Gabon
Top Sights & Landmarks
Background
Gabon, a sparsely populated country known for its dense rainforests and vast petroleum reserves, is one of the most prosperous and stable countries in central Africa. Approximately 40 ethnic groups are represented, the largest of which is the Fang, a group that covers the northern third of Gabon and expands north into Equatorial Guinea and Cameroon. From about the early 1300s, various kingdoms emerged in present-day Gabon and the surrounding area, including the Kingdoms of Loango and Orungu. Because most early Bantu languages spoken in these kingdoms did not have a written form, much of Gabon's early history was lost over time. Portuguese traders who arrived in the mid-1400s gave the area its name of Gabon. At that time, indigenous trade networks began to engage with European traders, exchanging goods such as ivory and wood. For a century beginning in the 1760s, trade came to focus mostly on enslaved people. While many groups in Gabon participated in the slave trade, the Fang were a notable exception. As the slave trade declined in the late 1800s, France colonized the country and directed a widespread extraction of Gabonese resources. Anti-colonial rhetoric by Gabon’s educated elites increased significantly in the early 1900s, but no widespread rebellion materialized. French decolonization after World War II led to the country’s independence in 1960. Within a year of independence, the government changed from a parliamentary to a presidential system, and Leon M’BA won the first presidential election in 1961. El Hadj Omar BONGO Ondimba was M’BA’s vice president and assumed the presidency after M’BA’s death in 1967. BONGO went on to dominate the country's political scene for four decades (1967-2009). In 1968, he declared Gabon a single-party state and created the still-dominant Parti Democratique Gabonais (PDG). In the early 1990s, he reintroduced a multiparty system under a new constitution in response to growing political opposition. He was reelected by wide margins in 1995, 1998, 2002, and 2005 against a divided opposition and amidst allegations of fraud. After BONGO's death in 2009, a new election brought his son, Ali BONGO Ondimba, to power, and he was reelected in 2016. He won a third term in the August 2023 election but was overthrown in a military coup a few days later. Gen. Brice OLIGUI Nguema led a military group called the Committee for the Transition and Restoration of Institutions that arrested BONGO, canceled the election results, and dissolved state institutions. In September 2023, OLIGUI was sworn in as transitional president of Gabon.
Location
Central Africa, bordering the Atlantic Ocean at the Equator, between Republic of the Congo and Equatorial Guinea
Area
Elevation
Detailed Geography Information
Coastline
885 km
Geography - note
the country has maintained its pristine rain forest and rich biodiversity
Irrigated land
40 sq km (2012)
Land boundaries
Major aquifers
Congo Basin
Major watersheds (area sq km)
Atlantic Ocean drainage: Congo (3,730,881 sq km)
Maritime claims
territorial sea: 12 nm contiguous zone: 24 nm exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
Natural hazards
none
Natural resources
Terrain
narrow coastal plain; hilly interior; savanna in east and south
Population & Growth
Age Distribution
Demographic Longevity
Vital Dynamics
Detailed People & Society Information
Alcohol consumption per capita
6.47 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
Children under the age of 5 years underweight
5.4% (2020 est.)
Currently married women (ages 15-49)
48.5% (2020 est.)
Dependency ratios
total dependency ratio: 63 (2025 est.) youth dependency ratio: 55.8 (2025 est.) elderly dependency ratio: 7.2 (2025 est.) potential support ratio: 13.9 (2025 est.)
Education expenditure
2.3% of GDP (2023 est.) 13.6% national budget (2023 est.)
Ethnic groups
Gross reproduction rate
1.56 (2025 est.)
Health expenditure
2.7% of GDP (2021) 9.6% of national budget (2022 est.)
Infant mortality rate
total: 26 deaths/1,000 live births (2025 est.) male: 29.7 deaths/1,000 live births female: 24 deaths/1,000 live births
Languages
Literacy
total population: 88.9% (2021 est.) male: 90.8% (2021 est.) female: 87.1% (2021 est.)
Major urban areas - population
870,000 LIBREVILLE (capital) (2023)
Maternal mortality ratio
233 deaths/100,000 live births (2023 est.)
Mother's mean age at first birth
19.6 years (2012 est.) note: data represents median age at first birth among women 20-49
Nationality
noun: Gabonese (singular and plural) adjective: Gabonese
Obesity - adult prevalence rate
15% (2016)
Physician density
0.52 physicians/1,000 population (2022)
Population distribution
the relatively small population is spread in pockets throughout the country; the largest urban center is the capital of Libreville, located along the Atlantic coast in the northwest, as shown in this population distribution map
Refugees and internally displaced persons
Religions
Sex ratio
at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female 0-14 years: 1.02 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.11 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 1.03 male(s)/female total population: 1.07 male(s)/female (2024 est.)
Climate & Issues
tropical; always hot, humid
Land Cover
Air & Carbon Emissions
Water Resources & Use
Detailed Environmental Information
International environmental agreements
Urbanization
urban population: 91% of total population (2023) rate of urbanization: 2.27% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)
Waste and recycling
municipal solid waste generated annually: 238,100 tons (2024 est.) percent of municipal solid waste recycled: 22.4% (2022 est.)
