1994 Edition
CIA World Factbook 1994 (Project Gutenberg)
Introduction
Administrative divisions
9 provinces; Estuaire, Haut-Ogooue, Moyen-Ogooue, Ngounie, Nyanga, Ogooue-Ivindo, Ogooue-Lolo, Ogooue-Maritime, Woleu-Ntem
Agriculture
accounts for 9% 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
Airports
total: 70 usable: 59 with permanent-surface runways: 10 with runways over 3,659 m: with runways 2,440-3,659 m: 2 with runways 1,220-2,439 m: 22
Area
total area: 267,670 sq km land area: 257,670 sq km comparative area: slightly smaller than Colorado
Birth rate
28.46 births/1,000 population (1994 est.)
Branches
Army, Navy, Air Force, Presidential Guard, National Gendarmerie, National Police
Budget
revenues: $1.3 billion expenditures: $1.5 billion, including capital expenditures of $272 million (1992 est.)
Capital
Libreville
Climate
tropical; always hot, humid
Coastline
885 km
Constitution
adopted 14 March 1991
Currency
1 CFA franc (CFAF) = 100 centimes
Death rate
13.9 deaths/1,000 population (1994 est.)
Defense expenditures
exchange rate conversion - $102 million, 3.2% of GDP (1990 est.)
Digraph
GB
Diplomatic representation in US
chief of mission: Ambassador Paul BOUNDOUKOU-LATHA chancery: 2034 20th Street NW, Washington, DC 20009 telephone: (202) 797-1000
Economic aid
recipient: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-90), $68 million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-90), $2.342 billion; Communist countries (1970-89), $27 million
Electricity
capacity: 315,000 kW production: 995 million kWh consumption per capita: 920 kWh (1991)
Environment
current issues: deforestation; poaching natural hazards: NA international agreements: party to - Endangered Species, Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber, Wetlands; signed, but not ratified - Biodiversity, Climate Change, Law of the Sea
Ethnic divisions
Bantu tribes including four major tribal groupings (Fang, Eshira, Bapounou, Bateke), Africans and Europeans 100,000, including 27,000 French
Exchange rates
Communaute Financiere Africaine francs (CFAF) per US$1 - 592.05 (January 1994), 283.16 (1993), 264.69 (1992), 282.11 (1991), 272.26 (1990), 319.01 (1989) note: beginning 12 January 1994, the CFA franc was devalued to CFAF 100 per French franc from CFAF 50 at which it had been fixed since 1948
Executive branch
chief of state: President El Hadj Omar BONGO (since 2 December 1967); election last held on 5 December 1993 (next to be held NA 1998); results - President Omar BONGO was reelected with 51% of the vote head of government: Prime Minister Casimir OYE-MBA (since 3 May 1990) cabinet: Council of Ministers; appointed by the prime minister in consultation with the president
Exports
$2.3 billion (f.o.b., 1992 est) commodities: crude oil 80%, timber 9%, manganese 7%, uranium 2% partners: France 48%, US 15%, Germany 2%, Japan 2%
External debt
$4.4 billion (1991)
FAX
[241] 745-507
Fiscal year
calendar year
Flag
three equal horizontal bands of green (top), yellow, and blue
Highways
total: 7,500 km paved: 560 km unpaved: crushed stone 960 km; earth 5,980 km
Imports
$702 million (c.i.f., 1992 est.) commodities: foodstuffs, chemical products, petroleum products, construction materials, manufactures, machinery partners: France 64%, African countries 7%, US 5%, Japan 3%
Independence
17 August 1960 (from France)
Industrial production
growth rate -10% (1988 est.); accounts for 8% of GDP, including petroleum
Industries
petroleum, food and beverages, lumbering and plywood, textiles, mining - manganese, uranium, gold, cement
Infant mortality rate
94.8 deaths/1,000 live births (1994 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices)
0.7% (1991 est.)
Inland waterways
1,600 km perennially navigable
International disputes
maritime boundary dispute with Equatorial Guinea because of disputed sovereignty over islands in Corisco Bay
Irrigated land
NA sq km
Judicial branch
Supreme Court (Cour Supreme)
Labor force
120,000 salaried by occupation: agriculture 65.0%, industry and commerce 30.0%, services 2.5%, government 2.5% note: 58% of population of working age (1983)
Land boundaries
total 2,551 km, Cameroon 298 km, Congo 1,903 km, Equatorial Guinea 350 km
Land use
arable land: 1% permanent crops: 1% meadows and pastures: 18% forest and woodland: 78% other: 2%
Languages
French (official), Fang, Myene, Bateke, Bapounou/Eschira, Bandjabi
Legal system
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
unicameral
Life expectancy at birth
total population: 54.67 years male: 51.88 years female: 57.53 years (1994 est.)
