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Compare Gabon (2001) - World (2003)
Compare Gabon (2001) z World (2003)
| Gabon (2001) | World (2003) | |
 |  | |
| Administrative divisions | 9 provinces; Estuaire, Haut-Ogooue, Moyen-Ogooue, Ngounie, Nyanga, Ogooue-Ivindo, Ogooue-Lolo, Ogooue-Maritime, Woleu-Ntem | 268 nations, dependent areas, other, and miscellaneous entries |
| Age structure | 0-14 years:
33.29% (male 203,677; female 202,833) 15-64 years: 60.77% (male 373,828; female 368,282) 65 years and over: 5.94% (male 35,867; female 36,688) (2001 est.) |
0-14 years: 29.2% (male 932,581,592; female 885,688,851)
15-64 years: 63.7% (male 2,009,997,089; female 1,964,938,201) 65 years and over: 7.1% (male 193,549,180; female 247,067,032) (2003 est.) note: some countries do not maintain age structure information, thus a slight discrepancy exists between the total world population and the total for world age structure |
| Agriculture - products | cocoa, coffee, sugar, palm oil, rubber; cattle; okoume (a tropical softwood); fish | - |
| Airports | 59 (2000 est.) | - |
| Airports - with paved runways | total:
10 over 3,047 m: 1 2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 7 914 to 1,523 m: 1 (2000 est.) |
- |
| Airports - with unpaved runways | total:
49 1,524 to 2,437 m: 8 914 to 1,523 m: 17 under 914 m: 24 (2000 est.) |
- |
| Area | total:
267,667 sq km land: 257,667 sq km water: 10,000 sq km |
total: 510.072 million sq km
land: 148.94 million sq km water: 361.132 million sq km note: 70.8% of the world's surface is water, 29.2% is land |
| Area - comparative | slightly smaller than Colorado | land area about 16 times the size of the US |
| Background | Ruled by autocratic presidents since independence from France in 1960, Gabon introduced a multiparty system and a new 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 black African countries. | Globally, the 20th century was marked by: (a) two devastating world wars; (b) the Great Depression of the 1930s; (c) the end of vast colonial empires; (d) rapid advances in science and technology, from the first airplane flight at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina (US) to the landing on the moon; (e) the Cold War between the Western alliance and the Warsaw Pact nations; (f) a sharp rise in living standards in North America, Europe, and Japan; (g) increased concerns about the environment, including loss of forests, shortages of energy and water, the decline in biological diversity, and air pollution; (h) the onset of the AIDS epidemic; and (i) the ultimate emergence of the US as the only world superpower. The planet's population continues to explode: from 1 billion in 1820, to 2 billion in 1930, 3 billion in 1960, 4 billion in 1974, 5 billion in 1988, and 6 billion in 2000. For the 21st century, the continued exponential growth in science and technology raises both hopes (e.g., advances in medicine) and fears (e.g., development of even more lethal weapons of war). |
| Birth rate | 27.42 births/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 20.43 births/1,000 population (2003 est.) |
| Budget | revenues:
$1.5 billion expenditures: $1.3 billion, including capital expenditures of $302 million (1996 est.) |
- |
| Capital | Libreville | - |
| Climate | tropical; always hot, humid | two large areas of polar climates separated by two rather narrow temperate zones form a wide equatorial band of tropical to subtropical climates |
| Coastline | 885 km | 356,000 km |
| Constitution | adopted 14 March 1991 | - |
| Country name | conventional long form:
Gabonese Republic conventional short form: Gabon local long form: Republique Gabonaise local short form: Gabon |
- |
| Currency | Communaute Financiere Africaine franc (XAF); note - responsible authority is the Bank of the Central African States | - |
| Death rate | 17.22 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 8.83 deaths/1,000 population (2003 est.) |
| Debt - external | $3.9 billion (2000 est.) | $2 trillion for less developed countries (2002 est.) |
| Diplomatic representation from the US | chief of mission:
Ambassador James V. LEDESMA embassy: Boulevard de la Mer, Libreville mailing address: B. P. 4000, Libreville telephone: [241] 76 20 03 through 76 20 04, 74 34 92 FAX: [241] 74 55 07 |
- |
| Diplomatic representation in the US | chief of mission:
Ambassador Paul BOUNDOUKOU-LATHA chancery: Suite 200, 2034 20th Street NW, Washington, DC 20009 telephone: [1] (202) 797-1000 FAX: [1] (202) 332-0668 consulate(s): New York |
- |
