1981 Edition

Area

264,180 kmz; 75% forested, 15% savanna, 9% urban and wasteland, less than 1% cultivated

10,360 km2; 25% uncultivated savanna, 16% swamps, 4% forest parks, 55% upland cultivable areas, built-up areas, and other

Budget

(1979) revenues $1.1 billion, current expenditures $605 million, development expenditures $344 million

Coastline

885 km

80 km

Fiscal year

calendar year

Land boundaries

2,422 km

740 km

Limits of territorial waters (claimed)

100 nm; fishing, 150 nm

50 nm

Monetary conversion rate

212.7 Communaute Financiere Africaine francs=US$l (1979)

Ethnic divisions

about 40 Bantu tribes, including 4 major tribal groupings (Fang, Eshira, Mbede, Okande); about 100,000 expatriate Africans and Europeans, including 20,000 French

over 99% Africans (Mandinka 40.8%, Fulani 13.5%, Wolof 12.9%, remainder made up of several smaller groups), fewer than 1% Europeans and Lebanese

Labor force

about 280,000 of whom 98,000 are wage earners in the modern sector (late 1979)

approx. 165,000, mostly engaged in subsistence farming; about 15,000 are wage earners (government, trade, services)

Language

French official language and medium of instruction in schools; Fang is a major vernacular language

English official; Mandinka and Wolof most widely used vernaculars

Literacy

government claims more than 80% of school age children in school, but literacy rate is substantially below this figure— 20%

about 10%

Nationality

noun — Gabonese (sing., pi.); adjective — Gabonese

noun — Gambian(s); adjective — Gambian

Organized labor

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

25% to 30% of wage labor force at most

Population

662,000 (July 1982), average annual growth rate 1.3%

635,000 (July 1982), average annual growth rate 2.8%

Religion

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

85% Muslim, 15% animist and Christian

Branches

power centralized in President, elected by universal suffrage for seven-year term; unicameral 93-member National Assembly (including nine members chosen by Omar Bongo) has limited powers; constitution amended in 1979 so that Assembly deputies will serve five-year terms; independent judiciary

Cabinet of 10 members; 44-member House of Representatives, in which four seats are reserved for chiefs, four are appointed, 35 are filled by election for five-year terms, a Speaker is elected by the House, and the Attorney General is an appointed member; independent judiciary

Capital

Libreville

Banjul

Communists

no organized party; probably some Communist sympathizers

small underground group

Elections

Presidential election last held December 1979, next presidential election scheduled for 1986; parliamentary election last held February 1980, next election scheduled for 1985; constitutional change separates dates for presidential and parliamentary elections Political parties and leaders: Gabonese Democratic Party (PDG) led by President Bongo is only legal party

general elections held April 1977; PPP 31 seats, NCP 4 seats; next general elections scheduled for 1982

Government leader

President El Hadj Omar BONGO

Sir Alhaji Dawda Kairaba JAWARA, President Political parties and leaders: People's Progressive Party (PPP), Secretary General Dawda K. Jawara; United Party (UP), Pierre N'Jie; and National Convention Party (NCP), Sherrif Dibba (Dibba is to be tried for treason because of his complicity in the August 1980 coup attempt; the NCP may be disbanded)

Legal system

based on French civil law system and customary law; constitution adopted 1961; judicial review of legislative acts in Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court; legal education at Center of Higher and Legal Studies at Libreville; compulsory ICJ jurisdiction not accepted

based on English common law and customary law; constitution came into force upon independence in 1965, new republican constitution adopted in April 1970; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations

Member of

AFDB, Conference of East and Central African States, BDECA (Central African Development Bank), EAMA, EIB (associate), FAO, G-77, GATT, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICCO, ICO, IDA, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMCO, IMF, IPU, ISCON, ITU, NAM, OAB (African Wood Organization), OAU, OPEC, UDEAC, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO

AFBD, APC, Commonwealth, ECA, ECOWAS, FAO, G-77, GATT, IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IFAD, IMCO, IMF, ITU, NAM, OAU, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WHO, WMD, WTO

