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Territorial Assembly elections were held in Gabon in March 1952. The result was a victory for the Gabonese Democratic and Social Union, which won 14 of the 24 contested seats. [1]
Party | Seats | |
---|---|---|
Gabonese Democratic and Social Union | 14 | |
Gabonese Mixed Committee | 2 | |
Other parties | 8 | |
Total | 24 |
Gabon, officially the Gabonese Republic, is a country on the Atlantic coast of Central Africa. Located on the equator, it is bordered by Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the north, the Republic of the Congo on the east and south, and the Gulf of Guinea to the west. It has an area of nearly 270,000 square kilometres (100,000 sq mi) and its population is estimated at 2.3 million people. There are coastal plains, mountains, and a savanna in the east. The largest city, as well as the capital, is Libreville.
Little is known of the history of Gabon prior to European contact. Bantu migrants settled the area beginning in the 14th century. Portuguese explorers and traders arrived in the area in the late 15th century. The coast subsequently became a center of the transatlantic slave trade with European slave traders arriving to the region in the 16th century. In 1839 and 1841, France established a protectorate over the coast. In 1849, captives released from a captured slave ship founded Libreville. In 1862–1887, France expanded its control including the interior of the state, and took full sovereignty. In 1910 Gabon became part of French Equatorial Africa and in 1960, Gabon became independent.
The economy of Gabon is characterized by strong links with France, large foreign investments, dependence on skilled foreign labor, and decline of agriculture. Gabon on paper enjoys a per capita income four times that of most nations of sub-Saharan Africa, but its reliance on resource extraction industry fail to release much of the population from extreme poverty, as much of 40% of the population lives under the poverty threshold.
Libreville is the capital and largest city of Gabon. Occupying 65 square kilometres (25 sq mi) in the northwestern province of Estuaire, Libreville is a port on the Komo River, near the Gulf of Guinea. As of the 2013 census, its population was 703,904.
El Hadj Omar Bongo Ondimba was a Gabonese politician who was the second president of Gabon for almost 42 years, from 1967 until his death in 2009. Bongo was promoted to key positions as a young official under Gabon's first President Léon M'ba in the 1960s, before being elected vice-president in his own right in 1966. In 1967, he succeeded M'ba to become the country's second president, upon the latter's death.
The Gabonese Democratic Party is a political party in Gabon. It was the dominant political party in Gabonese politics from 1961 to 2023, when it was deposed in a coup d'état against President Ali Bongo Ondimba. It was also the sole legal party between 1968 and 1990.
The flag of Gabon is a tricolour consisting of three horizontal green, yellow and blue bands. Adopted in 1960 to replace the previous colonial flag containing the French Tricolour at the canton, it has been the flag of the Gabonese Republic since the country gained independence that year. The design of the present flag entailed the removal the Tricolour and the widening of the yellow stripe at the centre.
The Gabon national football team represents Gabon in men's international football. The team's nickname is The Panthers and it is governed by the Gabonese Football Federation. They have never qualified for the FIFA World Cup, but have qualified eight times for the Africa Cup of Nations. Gabon is a member of both FIFA and Confederation of African Football (CAF).
.ga is the country code top-level domain (ccTLD) for Gabon.
Ali Bongo Ondimba, also known as Ali Bongo and Ali Ben Bongo, is a Gabonese politician who was the third president of Gabon from 2009 to 2023. He is a member of the Gabonese Democratic Party. He is the son of Omar Bongo, who was president of Gabon from 1967 until his death in 2009. During his father's presidency, he was Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1989 to 1991, represented Bongoville as a deputy in the National Assembly from 1991 to 1999, and was the Minister of Defense from 1999 to 2009. After his father's death, he won the 2009 Gabonese presidential election. He was reelected in 2016, in elections marred by numerous irregularities, arrests, human rights violations, and post-election protests and violence. On 30 August 2023, following the results of the Gabonese general election, the military ousted him from the presidency in a coup d'état due to lack of transparency in the election process and established a junta called the Committee for the Transition and Restoration of Institutions.
Christianity is the predominant religion in Gabon, with significant minorities of the adherents of Islam and traditional faiths.
ISO 3166-2:GA is the entry for Gabon in ISO 3166-2, part of the ISO 3166 standard published by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), which defines codes for the names of the principal subdivisions of all countries coded in ISO 3166-1.
Pierre-Emerick Emiliano François Aubameyang is a professional footballer who plays as a striker for Ligue 1 club Marseille and the Gabon national team. Having been recognised as one of the best strikers in his prime, he is renowned for his pace, finishing, and off-ball movement.
The Human Rights Measurement Initiative finds that Gabon is fulfilling 62.2% of what it should be fulfilling for the right to health based on its level of income. When looking at the right to health with respect to children, Gabon achieves 84.7% of what is expected based on its current income. In regards to the right to health amongst the adult population, the country achieves only 78.1% of what is expected based on the nation's level of income. Gabon falls into the "very bad" category when evaluating the right to reproductive health because the nation is fulfilling only 23.9% of what the nation is expected to achieve based on the resources (income) it has available.
The 2017 Africa Cup of Nations, known as the Total2017 Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, was the 31st edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the biennial international men's football championship of Africa organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF). The tournament was scheduled to be hosted by Libya, until CAF rescinded its hosting rights in August 2014 due to the Second Libyan civil war. The tournament was instead hosted by Gabon. This event was also part of the Africa Cup of Nations 60th Anniversary.
Gabon competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, from 27 July to 12 August 2012. This was the nation's ninth appearance at the Olympics; the nation did not participate at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal and 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, affected by the African and the American-led boycott, respectively.
China–Gabon relations refer to the foreign relations between China and Gabon. On December 9, 1960, China established diplomatic relations with Gabon. Gabon switched recognition to the People's Republic of China in Beijing on April 20, 1974.
On 7 January 2019, members of the Armed Forces of Gabon announced a coup d'état in Gabon. Military officers claimed that they had ousted President Ali Bongo, who was re-elected in 2016 after a controversial election and protests. During the absence of Ali Bongo, who was receiving medical treatment in Morocco, armed rebels in the capital city Libreville took hostages and declared that they had established a "National Restoration Council" to "restore democracy in Gabon". Widespread internet outages occurred throughout the country, though it is unknown whether the Internet was shut down by the rebels themselves or by civilians. Gabon's government later declared that it had reasserted control.
The COVID-19 pandemic in Gabon was a part of the ongoing worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. The virus was confirmed to have reached Gabon in March 2020.
Capital punishment in Gabon was officially abolished for all crimes in 2010. Gabon's last execution took place in 1985. Prior to abolition, Gabon was classified as de facto abolitionist, or "abolitionist in practice," due to the length of time since their last execution.