| Disputes - international | maritime boundary dispute with Equatorial Guinea because of disputed sovereignty over islands in Corisco Bay | Globally, there are over 250,000 km of international land boundaries that separate the world's 192 independent states, along with 70 dependencies, areas of special sovereignty, and other miscellaneous entities. Maritime states have claimed limits and have so far established over 130 maritime boundaries and joint development zones to allocate ocean resources and to provide for their national security at sea. On land, ethnicity, culture, race, religion, and language have divided states into separate political entities as much as history, physical terrain, political fiat, or conquest, resulting in sometimes arbitrary and imposed boundaries. All of these factors have contributed to a wide array of boundary, borderland, and territorial disagreements that vary in intensity from unresolved or dormant to outright war. Territorial disputes may evolve from historical and/or cultural animosities, or they may be brought on by resource competition. Ethnic clashes continue to be responsible for territorial fragmentation around the world. Undemarcated, indefinite, porous, and unmanaged boundaries encourage illegal cross-border activities, uncontrolled migration, and political confrontation over boundary allocations. Other sources of contention include the use of water and mineral (especially petroleum) resources, fisheries, dams, and nuclear power plants. Many islands or island groups are also disputed, including those at sea and in streams. Nonetheless, many nations are actively cooperating to clarify, delineate, and demarcate their international borders. The tragic aspect of international discord is the impact on the sustenance and welfare of populations caught in the conflict. It is frequently left to members of the world community to cope with enormous refugee situations, and the resultant hunger, disease, and impoverishment that they create. |
| Economic aid - recipient | $331 million (1995) | official development assistance (ODA) $50 billion |
| Economy - overview | Gabon enjoys a per capita income four times that of most nations of sub-Saharan Africa. This has supported a sharp decline in extreme poverty; yet because of high income inequality a large proportion of the population remains poor. Gabon depended on timber and manganese until oil was discovered offshore in the early 1970s. The oil sector now accounts for 50% of GDP. Gabon continues to face fluctuating prices for its oil, timber, manganese, and uranium exports. Despite the abundance of natural wealth, the economy is hobbled by poor fiscal management. In 1992, the fiscal deficit widened to 2.4% of GDP, and Gabon failed to settle arrears on its bilateral debt, leading to a cancellation of rescheduling agreements with official and private creditors. Devaluation of its Francophone currency by 50% on 12 January 1994 sparked a one-time inflationary surge, to 35%; the rate dropped to 6% in 1996. The IMF provided a one-year standby arrangement in 1994-95, a three-year Enhanced Financing Facility (EFF) at near commercial rates beginning in late 1995, and stand-by credit of $119 million in October 2000. Those agreements mandate progress in privatization and fiscal discipline. France provided additional financial support in January 1997 after Gabon had met IMF targets for mid-1996. In 1997, an IMF mission to Gabon criticized the government for overspending on off-budget items, overborrowing from the central bank, and slipping on its schedule for privatization and administrative reform. The rebound of oil prices in 1999-2000 helped growth, but drops in production hampered Gabon from fully realizing potential gains. An expected decline in oil output may lead to contraction in GDP in 2001-02. | Growth in global output (gross world product, GWP) fell from 4.8% in 2000 to 2.2% in 2001 and 2.7% in 2002. The causes: sluggishness in the US economy (21% of GWP) and in the 15 EU economies (19% of GWP); continued stagnation in the Japanese economy (7.2% of GWP); and spillover effects in the less developed regions of the world. China, the second-largest economy in the world (12% of GWP), proved an exception, continuing its rapid annual growth, officially announced as 8% but estimated by many observers as perhaps two percentage points lower. Russia (2.6% of GWP), with 4% growth, continued to make uneven progress, its GDP per capita still only one-third that of the leading industrial nations. The other 14 successor nations of the USSR and the other old Warsaw Pact nations again experienced widely divergent growth rates; the three Baltic nations continued as strong performers, in the 5% range of growth. The developing nations also varied in their growth results, with many countries facing population increases that erode gains in output. Externally, the nation-state, as a bedrock economic-political institution, is steadily losing control over international flows of people, goods, funds, and technology. Internally, the central government often finds its control over resources slipping as separatist regional movements - typically based on ethnicity - gain momentum, e.g., in many of the successor