255 lines
20 KiB
Plaintext
255 lines
20 KiB
Plaintext
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GABON
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GEOGRAPHY
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Total area: 267,670 km2; land area: 257,670 km2
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Comparative area: slightly smaller than Colorado
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Land boundaries: 2,551 km total; Cameroon 298 km, Congo 1,903 km,
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Equatorial Guinea 350 km
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Coastline: 885 km
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Maritime claims:
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Contiguous zone: 24 nm;
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Exclusive economic zone: 200 nm;
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Territorial sea: 12 nm
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Disputes: maritime boundary dispute with Equatorial Guinea
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because of disputed sovereignty over islands in Corisco Bay
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Climate: tropical; always hot, humid
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Terrain: narrow coastal plain; hilly interior; savanna in east and
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south
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Natural resources: crude oil, manganese, uranium, gold, timber,
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iron ore
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Land use: arable land 1%; permanent crops 1%; meadows and pastures
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18%; forest and woodland 78%; other 2%
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Environment: deforestation
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PEOPLE
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Population: 1,079,980 (July 1991), growth rate 1.4% (1991)
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Birth rate: 28 births/1,000 population (1991)
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Death rate: 14 deaths/1,000 population (1991)
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Net migration rate: 0 migrants/1,000 population (1991)
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Infant mortality rate: 104 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)
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Life expectancy at birth: 51 years male, 56 years female (1991)
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Total fertility rate: 4.0 children born/woman (1991)
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Nationality: noun--Gabonese (sing., pl.); adjective--Gabonese
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Ethnic divisions: about 40 Bantu tribes, including four major
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tribal groupings (Fang, Eshira, Bapounou, Bateke); about 100,000
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expatriate Africans and Europeans, including 27,000 French
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Religion: Christian 55-75%, Muslim less than 1%, remainder animist
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Language: French (official), Fang, Myene, Bateke, Bapounou/Eschira,
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Bandjabi
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Literacy: 61% (male 74%, female 48%) age 15 and over can
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read and write (1990 est.)
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Labor force: 120,000 salaried; agriculture 65.0%, industry and
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commerce 30.0%, services 2.5%, government 2.5%; 58% of population of
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working age (1983)
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Organized labor: there are 38,000 members of the national trade
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union, the Gabonese Trade Union Confederation (COSYGA)
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GOVERNMENT
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Long-form name: Gabonese Republic
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Type: republic; multiparty presidential regime (opposition parties
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legalized 1990)
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Capital: Libreville
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Administrative divisions: 9 provinces; Estuaire, Haut-Ogooue,
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Moyen-Ogooue, Ngounie, Nyanga, Ogooue-Ivindo, Ogooue-Lolo,
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Ogooue-Maritime, Woleu-Ntem
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Independence: 17 August 1960 (from France)
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Constitution: 21 February 1961, revised 15 April 1975
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Legal system: based on French civil law system and customary law;
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judicial review of legislative acts in Constitutional Chamber of the
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Supreme Court; compulsory ICJ jurisdiction not accepted
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National holiday: Renovation Day (Gabonese Democratic Party
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established), 12 March (1968)
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Executive branch: president, prime minister, Cabinet
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Legislative branch: unicameral National Assembly (Assemblee
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Nationale)
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Judicial branch: Supreme Court (Cour Supreme)
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Leaders:
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Chief of State--President El Hadj Omar BONGO (since 2 December
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1967);
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Head of Government--Prime Minister Casimir OYE-MBA (since 3
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May 1990)
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Political parties and leaders: Gabonese Democratic Party (PDG,
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former sole party), El Hadj Omar BONGO, president;
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National Recovery Movement-Lumberjacks (Morena-Bucherons);
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Gabonese Party for Progress (PGP);
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National Recovery Movement (Morena-Original);
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Association for Socialism in Gabon (APSG);
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Gabonese Socialist Union (USG);
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Circle for Renewal and Progress (CRP);
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Union for Democracy and Development (UDD)
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Suffrage: universal at age 21
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Elections:
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President--last held on 9 November 1986 (next to be held
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November 1993);
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results--President Omar BONGO was reelected without opposition;
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National Assembly--last held on 28 October 1990 (next to be
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held by February 1992);
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results--percent of vote NA;
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seats--(120 total, 111 elected) PDG 62, National Recovery
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Movement-Lumberjacks (Morena-Bucherons) 19, PGP 18, National Recovery
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Movement (Morena-Original) 7, ASPG 6, USG 4, CRP 1, independent 3
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Communists: no organized party; probably some Communist
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sympathizers
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Member of: ACCT, ACP, AfDB, BDEAC, CCC, CEEAC, ECA, FAO, FZ, G-24,
