadj Omar BONGO (since 2 December 1967); Head of Government--Prime Minister Leon MEBIAME (since 16 April 1975)

Legal system [time series]

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

Legislative branch [time series]

unicameral National Assembly (Assemble Nationale)

Country name (Long-form name) [time series]

Gabonese Republic

International organization participation (Member of) [time series]

ACP, AfDB, CCC, Conference of East and Central African States, EAMA, EIB (associate), FAO, G-77, GATT, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICCO, ICO, IDA, IDB--Islamic Development Bank, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IPU, ITU, NAM, OAU, OIC, OPEC, UDEAC, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO

National holiday [time series]

Renovation Day (Gabonese Democratic Party established), 12 March (1968)

Political parties (Political parties and leaders) [time series]

only party--Gabonese Social Democratic Rally (RSDG), El Hadj Omar Bongo, president; formerly Gabonese Democratic Party (PDG), which was dissolved in February 1990

Suffrage [time series]

universal at age 21 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 17 February 1985 (next to be held by February 1992); results--PDG was the only party; seats--(120 total, 111 elected) PDG 111

Government type (Type) [time series]

republic; one-party presidential regime since 1964

Birth rate [time series]

28 births/1,000 population (1990)

Death rate [time series]

15 deaths/1,000 population (1990)

Ethnic groups (Ethnic divisions) [time series]

about 40 Bantu tribes, including four major tribal groupings (Fang, Eshira, Bapounou, Bateke); about 100,000 expatriate Africans and Europeans, including 27,000 French

Infant mortality rate [time series]

106 deaths/1,000 live births (1990)

Labor force [time series]

120,000 salaried; 65.0% agriculture, 30.0% industry and commerce, 2.5% services, 2.5% government; 58% of population of working age (1983)

Languages (Language) [time series]

French (official), Fang, Myene, Bateke, Bapounou/Eschira, Bandjabi

Life expectancy at birth [time series]

50 years male, 56 years female (1990)

Literacy [time series]

61.6%

Nationality [time series]

noun--Gabonese (sing., pl.); adjective--Gabonese

Net migration rate [time series]

- 6 migrants/1,000 population (1990)

Organized labor [time series]

there are 38,000 members of the national trade union, the Gabonese Trade Union Confederation (COSYGA)

Population [time series]

1,068,240 (July 1990), growth rate 0.8% (1990)

Religions (Religion) [time series]

55-75% Christian, less than 1% Muslim, remainder animist

Total fertility rate [time series]

4.0 children born/woman (1990)