states of the former Soviet Union, in the former Yugoslavia, in India, in Indonesia, and in Canada. Externally, the central government is losing decision-making powers to international bodies. In Western Europe, governments face the difficult political problem of channeling resources away from welfare programs in order to increase investment and strengthen incentives to seek employment. The addition of 80 million people each year to an already overcrowded globe is exacerbating the problems of pollution, desertification, underemployment, epidemics, and famine. Because of their own internal problems and priorities, the industrialized countries devote insufficient resources to deal effectively with the poorer areas of the world, which, at least from the economic point of view, are becoming further marginalized. The introduction of the euro as the common currency of much of Western Europe in January 1999, while paving the way for an integrated economic powerhouse, poses economic risks because of varying levels of income and cultural and political differences among the participating nations. The terrorist attacks on the US on 11 September 2001 accentuate a further growing risk to global prosperity, illustrated, for example, by the reallocation of resources away from investment to anti-terrorist programs. The opening of war in March 2003 between a US-led coalition and Iraq added new uncertainties to global economic prospects. (For specific economic developments in each country of the world in 2002, see the individual country entries.) |
| Electricity - consumption | 948.6 million kWh (1999) | 13.93 trillion kWh (2001 est.) |
| Electricity - exports | 0 kWh (1999) | - |
| Electricity - imports | 0 kWh (1999) | - |
| Electricity - production | 1.02 billion kWh (1999) | 14.85 trillion kWh (2001 est.) |
| Electricity - production by source | fossil fuel:
29.9% hydro: 70.1% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (1999) |
fossil fuel: NA%
hydro: NA% nuclear: NA% other: NA% |
| Elevation extremes | lowest point:
Atlantic Ocean 0 m highest point: Mont Iboundji 1,575 m |
lowest point: Bentley Subglacial Trench -2,540 m
note: in the oceanic realm, Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench is the lowest point, lying -10,924 m below the surface of the Pacific Ocean highest point: Mount Everest 8,850 m (1999 est.) |
| Environment - current issues | deforestation; poaching | large areas subject to overpopulation, industrial disasters, pollution (air, water, acid rain, toxic substances), loss of vegetation (overgrazing, deforestation, desertification), loss of wildlife, soil degradation, soil depletion, erosion |
| Environment - international agreements | party to:
Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements |
- |
| Ethnic groups | Bantu tribes including four major tribal groupings (Fang, Eshira, Bapounou, Bateke), other Africans and Europeans 154,000, including 10,700 French and 11,000 persons of dual nationality | - |
| Exchange rates | Communaute Financiere Africaine francs (XAF) per US dollar - 699.21 (January 2001), 711.98 (2000), 615.70 (1999), 589.95 (1998), 583.67 (1997), 511.55 (1996); note - from 1 January 1999, the XAF is pegged to the euro at a rate of 655.957 XAF per euro | - |
| Executive branch | chief of state:
President El Hadj Omar BONGO (since 2 December 1967) head of government: Prime Minister Jean-Francois NTOUTOUME-EMANE (since 23 January 1999) cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the prime minister in consultation with the president elections: president elected by popular vote for a seven-year term; election last held 6 December 1998 (next to be held NA 2005); prime minister appointed by the president election results: President El Hadj Omar BONGO reelected; percent of vote - El Hadj Omar BONGO 66.6%, Pierre MAMBOUNDOU 16.5%, Fr. Paul M'BA-ABESSOLE 13.4% |
- |
| Exports | $3.4 billion (f.o.b., 2000 est.) | 703.9 billion cu m (2001 est.) |
| Exports - commodities | crude oil 75%, timber, manganese, uranium (1998) | the whole range of industrial and agricultural goods and services |
| Exports - partners | US 47%, France 19%, China 8%, Japan 1.3% (1999) | US 17.4%, Germany 7.6%, UK 5.4%, France 5.1%, Japan 4.8%, China 4% (2002) |
| Fiscal year | calendar year | - |
| Flag description | three equal horizontal bands of green (top), yellow, and blue | - |
| GDP | purchasing power parity - $7.7 billion (2000 est.) | GWP (gross world product) - purchasing power parity - $49 trillion (2002 est.) |
| GDP - composition by sector | agriculture:
10% industry: 60% services: 30% (1999 est.) |
agriculture: 4%
industry: 32% services: 64% (2002 est.) |
| GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $6,300 (2000 est.) | purchasing power parity - $7,900 (2002 est.) |
| GDP - real growth rate | 1.2% (2000 est.) | 2.7% (2001 est.) |
| Geographic coordinates | 1 00 S, 11 45 E | - |
