Gabon

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

agricultural land:

18.1%;

• arable land 1.2%;
• permanent crops 0.6%;
• permanent pasture 17.2%

forest:

81%

other:

0% (2011 est.)

total:

0.14 cu km/yr (61%/10%/29%)

per capita:

97.68 cu m/yr (2005)

party to:

Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling

signed, but not ratified:

none of the selected agreements

• a small population and oil and mineral reserves have helped Gabon become one of Africa's wealthier countries;
• in general, these circumstances have allowed the country to maintain and conserve its pristine rain forest and rich biodiversity

noun:

Gabonese (singular and plural)

adjective:

Gabonese

• 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

at birth:

1.03 male(s)/female

0-14 years:

1.01 male(s)/female

15-24 years:

1 male(s)/female

25-54 years:

1 male(s)/female

55-64 years:

0.93 male(s)/female

65 years and over:

0.75 male(s)/female

total population:

0.99 male(s)/female (2015 est.)

degree of risk:

very high

food or waterborne diseases:

bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever

vectorborne disease:

malaria and dengue fever

water contact disease:

schistosomiasis

animal contact disease:

rabies (2013)

conventional long form:

Gabonese Republic

conventional short form:

Gabon

local long form:

Republique Gabonaise

local short form:

Gabon

name:

Libreville

geographic coordinates:

0 23 N, 9 27 E

time difference:

UTC+1 (6 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time)

• previous 1961;
• latest drafted May 1990, adopted 15 March 1991, promulgated 26 March 1991;
• amended several times, last in 2011

birthright citizenship:

no, unless at least one parent is a citizen of Gabon

dual citizenship recognized:

no

residency requirement for naturalization:

10 years

chief of state:

President Ali BONGO Ondimba (since 16 October 2009)

head of government:

Prime Minister Daniel ONA ONDO (since 27 January 2014)

cabinet:

Council of Ministers appointed by the prime minister in consultation with the president

elections/appointments:

• president directly elected by simple majority popular vote for a 7-year term (no term limits);
• election last held on 30 August 2009 (next to be held in 2016);
• prime minister appointed by the president

election results:

• Ali BONGO Ondimba elected president;
• percent of vote - Ali BONGO Ondimba (PDG) 41.7%, Andre MBA OBAME (independent) 25.9%, Pierre MAMBOUNDOU (UPG) 25.2%, Zacharie MYBOTO (UGDD) 3.9%, other 3.3%;
• note

description:

bicameral Parliament or Parlement consists of the Senate or Senat (102 seats; members indirectly elected by municipal councils and departmental assemblies by absolute majority vote in two rounds; members serve 6-year terms) and the National Assembly or Assemblee Nationale (120 seats; members elected in single-seat constituencies by absolute majority vote in two rounds if needed; members serve 5-year terms)

elections:

Senate - last held on 18 January 2009 (next to be held in January 2015); National Assembly - last held on 17 December 2011 (next to be held in December 2016)

election results:

• Senate - percent of vote by party - NA;
• seats by party - PDG 75, RPG 6, UGDD 3, CLR 2, PGCI 2, PSD 2, UPG 2, ADERE 1, independent 9;
• National Assembly - percent of vote by party - NA;
• seats by party - PDG 114, RPG 3, other 3

highest court(s):

Supreme Court (organized into Judicial, Administrative, and Accounts chambers and consists of NA judges); Constitutional Court (consists of 9 judges)

judge selection and term of office:

• Supreme Court judges appointment and tenure NA;
• Constitutional Court judges appointed - 3 by the national president, 3 by the president of the Senate, and 3 by the president of the National Assembly;
• judges serve 7-year, single renewable terms

subordinate courts:

• Courts of Appeal;
• Court of State Security;
• county courts;
• military courts

• Circle of Liberal Reformers or CLR [General Jean-Boniface ASSELE]
• Democratic and Republican Alliance or ADERE [DIDJOB Divungui di Ndinge]
• Gabonese Democratic Party or PDG [Ali BONGO Ondimba]
• Independent Center Party of Gabon or PGCI [Luccheri GAHILA]
• National Rally of Woodcutters-Democratic or RNB-D [Pierre Andre KOMBILA]
• Social Democratic Party or PSD [Pierre Claver MAGANGA-MOUSSAVOU]
• Union for the New Republic or UPRN [Louis Gaston MAYILA]
• Union of Gabonese People or UPG [Richard MOULOMBA]

chief of mission:

Ambassador Baudelaire Ndong ELLA (since 31 July 2015)

chancery:

2034 20th Street NW, Suite 200, Washington, DC 20009

telephone:

[1] (202) 797-1000

FAX:

[1] (301) 332-0668

consulate(s):

New York

chief of mission:

Ambassador Cythia Akuetteh (since 13 August 2014); note - also accredited to Sao Tome and Principe

embassy:

Boulevard du Bord de Mer, Libreville

mailing address:

Centre Ville, B. P. 4000, Libreville; pouch: 2270 Libreville Place, Washington, DC 20521-2270

telephone:

[241] 01-45-71-00, after hours - 07380171

FAX:

[241] 74 55 07

• three equal horizontal bands of green (top), yellow, and blue;
• green represents the country's forests and natural resources, gold represents the equator (which transects Gabon) as well as the sun, blue represents the sea

name:

"La Concorde" (The Concorde)

lyrics/music:

Georges Aleka DAMAS

note: adopted 1960

• cocoa, coffee, sugar, palm oil, rubber;
• cattle;
• okoume (a tropical softwood);
• fish

• petroleum extraction and refining;
• manganese, gold;
• chemicals, ship repair, food and beverages, textiles, lumbering and plywood, cement

agriculture:

60%

industry:

15%

services:

25% (2000 est.)

lowest 10%:

2.5%

highest 10%:

32.7% (2005)

general assessment:

adequate system of cable, microwave radio relay, tropospheric scatter, radiotelephone communication stations, and a domestic satellite system with 12 earth stations

domestic:

a growing mobile cellular network with multiple providers is making telephone service more widely available with mobile cellular teledensity exceeding 100 per 100 persons

international:

• country code - 241;
• landing point for the SAT-3/WASC fiber-optic submarine cable that provides connectivity to Europe and Asia;
• satellite earth stations - 3 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) (2011)

• state owns and operates 2 TV stations and 2 radio broadcast stations;
• a few private radio and TV stations;
• transmissions of at least 2 international broadcasters are accessible;
• satellite service subscriptions are available (2007)

total:

649 km

standard gauge:

649 km 1.435-m gauge (2014)

country comparison to the world: 106

total:

9,170 km

paved:

1,097 km

unpaved:

8,073 km (2007)

country comparison to the world: 139

major seaport(s):

Libreville, Owendo, Port-Gentil

oil terminal(s):

Gamba, Lucina

males age 16-49:

350,640

females age 16-49:

351,718 (2010 est.)

males age 16-49:

202,404

females age 16-49:

195,389 (2010 est.)

male:

17,638

female:

17,614 (2010 est.)