Gabon
| République Gabonaise | ||||||
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| Motto: Union Travail Justice | ||||||
| Anthem: La Concorde |
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| Capital (and largest city) | Libreville 0°30′N 09°32′E | |||||
| Official languages | French | |||||
| Government | Presidential Republic | |||||
| Independence | ||||||
| Area | ||||||
| - | Total | 267,667 km² (74th) Expression error: Unexpected div operator. sq mi |
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| - | Water (%) | Negligible | ||||
| Population | ||||||
| - | July 2004 estimate | 1,355,246 (148th) | ||||
| - | 2003 census | 1.5 million [1] | ||||
| GDP (PPP) | 2003 estimate | |||||
| - | Total | $9.5 billion (138th) | ||||
| - | Per capita | $6,977 (89th) | ||||
| Currency | CFA franc (XOF) |
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| Time zone | UTC1 (UTC+1) | |||||
| - | Summer (DST) | unknown (UTC+1) | ||||
| Internet TLD | .ga | |||||
| Calling code | +241 | |||||
| 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 and death rates, lower population and growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (est. 2000) | ||||||
The Gabonese Republic or Gabon, is a nation of west central Africa. Since its independence from France in 1960, the republic has been ruled by only two presidents, both autocratic; the incumbent, Omar Bongo, has been in power since 1967 and is currently (2005) Africa's longest-serving head of state. Gabon introduced a multiparty system and a new democratic constitution in the early 1990s that allowed for a more transparent electoral process and for reforms of governmental institutions. A small population, abundant natural resources, and foreign private investment have helped make Gabon one of the more prosperous countries in the region.
Geography
Gabon borders on Equatorial Guinea, Cameroon, Republic of the Congo and the Gulf of Guinea. Gabon is located on the Atlantic coast of central Africa.
Gabon's largest river is the Ogooué. Gabon is also noted for efforts to preserve the natural environment with what may be the largest area of nature parks in the world.
History
During the last seven centuries, Bantu groups arrived in Gabon from several directions to escape enemies or find new land. Little is known of tribal life before European contact, but tribal art suggests a rich cultural heritage.
Gabon's first confirmed European visitors were Portuguese traders who arrived in the fifteenth century and named the country after the Portuguese word gabao — a coat with sleeve and hood resembling the shape of the Komo River estuary. The coast became a center of the slave trade. Dutch, English, and French traders came in the sixteenth century.
France assumed the status of protector by signing treaties with Gabonese coastal chiefs in 1839 and 1841. American missionaries from New England established a mission at Baraka (now Libreville) in 1842. In 1849, the French captured a slave ship and released the passengers at the mouth of the Komo River. The slaves named their settlement Libreville (French for "free town").
French explorers penetrated Gabon's dense jungles between 1862 and 1887. The most famous, Savorgnan de Brazza, used Gabonese bearers and guides in his search for the headwaters of the Congo River. France occupied Gabon in 1885, but did not administer it until 1903.
In 1910, Gabon became one of the four territories of French Equatorial Africa, a federation that survived until 1959. The former territories all became independent in August 1960 — as Chad (August 11), the Central African Republic (August 13), Republic of the Congo (August 15), and finally Gabon on August 17.
At the time of Gabon's independence, two principal political parties existed: the Bloc Democratique Gabonais (BDG), led by Leon M'Ba, and the Union Democratique et Sociale Gabonaise (UDSG), led by J.H. Aubame. In the first post-independence election, held under a parliamentary system, neither party was able to win a majority. The BDG obtained support from three of the four independent legislative deputies, and M'Ba was named prime minister. Soon after concluding that Gabon had an insufficient number of people for a two-party system, the two party leaders agreed on a single list of candidates. In the February 1961 election, held under the new presidential system, M'Ba became president and Aubame became foreign minister.
This one-party system appeared to work until February 1963, when the larger BDG element forced the UDSG members to choose between a merger of the parties or resignation. The UDSG cabinet ministers resigned, and M'Ba called an election for February 1964 and a reduced number of National Assembly deputies (from 67 to 47). The UDSG failed to muster a list of candidates able to meet the requirements of the electoral decrees. When the BDG appeared likely to win the election by default, the Gabonese military toppled M'Ba in a bloodless coup on February 18, 1964. French troops re-established his government the next day. Elections were held in April 1964 with many opposition participants. BDG-supported candidates won 31 seats and the opposition 16. Late in 1966, the constitution was revised to provide for automatic succession of the vice president should the president die in office. In March 1967, Leon M'Ba and Omar Bongo (then Albert Bongo) were elected president and vice president. M'Ba died later that year, and Omar Bongo became president.