| Geography - note | - | the world is now thought to be about 4.55 billion years old, just about one-third of the 13-billion-year age estimated for the universe |
| Highways | total:
7,670 km paved: 629 km (including 30 km of expressways) unpaved: 7,041 km (1996) |
total: NA km
paved: NA km unpaved: NA km |
| Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%:
NA% highest 10%: NA% |
lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA% |
| Illicit drugs | - | cocaine: worldwide, coca is grown on an estimated 205,450 hectares - almost exclusively in South America with 70% in Colombia; potential cocaine production during 2002 is estimated at 938 metric tons (or 1,200 metric tons of export quality cocaine at an average of 78% purity); coca eradication programs continue in Bolivia, Colombia, and Peru, and 292 metric tons of export quality cocaine are documented to have been seized in 2002; consumption of export quality cocaine is estimated to have been 875 metric tons
opiates: cultivation of opium poppy occurred on an estimated 141,213 hectares in 2002 and potentially produced 2,183 metric tons of opium - which conceivably could be converted to the equivalent of 238 metric tons of pure heroin; opium eradication programs have been undertaken in Afghanistan, Burma, Colombia, Mexico, Pakistan, Thailand, and Vietnam, and the annual average for opiates seized worldwide over the past five years (1998-2002) has been 45 metric tons of pure heroin equivalent; estimates for average annual consumption over this time period are 315 metric tons pure heroin equivalent |
| Imports | $1 billion (f.o.b., 2000 est.) | 697.5 billion cu m (2001 est.) |
| Imports - commodities | machinery and equipment, foodstuffs, chemicals, petroleum products, construction materials | the whole range of industrial and agricultural goods and services |
| Imports - partners | France 64%, US 4%, UK 2%, Netherlands 2%, (1999) | US 11.2%, Germany 9.2%, China 7%, Japan 6.8%, France 4.7%, UK 4% (2002) |
| Independence | 17 August 1960 (from France) | - |
| Industrial production growth rate | 2.3% (1995) | 3% (2002 est.) |
| Industries | food and beverage; textile; lumbering and plywood; cement; petroleum extraction and refining; manganese, uranium, and gold mining; chemicals; ship repair | dominated by the onrush of technology, especially in computers, robotics, telecommunications, and medicines and medical equipment; most of these advances take place in OECD nations; only a small portion of non-OECD countries have succeeded in rapidly adjusting to these technological forces; the accelerated development of new industrial (and agricultural) technology is complicating already grim environmental problems |
| Infant mortality rate | 94.91 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.) | total: 51.38 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 53.81 deaths/1,000 live births female: 48.83 deaths/1,000 live births (2003 est.) |
| Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 1.5% (2000 est.) | developed countries 1% to 4% typically; developing countries 5% to 60% typically; national inflation rates vary widely in individual cases, from declining prices in Japan to hyperinflation in several Third World countries |
| International organization participation | ACCT, ACP, AfDB, BDEAC, CCC, CEEAC, CEMAC, ECA, FAO, FZ, G-24, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS (associate), ILO, IMF, IMO, Inmarsat, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, ITU, NAM, OAU, OIC, OPCW, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCL, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO | - |
| Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | 1 (2000) | 10,350 (2000 est.) |
| Irrigated land | 40 sq km (1993 est.) | 2,714,320 sq km (1998 est.) |
| Judicial branch | Supreme Court or Cour Supreme consisting of three chambers - Judicial, Administrative, and Accounts; Constitutional Court; Courts of Appeal; Court of State Security; County Courts | - |
| Labor force | 600,000 | NA |
| Labor force - by occupation | agriculture 60%, services and government 25%, industry and commerce 15% | agriculture NA%, industry NA%, services NA% |
| Land boundaries | total:
2,551 km border countries: Cameroon 298 km, Republic of the Congo 1,903 km, Equatorial Guinea 350 km |
the land boundaries in the world total 250,472 km (not counting shared boundaries twice) |
| Land use | arable land:
1% permanent crops: 1% permanent pastures: 18% forests and woodland: 77% other: 3% (1993 est.) |
arable land: 10.58%
permanent crops: 1% other: 88.42% (1998 est.) |
| Languages | French (official), Fang, Myene, Bateke, Bapounou/Eschira, Bandjabi | Chinese, Mandarin 14.37%, Hindi 6.02%, English 5.61%, Spanish 5.59%, Bengali 3.4%, Portuguese 2.63%, Russian 2.75%, Japanese 2.06%, German, Standard 1.64%, Korean 1.28%, French 1.27% (2000 est.)
