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Communications

Airports [time series]

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

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

Defense Forces

Military and security forces (Branches) [time series]

Army, Navy, Air Force, Presidential Guard, paramilitary Gendarmerie, National Police

Military expenditures (Defense expenditures) [time series]

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

Manpower availability [time series]

males 15-49, 266,472; 133,648 fit for military service; 9,634 reach military age (20) annually

Economy

Agricultural products (Agriculture) [time series]

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

Budget [time series]

revenues $1.1 billion; expenditures $1.5 billion, including capital expenditures of $277 million (1990 est.)

Exchange rates (Currency) [time series]

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

Economic aid [time series]

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

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--253.32 (December 1990), 171.26 (1990), 319.01 (1989), 297.85 (1988), 300.54 (1987), 346.30 (1986), 449.26 (1985)

Exports [time series]

$1.16 billion (f.o.b., 1989); commodities--crude oil 70%, manganese 11%, wood 12%, uranium 6%; partners--France 53%, US 22%, FRG, Japan

Debt - external (External debt) [time series]

$3.4 billion (December 1990 est.)

Fiscal year [time series]

calendar year

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

$3.3 billion, per capita $3,090; real growth rate 13% (1990 est.)

Imports [time series]

$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

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

growth rate - 10% (1988 est.)

Industries [time series]

petroleum, food and beverages, timber, cement plywood, textiles, mining--manganese, uranium, gold)

Inflation rate (consumer prices) [time series]

3% (1989 est.)

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, 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.

Unemployment rate [time series]

NA%

Geography

Climate [time series]

tropical; always hot, humid

Coastline [time series]

885 km Contiguous zone: 24 nm; Exclusive economic zone: 200 nm; Territorial sea: 12 nm

Area - comparative (Comparative area) [time series]

slightly smaller than Colorado

Disputes - international (Disputes) [time series]

maritime boundary dispute with Equatorial Guinea because of disputed sovereignty over islands in Corisco Bay

Environment - current issues (Environment) [time series]

deforestation

Land boundaries [time series]

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

Land use [time series]

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

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

Area (Total area) [time series]

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

Government

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-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

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 Casimir OYE-MBA (since 3 May 1990)

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 (Assemblee Nationale)

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

Gabonese Republic

International organization participation (Member of) [time series]

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

National holiday [time series]

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

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

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 [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 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

Government type (Type) [time series]

republic; multiparty presidential regime (opposition parties legalized 1990)

People

Birth rate [time series]

28 births/1,000 population (1991)

Death rate [time series]

14 deaths/1,000 population (1991)

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]

104 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)

Labor force [time series]

120,000 salaried; agriculture 65.0%, industry and commerce 30.0%, services 2.5%, government 2.5%; 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]

51 years male, 56 years female (1991)

Literacy [time series]

61% (male 74%, female 48%) age 15 and over can read and write (1990 est.)

Nationality [time series]

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

Net migration rate [time series]

0 migrants/1,000 population (1991)

Organized labor [time series]

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

Population [time series]

1,079,980 (July 1991), growth rate 1.4% (1991)

Religions (Religion) [time series]

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

Total fertility rate [time series]

4.0 children born/woman (1991)