Gabon (2006) | Niue (2001) | |
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Administrative divisions | 9 provinces; Estuaire, Haut-Ogooue, Moyen-Ogooue, Ngounie, Nyanga, Ogooue-Ivindo, Ogooue-Lolo, Ogooue-Maritime, Woleu-Ntem | none; note - there are no first-order administrative divisions as defined by the US Government, but there are 14 villages each with its own village council whose members are elected and serve three-year terms |
Age structure | 0-14 years: 42.1% (male 300,914/female 299,141)
15-64 years: 53.9% (male 383,137/female 384,876) 65 years and over: 4% (male 23,576/female 33,262) (2006 est.) |
0-14 years:
NA% 15-64 years: NA% 65 years and over: NA% |
Agriculture - products | cocoa, coffee, sugar, palm oil, rubber; cattle; okoume (a tropical softwood); fish | coconuts, passion fruit, honey, limes, taro, yams, cassava (tapioca), sweet potatoes; pigs, poultry, beef cattle |
Airports | 56 (2006) | 1 (2000 est.) |
Airports - with paved runways | total: 11
over 3,047 m: 1 2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 8 914 to 1,523 m: 1 (2006) |
total:
1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 (2000 est.) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | total: 45
1,524 to 2,437 m: 7 914 to 1,523 m: 15 under 914 m: 23 (2006) |
- |
Area | total: 267,667 sq km
land: 257,667 sq km water: 10,000 sq km |
total:
260 sq km land: 260 sq km water: 0 sq km |
Area - comparative | slightly smaller than Colorado | 1.5 times the size of Washington, DC |
Background | Only two autocratic presidents have ruled Gabon since independence from France in 1960. The current president of Gabon, El Hadj Omar BONGO Ondimba - one of the longest-serving heads of state in the world - has dominated the contry's political scene for almost four decades. President BONGO introduced a nominal multiparty system and a new constitution in the early 1990s. However, allegations of electoral fraud during local elections in 2002-03 and the presidential elections in 2005 have exposed the weaknesses of formal political structures in Gabon. Gabon's political opposition remains weak, divided, and financially dependent on the current regime. Despite political conditions, a small population, abundant natural resources, and considerable foreign support have helped make Gabon one of the more prosperous and stable African countries. | Niue's remoteness, as well as cultural and linguistic differences between its Polynesian inhabitants and those of the rest of the Cook Islands, have caused it to be separately administered. The population of the island continues to drop (from a peak of 5,200 in 1966 to 2,100 in 2000) with substantial emigration to New Zealand. |
Birth rate | 36.16 births/1,000 population (2006 est.) | NA births/1,000 population |
Budget | revenues: $2.463 billion
expenditures: $1.618 billion; including capital expenditures of $325 million (2005 est.) |
revenues:
$NA expenditures: $NA, including capital expenditures of $NA |
Capital | name: Libreville
geographic coordinates: 0 23 N, 9 27 E time difference: UTC+1 (6 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) |
Alofi |
Climate | tropical; always hot, humid | tropical; modified by southeast trade winds |
Coastline | 885 km | 64 km |
Constitution | adopted 14 March 1991 | 19 October 1974 (Niue Constitution Act) |
Country name | conventional long form: Gabonese Republic
conventional short form: Gabon local long form: Republique gabonaise local short form: Gabon |
conventional long form:
none conventional short form: Niue former: Savage Island |
Currency | - | New Zealand dollar (NZD) |
Death rate | 12.25 deaths/1,000 population (2006 est.) | NA deaths/1,000 population |
Debt - external | $3.903 billion (2005 est.) | $NA |
Dependency status | - | self-governing in free association with New Zealand; Niue fully responsible for internal affairs; New Zealand retains responsibility for external affairs |
Diplomatic representation from the US | chief of mission: Ambassador Barrie R. WALKLEY
embassy: Boulevard du Bord de Mer, Libreville mailing address: Centre Ville, B. P. 4000, Libreville telephone: [241] 76 20 03 through 76 20 04, after hours - 74 34 92 FAX: [241] 74 55 07 |