note: percents are for "first language" speakers only |
| Legal system | based on French civil law system and customary law; judicial review of legislative acts in Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction | all members of the UN plus Switzerland are parties to the statute that established the International Court of Justice (ICJ) or World Court |
| Legislative branch | bicameral legislature consists of the Senate (91 seats) and the National Assembly or Assemblee Nationale (120 seats); members are elected by direct popular vote to serve five-year terms
elections: National Assembly - last held 15 and 29 December 1996 (next to be held NA December 2001); Senate - last held 26 January and 9 February 1997 (next to be held in January 2002) election results: National Assembly - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - PDG 89, PGP 9, RNB 6, CLR 3, UPG 2, USG 2, independents 4, others 5; Senate - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - PDG 53, RNB 20, PGP 4, ADERE 3, RDP 1, CLR 1, independents 9 |
- |
| Life expectancy at birth | total population:
49.59 years male: 48.47 years female: 50.75 years (2001 est.) |
total population: 63.95 years
male: 62 years female: 70.23 years (2003 est.) |
| Literacy | definition:
age 15 and over can read and write total population: 63.2% male: 73.7% female: 53.3% (1995 est.) |
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 77% male: 83% female: 71% (1995 est.) |
| Location | Western Africa, bordering the Atlantic Ocean at the Equator, between Republic of the Congo and Equatorial Guinea | - |
| Map references | Africa | Physical Map of the World, Political Map of the World, Standard Time Zones of the World |
| Maritime claims | contiguous zone:
24 NM exclusive economic zone: 200 NM territorial sea: 12 NM |
a variety of situations exist, but in general, most countries make the following claims: contiguous zone - 24 NM; continental shelf - 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation, or 200 NM or to the edge of the continental margin; exclusive fishing zone - 200 NM; exclusive economic zone - 200 NM; territorial sea - 12 NM; boundary situations with neighboring states prevent many countries from extending their fishing or economic zones to a full 200 NM; 43 nations and other areas that are landlocked include Afghanistan, Andorra, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bhutan, Bolivia, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Central African Republic, Chad, Czech Republic, Ethiopia, Holy See (Vatican City), Hungary, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Lesotho, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malawi, Mali, Moldova, Mongolia, Nepal, Niger, Paraguay, Rwanda, San Marino, Slovakia, Swaziland, Switzerland, Tajikistan, The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Uzbekistan, West Bank, Zambia, Zimbabwe; two of these, Liechtenstein and Uzbekistan, are doubly landlocked |
| Military branches | Army, Navy, Air Force, Republican Guard (charged with protecting the president and other senior officials), National Gendarmerie, National Police | - |
| Military expenditures - dollar figure | $91 million (FY96) | aggregate real expenditure on arms worldwide in 1999 remained at approximately the 1998 level, about three-quarters of a trillion dollars (1999 est.) |
| Military expenditures - percent of GDP | 1.6% (FY96) | roughly 2% of gross world product (1999 est.) |
| Military manpower - availability | males age 15-49:
281,218 (2001 est.) |
- |
| Military manpower - fit for military service | males age 15-49:
145,062 (2001 est.) |
- |
| Military manpower - military age | 20 years of age | - |
| Military manpower - reaching military age annually | males:
11,304 (2001 est.) |
- |
| National holiday | Founding of the Gabonese Democratic Party (PDG), 12 March (1968) | - |
| Nationality | noun:
Gabonese (singular and plural) adjective: Gabonese |
- |
| Natural hazards | NA | large areas subject to severe weather (tropical cyclones), natural disasters (earthquakes, landslides, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions) |