Literacy
age 15 and over can read and write (1990 est.) total population: 61% male: 74% female: 48%
Location
Western Africa, bordering the Atlantic Ocean at the Equator between the Congo and Equatorial Guinea
Manpower availability
males age 15-49 270,501; fit for military service 136,995; reach military age (20) annually 10,107 (1994 est.)
Map references
Africa, Standard Time Zones of the World
Maritime claims
contiguous zone: 24 nm exclusive economic zone: 200 nm territorial sea: 12 nm
Member of
ACCT, ACP, AfDB, BDEAC, CCC, CEEAC, ECA, FAO, FZ, G-24, G-77, GATT, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, 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
Merchant marine
2 cargo ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 18,562 GRT/25,330 DWT
Names
conventional long form: Gabonese Republic conventional short form: Gabon local long form: Republique Gabonaise local short form: Gabon
National Assembly (Assemblee Nationale)
elections last held on 21 and 28 October and 4 November 1990 (next to be held by NA); results - percent of vote by party NA; seats - (120 total) PDG 62, Morena-Bucherons/RNB 19, PGP 18, National Recovery Movement (Morena-Original) 7, APSG 6, USG 4, CRP 1, independents 3
National holiday
Renovation Day, 12 March (1968) (Gabonese Democratic Party established)
National product
GDP - purchasing power equivalent - $5.4 billion (1993 est.)
National product per capita
$4,800 (1993 est.)
National product real growth rate
0.5% (1992 est.)
Nationality
noun: Gabonese (singular and plural) adjective: Gabonese
Natural resources
petroleum, manganese, uranium, gold, timber, iron ore
Net migration rate
0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1994 est.)
Overview
Notwithstanding its serious ongoing economic problems, Gabon enjoys a per capita income more than twice that of most nations of sub-Saharan Africa. Gabon depended on timber and manganese until oil was discovered offshore in the early 1970s. The oil sector now accounts for 50% of GNP. Real growth was feeble in 1992 and Gabon continues to face weak prices for its timber, manganese, and uranium exports. Despite an abundance of natural wealth, and a manageable rate of population growth, the economy is hobbled by poor fiscal management. In 1992, the fiscal deficit widened to 2.4% of GDP, and Gabon failed to settled arrears on its bilateral debt, leading to a cancellation of rescheduling agreements with official and private creditors. Devaluation of the local currency by 50% in January 1994 could set off an inflationary spiral if the government fails to reign in spending and grants large wage increases to an already overpaid public sector workforce.
Pipelines
crude oil 270 km; petroleum products 14 km
Political parties and leaders
Gabonese Democratic Party (PDG, former sole party), Jaques ADIAHENOT, Secretary General; National Recovery Movement - Lumberjacks (Morena-Bucherons/RNB), Fr. Paul M'BA-ABESSOLE, leader; Gabonese Party for Progress (PGP), Pierre-Louis AGONDHO-OKAWE, President; National Recovery Movement (Morena-Original), Pierre ZONGUE-NGUEMA, Chairman; Association for Socialism in Gabon (APSG), leader NA; Gabonese Socialist Union (USG), leader NA; Circle for Renewal and Progress (CRP), leader NA; Union for Democracy and Development (UDD), leader NA; Rally of Democrats (RD), leader NA; Forces of Change for Democratic Union, leader NA
Population
1,139,006 (July 1994 est.)
Population growth rate
1.46% (1994 est.)
Ports
Owendo, Port-Gentil, Libreville
Railroads
649 km 1.437-meter standard-gauge single track (Transgabonese Railroad)
Religions
Christian 55-75%, Muslim less than 1%, animist
Suffrage
21 years of age; universal
Telecommunications
adequate system of cable, radio relay, tropospheric scatter links and radiocommunication stations; 15,000 telephones; broadcast stations - 6 AM, 6 FM, 3 (5 repeaters) TV; satellite earth stations - 3 Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT and 12 domestic satellite
Terrain
narrow coastal plain; hilly interior; savanna in east and south
Total fertility rate
3.97 children born/woman (1994 est.)
Type
republic; multiparty presidential regime (opposition parties legalized 1990)
Unemployment rate
NA%
US diplomatic representation
chief of mission: Ambassador Joseph C. WILSON IV embassy: Boulevard de la Mer, Libreville mailing address: B. P. 4000, Libreville telephone: (241) 762003/4, or 743492