National holiday

12 March, 17 August

18 February

Official name

Gabonese Republic

Republic of The Gambia

Political subdivisions

nine provinces subdivided into 36 prefectures

Banjul and five divisions THE GAMBIA (Continued)

Suffrage

universal over age 18

universal adult

Type

republic; one-party presidential regime since 1964

republic; independent since February 1965 (The Gambia and Senegal in early 1982 formed a loose confederation named Senegambia, which calls for the integration of their armed forces, economies and monetary systems, and foreign policies)

Agriculture

commercial — cocoa, coffee, wood, palm oil, rice; main food crops — bananas, manioc, peanuts, root crops; imports food

main crops — peanuts, millet, sorghum, rice, palm kernels

Aid

economic commitments — Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF (1970-79), $91.0 million; Communist countries (1974-79), $17 million; OPEC, ODA (1974-79), $36.0 million; US (FY70-79), $18.2 million

Budget

(1980-81) revenues $51.5 million, current expenditures $49.4 million, development expenditures $35.8 million

Electric power

175,400 kW capacity (1980); 564 million kWh produced (1980), 869 kWh per capita

10,000 kW capacity (1980); 35 million kWh produced (1980), 57 kWh per capita

Exports

$1,770 million (f.o.b., 1979); crude petroleum, wood and wood products, minerals (manganese, uranium concentrates, gold), coffee

$27.4 million (1980); peanuts and peanut products, fish, and palm kernels

Fiscal year

1 July-30 June

Fishing

catch 10,000 metric tons (excluding shellfish) (1978)

catch 17,446 metric tons (1979); exports $956,000 (1974)

GDP

$3.8 billion (1980), $6,333 per capita; 7.1% annual growth rate (1971-81)

GNP

$200 million (1980), about $333 per capita; real growth rate 2.8% (1980)

Imports

$615 million (f.o.b., 1979); excluding UDEAC trade; mining, roadbuilding machinery, electrical equipment, transport vehicles, foodstuffs, textiles

$141.2 million (1980); textiles, foodstuffs, tobacco, machinery, petroleum products

Major industries

petroleum production, sawmills, petroleum refinery; mining of increasing importance; major minerals — manganese, uranium, iron (not produced)

Major industry

peanut processing

Major trade partners

France, US, West Germany, and

exports — mainly EEC; imports — EEC

Monetary conversion rate

1 Dalasi=US$0.716 (1981)

Airfields

121 total, 98 usable; 6 with permanent-surface runways; 2 with runways 2,440-3,659 m, 22 with runways 1,220-2,439 m

1 usable with permanent-surface runways 2,440-3,659 m

Civil air

20 major transport aircraft

no major transport aircraft

Highways

6,947 km total; 459 km paved, 5,517 km gravel and improved and 971 km unimproved

3,083 km total; 431 km paved, 501 km gravel/laterite, and 2,151 km unimproved earth

Inland waterways

approximately 1,600 km perennially navigable

400 km

Military budget

for fiscal year ending 31 December 1981, $49.5 million; 3.1% of central government budget

for fiscal year ending 30 June 1981, $2.4 million; 6.2% of central government budget; includes fire and police expenditures

Military manpower

males 15-49, 158,000; 81,000 fit for military service; 5,000 reach military age (20) annually

males 15-49, 141,000; 71,000 fit for military service

Pipelines

crude oil, 270 km

Ports

2 major (Owendo and Port-Gentil), 3 minor

1 major (Banjul)

Railroads

970 km standard gauge (1.437 m) under construction; 180 km are completed

none

Telecommunications

adequate system of open-wire, radio-relay, tropospheric scatter links and radiocommunication stations; 1 Atlantic Ocean satellite station; 7 AM, 2 FM, and 8 TV stations; 11,600 telephones (1.2 per 100 popl.) DEFENSE FORCES

adequate network of radio relay and wire; 3,500 telephones (0.5 per 100 popl.); 2 AM and no FM stations; no TV stations; 1 Atlantic Ocean satellite station DEFENSE FORCES