"text":"El Hadj Omar BONGO Ondimba - one of the longest-serving heads of state in the world - dominated the country's political scene for four decades (1967-2009) following independence from France in 1960. President BONGO introduced a nominal multiparty system and a new constitution in the early 1990s. However, allegations of electoral fraud during local elections in December 2002 and the presidential election in 2005 exposed the weaknesses of formal political structures in Gabon. Following President BONGO's death in 2009, a new election brought Ali BONGO Ondimba, son of the former president, to power. Despite constrained political conditions, Gabon's small population, abundant natural resources, and considerable foreign support have helped make it one of the more stable African countries."
}
},
"Geography":{
"Location":{
"text":"Central Africa, bordering the Atlantic Ocean at the Equator, between Republic of the Congo and Equatorial Guinea"
"text":"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":{
"text":"none of the selected agreements"
}
},
"Geography - note":{
"text":"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"
}
},
"People and Society":{
"Nationality":{
"noun":{
"text":"Gabonese (singular and plural)"
},
"adjective":{
"text":"Gabonese"
}
},
"Ethnic groups":{
"text":"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"
"text":"Christian 55%-75%, animist, Muslim less than 1%"
},
"Population":{
"text":"1,705,336",
"note":{
"text":"estimates for this country explicitly take into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality, higher death rates, lower population growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (July 2015 est.)"
"text":"President Ali BONGO Ondimba (since 16 October 2009)"
},
"head of government":{
"text":"Prime Minister Daniel ONA ONDO (since 27 January 2014)"
},
"cabinet":{
"text":"Council of Ministers appointed by the prime minister in consultation with the president"
},
"elections/appointments":{
"text":"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":{
"text":"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"
}
},
"Legislative branch":{
"description":{
"text":"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":{
"text":"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":{
"text":"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"
}
},
"Judicial branch":{
"highest court(s)":{
"text":"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":{
"text":"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":{
"text":"Courts of Appeal; Court of State Security; county courts; military courts"
}
},
"Political parties and leaders":{
"text":"Alliance for National Rebirth or ARENA [Richard MOULOMBA] ++ Circle of Liberal Reformers or CLR [General Jean Boniface ASSELE] ++ Congress for Democracy and Justice or CDJ [Jules Aristide Bourdes OGOULIGUENDE] ++ Democratic and Republican Alliance or ADERE [Divungui-di-Ndinge DIDJOB] ++ Gabonese Democratic Party or PDG [Ali BONGO Ondimba] ++ Gabonese Party for Progress or PGP [Benoit Mouity NZAMBA] ++ Gabonese Union for Democracy and Development or UGDD [Zacharie MYBOTO] ++ Independent Center Party of Gabon or PGCI [Luccheri GAHILA] ++ National Rally of Woodcutters-Democratic or RNB-D [Pierre Andre KOMBILA] ++ National Rally of Woodcutters-Rally for Gabon or RNB-RPG (Bucherons) [Fr. Paul M'BA-ABESSOLE] ++ Party of Development and Social Solidarity or PDS [Seraphin Ndoat REMBOGO] ++ Social Democratic Party or PSD [Pierre Claver MAGANGA-MOUSSAVOU] ++ Union for Democracy and Social Integration or UDIS ++ Union for the New Republic or UPRN [Louis Gaston MAYILA] ++ Union of Gabonese People or UPG [Mathieu Mboumba NZIENGUI - until the next Congress]"
"text":"Ambassador Baudelaire Ndong ELLA (since 31 July 2015)"
},
"chancery":{
"text":"2034 20th Street NW, Suite 200, Washington, DC 20009"
},
"telephone":{
"text":"[1] (202) 797-1000"
},
"FAX":{
"text":"[1] (301) 332-0668"
},
"consulate(s)":{
"text":"New York"
}
},
"Diplomatic representation from the US":{
"chief of mission":{
"text":"Ambassador Cythia Akuetteh (since 13 August 2014); note - also accredited to Sao Tome and Principe"
},
"embassy":{
"text":"Boulevard du Bord de Mer, Libreville"
},
"mailing address":{
"text":"Centre Ville, B. P. 4000, Libreville; pouch: 2270 Libreville Place, Washington, DC 20521-2270"
},
"telephone":{
"text":"[241] 01-45-71-00, after hours - 07380171"
},
"FAX":{
"text":"[241] 74 55 07"
}
},
"Flag description":{
"text":"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"
},
"National symbol(s)":{
"text":"black panther; national colors: green, yellow, blue"
},
"National anthem":{
"name":{
"text":"\"La Concorde\" (The Concorde)"
},
"lyrics/music":{
"text":"Georges Aleka DAMAS"
},
"note":{
"text":"adopted 1960"
}
}
},
"Economy":{
"Economy - overview":{
"text":"Gabon enjoys a per capita income four times that of most sub-Saharan African nations, but because of high income inequality, a large proportion of the population remains poor. Gabon depended on timber and manganese until oil was discovered offshore in the early 1970s. The economy was reliant on oil for about 50% of its GDP, about 70% of revenues, and 87% of goods exports for 2010, although some fields have passed their peak production. A rebound of oil prices from 1999 to 2013 helped growth, but declining production has hampered Gabon from fully realizing potential gains. Gabon signed a 14-month Stand-By Arrangement with the IMF in May 2007, and later that year issued a $1 billion sovereign bond to buy back a sizable portion of its Paris Club debt. Gabon continues to face fluctuating prices for its oil, timber, and manganese exports. Despite the abundance of natural wealth, poor fiscal management has stifled the economy. However, President BONGO has made efforts to increase transparency and is taking steps to make Gabon a more attractive investment destination to diversify the economy. BONGO has attempted to boost growth by increasing government investment in human resources and infrastructure. GDP grew nearly 6% per year over the 2010-14 period."