In March 1968, Bongo declared Gabon a one-party state by dissolving the BDG and establishing a new party: the Gabonese Democratic Party (Parti Démocratique Gabonais) (PDG). He invited all Gabonese, regardless of previous political affiliation, to participate. Bongo was elected president in February 1975; in April 1975, the office of vice president was abolished and replaced by the office of prime minister, who had no right to automatic succession. Bongo was re-elected president in December 1979 and November 1986 to seven-year terms. Using the PDG as a tool to submerge the regional and tribal rivalries that divided Gabonese politics in the past, Bongo sought to forge a single national movement in support of the government's development policies.
Economic discontent and a desire for political liberalization provoked violent demonstrations and strikes by students and workers in early 1990. In response to grievances by workers, Bongo negotiated with them on a sector-by-sector basis, making significant wage concessions. In addition, he promised to open up the PDG and to organize a national political conference in March-April 1990 to discuss Gabon's future political system. The PDG and 74 political organizations attended the conference. Participants essentially divided into two loose coalitions, the ruling PDG and its allies, and the United Front of Opposition Associations and Parties, consisting of the breakaway Morena Fundamental and the Gabonese Progress Party.
The April 1990 conference approved sweeping political reforms, including creation of a national Senate, decentralization of the budgetary process, freedom of assembly and press, and cancellation of the exit visa requirement. In an attempt to guide the political system's transformation to multiparty democracy, Bongo resigned as PDG chairman and created a transitional government headed by a new prime minister, Casimir Oye-Mba. The Gabonese Social Democratic Grouping (RSDG), as the resulting government was called, was smaller than the previous government and included representatives from several opposition parties in its cabinet. The RSDG drafted a provisional constitution in May 1990 that provided a basic bill of rights and an independent judiciary but retained strong executive powers for the president. After further review by a constitutional committee and the National Assembly, this document came into force in March 1991. Under the 1991 constitution, in the event of the president's death, the prime minister, the National Assembly president, and the defense minister were to share power until a new election could be held.
Opposition to the PDG continued, however, and in September 1990, two coup d’etat attempts were uncovered and aborted. Despite anti-government demonstrations after the untimely death of an opposition leader, the first multiparty National Assembly elections in almost 30 years took place in September-October 1990, with the PDG garnering a large majority.
Following President Bongo's re-election in December 1993 with 51% of the vote, opposition candidates refused to validate the election results. Serious civil disturbances led to an agreement between the government and opposition factions to work toward a political settlement. These talks led to the Paris Accords in November 1994, under which several opposition figures were included in a government of national unity. This arrangement soon broke down, however, and the 1996 and 1997 legislative and municipal elections provided the background for renewed partisan politics. The PDG won a landslide victory in the legislative election, but several major cities, including Libreville, elected opposition mayors during the 1997 local election.
President Bongo coasted to easy re-elections in December 1998 and November 2005, with large majorities of the vote against a divided opposition. While Bongo's major opponents rejected the outcome as fraudulent, some international observers characterized the results as representative despite any perceived irregularities. Legislative elections held in 2001-2002, which were boycotted by a number of smaller opposition parties and were widely criticized for their administrative weaknesses, produced a National Assembly almost completely dominated by the PDG and allied independents.
Politics
In 1991 a new constitution was adopted. Among its provisions are a Western-style bill of rights, the creation of the National Council of Democracy that also oversees the guarantee of those rights, and a governmental advisory board that deals with economic and social issues. Multi-party legislative elections were held in 1990-1991 even though opposition parties had not been declared formally legal.
President Bongo, in power since 1967, was re-elected to another seven-year term according to poll results returned from elections held in 2005. According to figures provided by Gabon's Interior Ministry, this was achieved with 79 percent of the votes cast. In 2003 Bongo amended the national constitution to remove any restictions on the number of terms a president is allowed to serve. The president retains strong powers, such as the authority to dissolve the national assembly, declare a state of siege, delay legislation, conduct referenda, and appoint and dismiss the prime minister and cabinet members.
In provisional results his ruling Gabonese Democratic Party (PDG) won 84 out of 120 parliamentary seats. As with previous Gabonese elections in which the opposition parties have contested, there were several accusations of electoral fraud, bribery, and calls for a boycott. There were also incidences of violence and protest, particularly in the first round of voting held two weeks prior. However, several international observers, including the Economic Community of Central African States, reported that the election "met international standards" for democratic voting.
The Parliament has two chambers. The National Assembly has 120 members, 111 members elected for a five-year term in single-seat constituencies and nine members appointed by a head of state - the president. The Senate has 91 members, elected for a six-year term in single-seat constituencies by local and departmental councillors.
Military
Gabon has a small, professional military of about 5,000 personnel, divided into army, navy, air force, gendarmerie, and national police. Gabonese forces are oriented to the defense of the country and have not been trained for an offensive role. A 1,800-member guard provides security for the president.
Administrative divisions
Gabon is divided into nine provinces and further divided into thirty-seven departments. The provinces are:
- Estuaire
- Haut-Ogooué
- Moyen-Ogooué
- Ngounié
- Nyanga
- Ogooué-Ivindo
- Ogooué-Lolo
- Ogooué-Maritime
- Woleu-Ntem
Economy
Gabon is more prosperous than most nearby countries, with a per capita income of four times the average for Sub-Saharan Africa. This is in large part due to offshore oil production that has produced substantial wealth, although the distribution of income from this industry is extremely unequal. Gabon was a full member of OPEC from 1975 to 1995.