Capital & State Profile
Executive Branch
Legislative Branch
National Identity & Symbols
three equal horizontal bands of green (top), yellow, and blue
Detailed Government Information
Administrative divisions
9 provinces; Estuaire, Haut-Ogooue, Moyen-Ogooue, Ngounie, Nyanga, Ogooue-Ivindo, Ogooue-Lolo, Ogooue-Maritime, Woleu-Ntem
Citizenship
citizenship by birth: no citizenship by descent only: at least one parent must be a citizen of Gabon dual citizenship recognized: no residency requirement for naturalization: 10 years
Constitution
history: previous 1961, 1991; latest approved in November 2024 referendum amendment process: proposed by the president of the republic, by the Council of Ministers, or by one third of either house of Parliament; passage requires Constitutional Court evaluation, at least two-thirds majority vote of two thirds of the Parliament membership convened in joint session, and approval in a referendum; constitutional articles on Gabon’s democratic form of government cannot be amended
Country name
conventional long form: Gabonese Republic conventional short form: Gabon local long form: République Gabonaise local short form: Gabon etymology: name originates from the Portuguese word gabão, meaning "cloak," possibly used by early explorers to describe the shape of the Komo River estuary
International law organization participation
has not submitted an ICJ jurisdiction declaration; accepts ICCt jurisdiction
International organization participation
Judicial branch
highest court(s): Supreme Court (consists of 4 permanent specialized supreme courts - Supreme Court or Cour de Cassation, Administrative Supreme Court or Conseil d'Etat, Accounting Supreme Court or Cour des Comptes, Constitutional Court or Cour Constitutionnelle, and the non-permanent Court of State Security, initiated only for cases of high treason by the president and criminal activity by executive branch officials) judge selection and term of office: appointment and tenure of Supreme, Administrative, Accounting, and State Security courts 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 single renewable 7-year terms subordinate courts: Courts of Appeal; county courts; military courts
Legal system
mixed system of French civil law and customary law
National heritage
total World Heritage Sites: 2 (1 natural, 1 mixed) selected World Heritage Site locales: Ecosystem and Relict Cultural Landscape of Lopé-Okanda (m); Ivindo National Park (n)
Political parties
Gabonese Democratic Party or PDG Restoration of Republican Values or RV The Democrats or LD Paul Mba Abessole
Suffrage
18 years of age; universal
Economic Overview
natural-resource-rich, upper-middle-income, Central African economy; significant reliance on oil and mineral exports; highly urbanized population; high levels of poverty and unemployment; uncertainty on institutional and development reform progress following 2023 military coup
Size & Performance
GDP Sector Breakdown
Trade Balance
Budget Balance
Export Profile
Top Export Partners
Major Export Commodities
Labor & Employment
Income Inequality
Family Income / Consumption Share
Detailed Economic Data
Agricultural products
Current account balance
$140.996 million (2015 est.) $1.112 billion (2014 est.) $1.463 billion (2013 est.) note: balance of payments - net trade and primary/secondary income in current dollars
Debt - external
$6.442 billion (2023 est.) note: present value of external debt in current US dollars
Exchange rates
Coopération Financière en Afrique Centrale francs (XAF) per US dollar - Exchange rates: 606.345 (2024 est.) 606.57 (2023 est.) 623.76 (2022 est.) 554.531 (2021 est.) 575.586 (2020 est.)
GDP - composition, by end use
Industrial production growth rate
2.8% (2024 est.) note: annual % change in industrial value added based on constant local currency
Industries
Inflation rate (consumer prices)
1.2% (2024 est.) 3.6% (2023 est.) 4.2% (2022 est.) note: annual % change based on consumer prices
Remittances
0.1% of GDP (2023 est.) 0.1% of GDP (2022 est.) 0.1% of GDP (2021 est.) note: personal transfers and compensation between resident and non-resident individuals/households/entities
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold
$1.447 billion (2023 est.) $1.415 billion (2022 est.) $1.304 billion (2021 est.) note: holdings of gold (year-end prices)/foreign exchange/special drawing rights in current dollars
Taxes and other revenues
9.5% (of GDP) (2021 est.) note: central government tax revenue as a % of GDP
Grid Infrastructure
Generation Mix
Fossil Fuels Production
Intensity & Nuclear
Digital Access
Active internet users as a percentage of the total population.
Fixed Broadband
Mobile Cellular
Broadcast Media
Aviation
Railways
Ports & Harbors
Merchant Marine
Military Expenditures
Active Duty Strengths
approximately 7,000 active-duty Armed Forces including the Republican Guard and Gendarmerie (2025)
Service & Defense Details
Gabonese Armed Forces (Force Armées Gabonaise or FAG; aka National Defense and Security Forces of Gabon or des Forces Nationales de Défense et de Sécurité (FNDS) du Gabon): Army, Navy, Air Force, Light Aviation, Fire Brigade; Gabon National Gendarmerie (GENA); Republican Guard (GR); Military Health Service; Military Engineering (2025) note: the National Police Forces, under the Ministry of Interior, and the National Gendarmerie (GENA), under the Ministry of Defense, are responsible for law enforcement and public security; elements of the armed forces and the Republican Guard, an elite unit that protects the president under his direct authority, sometimes perform internal security functions; the GENA is organized into regionally-based “legions,” mobile forces, a national parks security unit, and a special intervention group
the Gabonese military has a mix of older and limited quantities of more modern armaments; suppliers include Brazil, China, France, Germany, Russia/former Soviet Union, South Africa, and Spain (2025)
the Gabonese military is a small and lightly armed force that is responsible for both external and internal security; the military may also participate in the economic and social development work of the nation; key defense priorities include securing the country's borders and maritime domain; it has contributed to regional peacekeeping and joint security operations; in August 2023, officers from the Republican Guard seized control of the government and placed the president under arrest (2025)
18-24 years of age for voluntary military service; no conscription (2025)
Space Agency
Gabonese Studies and Space Observations Agency (Agence Gabonaise d’Etudes et d’Observations Spatiales or AGEOS; established 2015) (2025)