"Carbon dioxide emissions from consumption of energy":{
"text":"5.437 million Mt (2012 est.)"
}
},
"Communications":{
"Telephones - fixed lines":{
"total subscriptions":{
"text":"17,200"
},
"subscriptions per 100 inhabitants":{
"text":"1 (2014 est.)"
}
},
"Telephones - mobile cellular":{
"total":{
"text":"3.6 million"
},
"subscriptions per 100 inhabitants":{
"text":"215 (2014 est.)"
}
},
"Telephone system":{
"general assessment":{
"text":"adequate system of cable, microwave radio relay, tropospheric scatter, radiotelephone communication stations, and a domestic satellite system with 12 earth stations"
},
"domestic":{
"text":"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":{
"text":"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)"
}
},
"Broadcast media":{
"text":"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)"
},
"Radio broadcast stations":{
"text":"AM 6, FM 7 (plus 11 repeaters), shortwave 4 (2001)"
},
"Television broadcast stations":{
"text":"4 (plus 4 repeaters) (2001)"
},
"Internet country code":{
"text":".ga"
},
"Internet users":{
"total":{
"text":"164,800"
},
"percent of population":{
"text":"9.9% (2014 est.)"
}
}
},
"Transportation":{
"Airports":{
"text":"44 (2013)"
},
"Airports - with paved runways":{
"total":{
"text":"14"
},
"over 3,047 m":{
"text":"1"
},
"2,438 to 3,047 m":{
"text":"2"
},
"1,524 to 2,437 m":{
"text":"9"
},
"914 to 1,523 m":{
"text":"1"
},
"under 914 m":{
"text":"1 (2013)"
}
},
"Airports - with unpaved runways":{
"total":{
"text":"30"
},
"1,524 to 2,437 m":{
"text":"7"
},
"914 to 1,523 m":{
"text":"9"
},
"under 914 m":{
"text":" ++ 14 (2013)"
}
},
"Pipelines":{
"text":"gas 807 km; oil 1,639 km; water 3 km (2013)"
},
"Railways":{
"total":{
"text":"649 km"
},
"standard gauge":{
"text":"649 km 1.435-m gauge (2014)"
}
},
"Roadways":{
"total":{
"text":"9,170 km"
},
"paved":{
"text":"1,097 km"
},
"unpaved":{
"text":"8,073 km (2007)"
}
},
"Waterways":{
"text":"1,600 km (310 km on Ogooue River) (2010)"
},
"Merchant marine":{
"registered in other countries":{
"text":"2 (Cambodia 1, Panama 1) (2010)"
}
},
"Ports and terminals":{
"major seaport(s)":{
"text":"Libreville, Owendo, Port-Gentil"
},
"oil terminal(s)":{
"text":"Gamba, Lucina"
}
}
},
"Military":{
"Military branches":{
"text":"Gabonese Defense Forces (Forces de Defense Gabonaise): Land Force (Force Terrestre), Gabonese Navy (Marine Gabonaise), Gabonese Air Forces (Forces Aerienne Gabonaises, FAG) (2012)"
},
"Military service age and obligation":{
"text":"20 years of age for voluntary military service; no conscription (2012)"
},
"Manpower available for military service":{
"males age 16-49":{
"text":"350,640"
},
"females age 16-49":{
"text":"351,718 (2010 est.)"
}
},
"Manpower fit for military service":{
"males age 16-49":{
"text":"202,404"
},
"females age 16-49":{
"text":"195,389 (2010 est.)"
}
},
"Manpower reaching militarily significant age annually":{
"male":{
"text":"17,638"
},
"female":{
"text":"17,614 (2010 est.)"
}
},
"Military expenditures":{
"text":"1.34% of GDP (2012) ++ NA% (2011) ++ 1.34% of GDP (2010)"
}
},
"Transnational Issues":{
"Disputes - international":{
"text":"UN urges Equatorial Guinea and Gabon to resolve the sovereignty dispute over Gabon-occupied Mbane Island and lesser islands and to establish a maritime boundary in hydrocarbon-rich Corisco Bay"
