Gabon enjoys a per capita income four times that of most nations of sub-Saharan Africa, its reliance on resource extraction industry releasing much of the population from extreme poverty.
Libreville is the capital and largest city of Gabon, in western central Africa. The city is a port on the Komo River, near the Gulf of Guinea, and a trade center for a timber region. As of 2013, its census population was 703,904. The area was originally inhabited by the Mpongwé tribe before the French acquired the land in 1839. In 1846, a Brazilian slave ship was captured by the French navy assisting the British Blockade of Africa, and fifty-two of the freed slaves were resettled on the site. It became the chief port of French Equatorial Africa from 1934 to 1946, and was the central focus of the Battle of Gabon in 1940. Libreville was named in imitation of Freetown, and grew slowly as a trading post and a minor administrative centre, reaching a population of 32,000 on independence in 1960. Since independence, the city has grown rapidly and now houses nearly half the national population. It is home to a shipbuilding industry, brewing industry, and sawmills, and exports raw materials such as wood, rubber and cocoa.
El Hadj Omar Bongo Ondimba was a Gabonese dictator under French control who was President of Gabon for 42 years, from 1967 until his death in 2009. Omar 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 second Gabon President, upon the latter's death.
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, nicknamed Les Panthères or Les Brésiliens, is the national team of Gabon and is controlled by the Gabonese Football Federation. They have never qualified for the World Cup, but have qualified seven times for the Africa Cup of Nations.
The Burundi national football team, nicknamed The Swallows in the War, is the national team of Burundi and is controlled by the Football Federation of Burundi. The team has never qualified for the World Cup. Burundi previously did come very close to qualifying for the 1994 Africa Cup of Nations, losing only on penalties to Guinea in a playoff, however, in 2019, it qualified for the very first time and will take part in the Africa Cup of Nations finals in 2019.
China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (中国石油化工股份有限公司), or Sinopec, is a Chinese oil and gas enterprise based in Beijing, China. It is listed in Hong Kong and also trades in Shanghai and New York.
The Trans-Gabon Railway is the only railway in Gabon. It runs 670 km east from Owendo port station in Libreville to Franceville via numerous stations, the main ones being Ndjolé, Lopé, Booué, Lastoursville and Moanda.
The Catholic Church in Gabon is part of the worldwide Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the Pope in Rome. It is endowed with the right to elect its own clergy, except archbishops.
The 2012 Africa Cup of Nations, also known as the Orange Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, was the 28th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the football championship of Africa organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF).
The following outline is provided as an overview and topical guide to Gabon :
Major religions practised in Gabon include Christianity, Islam, and traditional indigenous religious beliefs. Many people practice elements of both Christianity and traditional indigenous religious beliefs. Approximately 88 percent of the population practice one of the denominations of Christianity; 6 percent practice Islam ; reminder practice traditional religion or other religions.
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.
Energy in Gabon is an industry with plenty of potential.
The 2017 Africa Cup of Nations, known as the Total Africa Cup of Nations, Gabon 2017, 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 ongoing war in the country. 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, excluding the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal and 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, both affected by the African and the American-led boycott.
Miss Gabon is a national beauty pageant in Gabon. The pageant was established in 2001 by Défis de femmes.
Most visitors to Gabon must obtain a visa in advance, either from one of the Gabonese diplomatic missions or online.
After the 27 August 2016 presidential election in Gabon, in which President Ali Bongo Ondimba was narrowly re-elected against opposition candidate Jean Ping, armed clashes between supporters of Ping, who claimed victory, and police erupted, resulting in the authorities blocking the internet in Libreville.