| Natural resources | petroleum, manganese, uranium, gold, timber, iron ore, hydropower | the rapid depletion of nonrenewable mineral resources, the depletion of forest areas and wetlands, the extinction of animal and plant species, and the deterioration in air and water quality (especially in Eastern Europe, the former USSR, and China) pose serious long-term problems that governments and peoples are only beginning to address |
| Net migration rate | 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.) | - |
| Pipelines | crude oil 270 km; petroleum products 14 km | - |
| Political parties and leaders | African Forum for Reconstruction or FAR [Leon MBOU-YEMBI]; Circle of Liberal Reformers or CLR [General Jean Boniface ASSELE]; Democratic and Republican Alliance or ADERE [Divungui-di-Ndinge DIDJOB]; Gabonese Democratic Party or PDG, former sole party [Simplice Nguedet MANZELA, secretary general]; Gabonese Party for Progress or PGP [Pierre-Louis AGONDJO-OKAWE, president]; Gabonese People's Union or UPG [Pierre MAMBOUNDOU]; Gabonese Socialist Union or USG [Serge MBA BEKALE]; National Rally of Woodcutters (Bucherons) or RNB [Fr. Paul M'BA-ABESSOLE]; People's Unity Party or PUP [Louis Gaston MAYILA]; Rally for Democracy and Progress or RDP [Pierre EMBONI]; Social Democratic Party or PSD [Pierre Claver MAGANGA-MOUSSAVOU] | - |
| Political pressure groups and leaders | NA | - |
| Population | 1,221,175
note: 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 (July 2001 est.) |
6,302,309,691 (July 2003 est.) |
| Population below poverty line | NA% | - |
| Population growth rate | 1.02% (2001 est.) | 1.17% (2003 est.) |
| Ports and harbors | Cap Lopez, Kango, Lambarene, Libreville, Mayumba, Owendo, Port-Gentil | Chiba, Houston, Kawasaki, Kobe, Marseille, Mina' al Ahmadi (Kuwait), New Orleans, New York, Rotterdam, Yokohama |
| Radio broadcast stations | AM 6, FM 7, shortwave 6 (1998) | AM NA, FM NA, shortwave NA |
| Radios | 208,000 (1997) | - |
| Railways | total:
649 km (Gabon State Railways or OCTRA) standard gauge: 649 km 1.435-m gauge; single track (1994) |
total: 1,122,650 km includes about 190,000 to 195,000 km of electrified routes of which 147,760 km are in Europe, 24,509 km in the Far East, 11,050 km in Africa, 4,223 km in South America, and 4,160 km in North America; note - fastest speed in daily service is 300 km/hr attained by France's Societe Nationale des Chemins-de-Fer Francais (SNCF) Le Train a Grande Vitesse (TGV) - Atlantique line
broad gauge: 251,153 km standard gauge: 710,754 km narrow gauge: 239,430 km |
| Religions | Christian 55%-75%, animist, Muslim less than 1% | Christians 32.79% (of which Roman Catholics 17.33%, Protestants 5.62%, Orthodox 3.51%, Anglicans 1.31%), Muslims 19.6%, Hindus 13.31%, Buddhists 5.88%, Sikhs 0.38%, Jews 0.24%, other religions 12.83%, non-religious 12.53%, atheists 2.44% (2001 est.) |
| Sex ratio | at birth:
1.03 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.02 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.98 male(s)/female total population: 1.01 male(s)/female (2001 est.) |
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.02 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.78 male(s)/female total population: 1.01 male(s)/female (2003 est.) |
| Suffrage | 21 years of age; universal | - |
| Telephone system | general assessment:
NA domestic: adequate system of cable, microwave radio relay, tropospheric scatter, radiotelephone communication stations, and a domestic satellite system with 12 earth stations international: satellite earth stations - 3 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) |
general assessment: NA
domestic: NA international: NA |
| Telephones - main lines in use | 37,000 (1997) | NA |
| Telephones - mobile cellular | 9,500 (1997) | NA |
| Television broadcast stations | 4 (plus five low-power repeaters) (1997) | NA |
| Terrain | narrow coastal plain; hilly interior; savanna in east and south | the greatest ocean depth is the Mariana Trench at 10,924 m in the Pacific Ocean |
| Total fertility rate | 3.69 children born/woman (2001 est.) | 2.65 children born/woman (2003 est.) |
| Unemployment rate | 21% (1997 est.) | 30% combined unemployment and underemployment in many non-industrialized countries; developed countries typically 4%-12% unemployment |
| Waterways | 1,600 km (perennially navigable) | - |
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