During the 1990s, devaluation of the CFA franc left Gabon struggling to pay its overseas debt. France and the IMF have provided further loans and aid in exchange for the implementation of changes to the economy.
An estimated 40 percent of people are unemployed in Gabon, a tiny West African country rich in oil, gold, manganese and ore. The United Nations says that between 60 and 70 percent of the population live below the poverty line, scraping by on less than US $1 per day.
The rampant poverty is set against a per capita GDP more than three-times higher than the sub-Saharan average, a paradox that is not lost on politicians opposed to the country’s president, Omar Bongo, West Africa’s longest-serving head of state.
"The populations of the oil producing African countries are those who suffer from the most deteriorated living conditions," said parliamentarian Laurent Nzamba.
Oil production has been declining in recent years in Gabon to average about 265,000 barrels per day. Oil still accounts for an estimated 50 percent of national revenue, and analysts say forecasted continuing high oil prices should cushion the country from short-term shocks.
Still, some are sceptical that Gabon’s economic indicators will go anywhere except backward as long as the 70-year-old president is in power.
"Our leaders live in style, parading with cars and big villas while the country is left utterly helpless," said Vincent Ndomba, who works at the Treasury.
David Cowan, senior economist at the Economist Intelligence Unit in London, agrees. “Gabon has a long history of doing all the things that shouldn’t be done,” he said.
Cowan said Gabon’s government frittered away the country’s oil wealth on grandiose projects. “Instead of spending on primary healthcare, it spent on hospitals and universities, without thinking about the long-term costs.”
Analysts have urged Gabon to start diversifying the economy to compensate for the decline in oil output, suggesting it expand mining production and improve the forestry, construction, telecommunication and fishing sectors as potential additional sources of revenue.
But Gabonese are not optimistic. At the fish market, Salomon Kontche said he would advise his children to forget about college and head straight for stable manual jobs.
"With the economic crisis, our situation is precarious,” Kontche said. “It's better to find an activity that provides us with a certain amount of autonomy.”
Demographics
Almost all Gabonese are of Bantu origin. Gabon has at least 40 ethnic groups with separate languages and cultures. The largest is the Fang. Others include the Myene, Bandjabi, Eshira, Bapounou, and Okande. Ethnic group boundaries are less sharply drawn in Gabon than elsewhere in Africa. French, the official language, is a unifying force. More than 10,000 French nationals live in Gabon, and France dominates foreign cultural and commercial influences.
Historical and environmental factors caused Gabon's population to decline between 1900 and 1940. It is one of the least-densely inhabited countries in Africa, and a labor shortage is a major obstacle to development and a draw for foreign workers. The population is generally accepted to be just over 1 million, though some dispute this.
Most inhabitants are Christians (with estimates of the Christian population ranging from 55 to 77 percent), mostly members of the Roman Catholic Church. Other religious groups include animists, Muslims, and practitioners of indigenous African religions.
Culture
Gabonese music is little-known in comparison with regional giants like the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Cameroon. The country boasts an array of folk styles, as well as pop stars like Patience Dabany (who now lives in the US). Dabany's albums, though recorded in Los Angeles, have a distinctively Gabonese element and are popular throughout Francophone Africa. Other major musicians include Pierre-Claver Akendengue (considered a master-poet), "the veteran" Mackjoss, Vickos Ekondo, known as "the king of Tandima". Also known are guitarists like Georges Oyendze, La Rose Mbadou and Sylvain Avara, and the singer Oliver N'Goma. Imported rock and hip hop from the US and UK are popular in Gabon, as are rhumba, makossa and soukous.
Gabonese folk instruments include the obala, the ngombi, balafon and traditional drums.
Gabon also features highly appreciated masks, such as the n'goltang (Fang) and the relicary figures of the Kota.
ReferencesISBN links support NWE through referral fees
- Maria Petringa, Brazza. 2006. A Life for Africa ISBN 9781-4259-11980
- UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs [2] Retrieved June 12,2007.
External links
- Background Note: Gabon
- History of Gabon
Government
- Le Gabon : official site of the Gabonese Republic
- Assemblée Nationale du Gabon official site
- Gabonese Embassy in London government information and links
- Le Sénat de la République Gabonaise official site (in French)
News
- AllAfrica.com - Gabon news headline links
Overviews
Ethnic Groups
- Baka Pygmies of Cameroon and Gabon Culture and music of the first inhabitants of Gabon
Directories
- Open Directory Project - Gabon directory category
- Stanford University - Africa South of the Sahara: Gabon directory category
- University of Pennsylvania - African Studies Center: Gabon directory category
- Yahoo! - Gabon directory category
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