Simple directory > Regional > Gabon

Country : Gabon Official name: République Gabonaise (Gabonese Republic) Head of State: President El Hadj Omar Bongo (PDG) (since 1967; re-elected 27 November 2005) Head of government: Prime Minister Jean-François Ntoutoume-Emane (PDG) (since Jan 1999) Ruling party: Parti Démocratique Gabonais (PDG) (Gabonese Democratic Party) (since 1960; in 2002, the PDG formed a coalition government with the opposition, the Rassemblement National des Bûcherons/Rassemblement pour le Gabon (RNB/RPG) (National Rally of Lumberjacks/Rally for Gabon) Area: 267,667 square km Population: 1.38 million (2004) Capital: Libreville Official language: French Currency: CFA franc (CFAf) = 100 centimes (Communauté Financière Africaine (African Financial Community) franc) Exchange rate: CFAf507.21 per US$ (Nov 2004); CFAf655.96 per euro (pegged from Jan 1999) GDP per capita: US$4,167 (2003) GDP real growth: 1.60% (2003) Labour force: 600,000 (2003) Unemployment: 21.00% (2003) Inflation: 1.50% (2003) Oil production: 240,000 bpd (2003) Balance of trade: US$1.93 billion (2003) Foreign debt: US$3.80 billion (2003)

Historical profile

The region that is now Gabon was inhabited by the Omiéné by the sixteenth century. They were outnumbered by the Fang by the eighteenth century. Between the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries, Gabon was part of the Loango empire, which stretched from the Ogooué river to the Congo river.

1472 Portuguese navigators arrived in the Ogooué estuary and Gabon soon became an important centre for slave trading for the Portuguese, Dutch, British and French.

1839 Having gained a dominant position in the area and despite Fang resistance, Gabon became part of the French Congo. The French began work to abolish the slave trade.

1910 Gabon became part of French Equatorial Africa.

1939–1945 Gabon was held by the Free French during the Second World War.

1946 Gabon became a province of French Equatorial Africa. In gratitude for the support the local population gave to the Free French, President Charles de Gaulle of France granted French citizenship to all the territory's people.

1957 Gabon gained internal autonomy.

1958 It achieved self-government within the French community.

1960 Gained full independence from France, under President Léon M'Ba. The Parti Démocratique Gabonais (PDG) (Gabonese Democratic Party) assumed power.

1964 President M'Ba was deposed by a military coup, but was reinstated by French forces.

1967 President M'Ba died. Vice President Albert-Bernard Bongo took over the one-party state.

1973 Bongo was re-elected president and converted to Islam, adopting the forename Omar.

1981 Bongo relinquished the title of head of government, which was given to the prime minister.

1981–89 Political unrest was orchestrated by an illegal opposition group, Mouvement de Redressement National (MORENA) (Movement for National Regeneration).

1990 After demonstrations by students and strikes by workers, President Bongo said he would support democracy, and opposition parties were legalised. The government was accused of electoral fraud following elections, which secured Bongo's power with a PDG victory.

1991 A new constitution was introduced, which formalised the multi-party system.

1993 Bongo narrowly won the presidential election, although the opposition claimed massive electoral fraud.

1996 Parliamentary elections gave the PDG an overwhelming majority.

1997 France reduced its garrison of 600 troops.

1998 President Bongo won another seven years in power with more than two-thirds of the vote.

1999 The country plunged into a deep recession due to the fall in the world price of oil.

2000 The recession continued. There were cuts in public expenditure, strikes and social unrest.

2001 A treaty establishing the Gulf of Guinea Commisssion was signed by five of the seven member states (Gabon, Congo, São Tomé and Príncipe, Nigeria and Angola). Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea did not sign, for which no reason was given. The PDG won the parliamentary elections.

2002 The PDG formed a coalition government with the opposition.

2003 Constitutional changes made by the government in July allow Presidents to run for office unlimited times.

2004 In February, the French oil company, Total Gabon, signed a deal to export Gabon's oil to China.

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