1989 Edition

Climate

tropical; always hot, humid

antarctic

Coastline

1,232 km

Comparative area

slightly less than 1 .5 times the size of Delaware

Contiguous zone

12 nm

Continental shelf

200 meters or to depth of exploration

Disputes

claim in Antarctica (Terre Adelie) not recognized by the US

Environment

subject to violent windstorms

lie Amsterdam and lie Saint-Paul are extinct volcanoes

Extended economic zone

200 nm

Labor force

1 20,000 salaried; 65.0% agriculture, 30.0% industry and commerce, 2.5% services, 2.5% government; 58% of population of working age (1983)

Land boundaries

none

Land use

8% arable land; 4% permanent crops; 4% meadows and pastures; 51% forest and woodland; 33% other

0% arable land; 0% permanent crops; 0% meadows and pastures; 0% forest and woodland; 100% other

Language

French (official), Fang, Myene, Bateke, Bapounou/Eschira, Bandjabi

Literacy

61.6%

Natural resources

timber, crude oil, small unexploited deposits of gold, manganese, uranium

fish, crayfish

Note

insular and continental regions rather widely separated

located in the southern Indian Ocean about equidistant between Africa, Antarctica, and Australia

Organized labor

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

Religion

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

Terrain

coastal plains rise to interior hills; islands are volcanic

volcanic

Territorial sea

1 2 nm

Total area

7,7,81 km2; land ar§a: 7,781 km2; includes lie Amsterdam, He SaintPaul, lies Kerguelen, and lies Crozet; excludes claim not recognized by the US of about 500,000 km2 in Antarctica known as Terre Adelie

Total area

700km Indian Ocean lies Crozet lie Amsterdam lie Saint-Paul' lies Kerguelen See refional map I

Birth rate

43 births/ 1,000 population (1990)

Death rate

16 deaths/ 1,000 population (1990)

Ethnic divisions

indigenous population of Bioko, primarily Bubi, some Fernandinos; Rio Muni, primarily Fang; less than 1,000 Europeans, mostly Spanish

Infant mortality rate

118 deaths/ 1,000 live births (1990)

Labor force

172,000 (1986 est.); 66% agriculture, 23% services, 11% industry (1980); labor shortages on plantations; 58% of population of working age (1985)

Language

Spanish (official), pidgin English, Fang, Bubi, Ibo

Life expectancy at birth

48 years male, 52 years female (1990)

Literacy

40%

Nationality

noun — Equatorial Guinean(s) or Equatoguinean(s); adjective — Equatorial Guinean or Equatoguinean

Net migration rate

0 migrants/ 1 ,000 population (1990)

Organized labor

no formal trade unions

Population

368,935 (July 1990), growth rate 2.6% (1990)

210 (July 1990), growth rate 0.00% (1990); mostly researchers

Religion

natives all nominally Christian and predominantly Roman Catholic; some pagan practices retained

Total fertility rate

5.5 children born/ woman (1990)

Administrative divisions

9 provinces; Estuaire, Haut-Ogooue, Moyen-Ogooue, Ngounie, Nyanga, Ogooue-Ivindo, Ogooue-Lolo, OgooueMaritime, WoleuNtem

Capital

Libreville

Communists

no organized party; probably some Communist sympathizers

Constitution

21 February 1961, revised 15 April 1975

Diplomatic representation

Ambassador Jean Robert ODZAGA; 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, 761337, 721348,740248

Elections

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 1 7 February 1985 (next to be held by February 1992); results— PDG was the only party; seats— (120 total, 111 elected) PDG 111

Executive branch

president, prime minister, Cabinet

Flag

the flag of France is used

three equal horizontal bands of green (top), yellow, and blue

Independence

17 August 1960 (from France)

Judicial branch

Supreme Court (Cour Supreme)

Leaders

Chief of State— President El Hadj Omar BONGO (since 2 December 1967); Head of Government — Prime Minister Leon MEBIAME (since 16 April 1975) Political parties and leaders: only party — Gabonese Social Democratic Rally (RSDG), El Hadj Omar Bongo, president; formerly Gabonese Democratic Party (PDG), which was dissolved in February

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 National Assembly (Assemble Nationale)

Long-form name

Republic of Equatorial

Territory of the French Southern and Antarctic Lands

Gabonese Republic

Member of

ACP, AfDB, CCC, Conference of East and Central African States, EAMA, EIB (associate), FAO, G-77, GATT, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICCO, ICO, IDA, IDB — Islamic Development Bank, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IPU, ITU, NAM, OAU, QIC, OPEC, UDEAC, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO

National holiday

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

Suffrage

universal at age 21

Type

overseas territory of France governed by High Administrator Claude CORBIER (since NA 1988)

republic; one-party presidential regime since 1964

Agriculture

accounts for 8% 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

Aid

US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-88), $64 million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-87), $1.7 billion; Communist countries (1970-88), $27 million

Budget

revenues $927 million; expenditures $1.2 billion, including capital expenditures of $33 million (1988)

Currency

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

Electricity

310,000 kW capacity; 980 million kWh produced, 920 kWh per capita (1989)

Exchange rates

Communaute Financiere Africaine francs (CFAF) per US$1 — 287.99 (January 1990), 319.01 (1989), 297.85 (1988), 300.54 (1987), 346.30 (1986), 449.26(1985)

Exports

$1.14 billion (f.o.b., 1989 est.); commodities — crude oil 70%, manganese 11%, wood 12%, uranium 6%; partners — France 53%, US 22%, FRG, Japan

External debt

$2.0 billion (October 1989)

Fiscal year

calendar year

GDP

$3.2 billion, per capita $3,200; real growth rate 0% (1989)

Imports

$0.76 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 1.7% (1986)

Industries

sawmills, petroleum, food and beverages; mining of increasing importance (especially manganese and uranium)

Inflation rate (consumer prices)

3% (1989)

Overview

Economic activity is limited to servicing meteorological and geophysical research stations and French and other fishing fleets. The fishing catches landed on lies Kerguelen by foreign ships are exported to France and Reunion.

The economy, dependent on timber and manganese until the early 1 970s, is now dominated by the oil sector. During the period 1 98 1 -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 1 980s 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, stabilized in 1989 because of a near doubling of oil prices over their 1988 lows. The agriculturaJ and industrial sectors are relatively underdeveloped, accounting for only 8% and 10%, respectively, of GDP in 1986.

Unemployment rate

NA%

Airports

79 total, 68 usable; 10 with permanent-surface runways; none with runways over 3,659 m; 2 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 21 with runways 1,2202,439 m

Branches

Army, Navy, Air Force, paramilitary Gendarmerie

Civil air

1 1 major transport aircraft

Defense expenditures

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

Highways

7,500 km total; 560 km paved, 960 km laterite, 5,980 km earth

Inland waterways

1 ,600 km perennially navigable

Merchant marine

10 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 217,203 GRT/348,632 DWT; includes 2 cargo, 3 refrigerated cargo, 1 petroleum, oils, and lubricants (POL) tanker, 2 liquefied gas, 2 bulk; note — a subset of the French register

2 cargo ships (1,000 CRT or over) totaling 18,563 CRT/ 25,330 DWT

Military manpower

males 15-49, 266,110; 133,158 fit for military service; 9,282 reach military age (20) annually

Note

defense is the responsibility of

Pipelines

crude oil, 270 km; refined products, 14 km

Ports

none; offshore anchorage only

Owendo, Port-Gentil, Libreville

Railroads

649 km 1.437-meter standardgauge single track (Transgabonese Railroad)

Telecommunications

NA Defense Forces

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 1 2 domestic satellite Defense Forces