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G-77, GATT, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO,
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INMARSAT, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOC, ITU, LORCS (associate), NAM,
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OAU, OIC, OPEC, UDEAC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCL, WHO, WIPO,
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WMO, WTO
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Diplomatic representation: Ambassador-designate Alexandre
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SAMBAT; Chancery at 2034 20th Street NW, Washington DC 20009; telephone
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(202) 797-1000;
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US--Ambassador Keith L. WAUCHOPE; Embassy at Boulevard de la Mer,
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Libreville (mailing address is B. P. 4000, Libreville); telephone 762003
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or 762004, 743492
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Flag: three equal horizontal bands of green (top), yellow, and blue
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ECONOMY
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Overview: The economy, dependent on timber and manganese until
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the early 1970s, is now dominated by the oil sector. During the period
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1981-85 oil accounted for about 46% of GDP, 83% of export earnings, and
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65% of government revenues on average. The high oil prices of the early
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1980s contributed to a substantial increase in per capita income,
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stimulated domestic demand, reinforced migration from rural to urban
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areas, and raised the level of real wages to among the highest in
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Sub-Saharan Africa. The three-year slide of Gabon's economy, which
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began with falling oil prices in 1985, was reversed in 1989 because of a
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near doubling of oil prices over their 1988 lows. In 1990 the economy
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continued to grow, but debt servicing problems are hindering economic
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advancement. The agricultural and industrial sectors are relatively
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underdeveloped, except for oil.
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GDP: $3.3 billion, per capita $3,090; real growth rate 13% (1990
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est.)
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Inflation rate (consumer prices): 3% (1989 est.)
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Unemployment rate: NA%
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Budget: revenues $1.1 billion; expenditures $1.5 billion,
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including capital expenditures of $277 million (1990 est.)
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Exports: $1.16 billion (f.o.b., 1989);
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commodities--crude oil 70%, manganese 11%, wood 12%, uranium 6%;
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partners--France 53%, US 22%, FRG, Japan
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Imports: $0.78 billion (c.i.f., 1989);
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commodities--foodstuffs, chemical products, petroleum products,
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construction materials, manufactures, machinery;
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partners--France 48%, US 2.6%, FRG, Japan, UK
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External debt: $3.4 billion (December 1990 est.)
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Industrial production: growth rate - 10% (1988 est.)
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Electricity: 310,000 kW capacity; 980 million kWh produced,
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920 kWh per capita (1989)
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Industries: petroleum, food and beverages, timber, cement
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plywood, textiles, mining--manganese, uranium, gold)
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Agriculture: accounts for 10% of GDP (including fishing and
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forestry); cash crops--cocoa, coffee, palm oil; livestock not developed;
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importer of food; small fishing operations provide a catch of about
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20,000 metric tons; okoume (a tropical softwood) is the most important
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timber product
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Economic aid: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-89), $66
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million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments
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(1970-88), $1.9 billion; Communist countries (1970-89), $27 million
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Currency: Communaute Financiere Africaine franc
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(plural--francs); 1 CFA franc (CFAF) = 100 centimes
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Exchange rates: Communaute Financiere Africaine francs (CFAF)
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per US$1--253.32 (December 1990), 171.26 (1990), 319.01 (1989), 297.85
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(1988), 300.54 (1987), 346.30 (1986), 449.26 (1985)
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Fiscal year: calendar year
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COMMUNICATIONS
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Railroads: 649 km 1.437-meter standard-gauge single track
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(Transgabonese Railroad)
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Highways: 7,500 km total; 560 km paved, 960 km laterite, 5,980 km
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earth
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Inland waterways: 1,600 km perennially navigable
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Pipelines: crude oil, 270 km; refined products, 14 km
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Ports: Owendo, Port-Gentil, Libreville
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Merchant marine: 2 cargo ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 18,563
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GRT/25,330 DWT
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Civil air: 11 major transport aircraft
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Airports: 73 total, 61 usable; 10 with permanent-surface runways;
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none with runways over 3,659 m; 2 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 22 with
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runways 1,220-2,439 m
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Telecommunications: adequate system of open-wire, radio relay,
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tropospheric scatter links and radiocommunication stations; 13,800
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telephones; stations--6 AM, 6 FM, 8 TV; satellite earth stations--2
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Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT and 12 domestic satellite
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DEFENSE FORCES
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Branches: Army, Navy, Air Force, Presidential Guard, paramilitary
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Gendarmerie, National Police
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Manpower availability: males 15-49, 266,472; 133,648 fit for
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military service; 9,634 reach military age (20) annually
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Defense expenditures: $102 million, 3.2% of GDP (1990 est.)
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