none (self-governing territory in free association with New Zealand) |
Diplomatic representation in the US | chief of mission: Ambassador Jules Marius OGOUEBANDJA
chancery: Suite 200, 2034 20th Street NW, Washington, DC 20009 telephone: [1] (202) 797-1000 FAX: [1] (202) 332-0668 consulate(s): New York |
none (self-governing territory in free association with New Zealand) |
Disputes - international | UN presses Equatorial Guinea and Gabon to resolve the sovereignty dispute over Gabon-occupied Mbane Island and to establish a maritime boundary in hydrocarbon-rich Corisco Bay; only a few hundred out of the 20,000 Republic of the Congo refugees who fled militia fighting in 2000 remain in Gabon | none |
Economic aid - recipient | $331 million (1995) | $8.3 million (1995) |
Economy - overview | Gabon enjoys a per capita income four times that of most of sub-Saharan African nations. 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, and manganese exports. Despite the abundance of natural wealth, poor fiscal management hobbles the economy. Devaluation of its currency by 50% in 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 mandated progress in privatization and fiscal discipline. France provided additional financial support in January 1997 after Gabon 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. In December 2000, Gabon signed a new agreement with the Paris Club to reschedule its official debt. A follow-up bilateral repayment agreement with the US was signed in December 2001. Gabon signed a 14-month Stand-By Arrangement with the IMF in May 2004, and received Paris Club debt rescheduling later that year. Short-term progress depends on an upbeat world economy and fiscal and other adjustments in line with IMF policies. | Government expenditures regularly exceed revenues, and the shortfall is made up by critically needed grants from New Zealand that are used to pay wages to public employees. Niue has cut government expenditures by reducing the public service by almost half. The agricultural sector consists mainly of subsistence gardening, although some cash crops are grown for export. Industry consists primarily of small factories to process passion fruit, lime oil, honey, and coconut cream. The sale of postage stamps to foreign collectors is an important source of revenue. The island in recent years has suffered a serious loss of population because of migration of Niueans to New Zealand. Efforts to increase GDP include the promotion of tourism and a financial services industry. |
Electricity - consumption | 1.383 billion kWh (2003) | 2.8 million kWh (1999) |
Electricity - exports | 0 kWh (2003) | 0 kWh (1999) |
Electricity - imports | 0 kWh (2003) | 0 kWh (1999) |
Electricity - production | 1.487 billion kWh (2003) | 3 million kWh (1999) |
Electricity - production by source | - | fossil fuel:
100% hydro: 0% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (1999) |
Elevation extremes | lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m
highest point: Mont Iboundji 1,575 m |
lowest point:
Pacific Ocean 0 m highest point: unnamed location near Mutalau settlement 68 m |
Environment - current issues | deforestation; poaching | increasing attention to conservationist practices to counter loss of soil fertility from traditional slash and burn agriculture |
Environment - international agreements | party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements |
party to:
Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification signed, but not ratified: Law of the Sea |
Ethnic groups | Bantu tribes, including four major tribal groupings (Fang, Bapounou, Nzebi, Obamba); other Africans and Europeans, 154,000, including 10,700 French and 11,000 persons of dual nationality | Polynesian (with some 200 Europeans, Samoans, and Tongans) |
Exchange rates | Communaute Financiere Africaine francs (XAF) per US dollar - 527.47 (2005), 528.29 (2004), 581.2 (2003), 696.99 (2002), 733.04 (2001) | New Zealand dollars per US dollar - 2.2502 (January 2001), 2.1863 (2000), 1.8886 (1999), 1.8629 (1998), 1.5082 (1997), 1.4543 (1996) |
Executive branch | chief of state: President El Hadj Omar BONGO Ondimba (since 2 December 1967)
head of government: Prime Minister Jean Eyeghe NDONG (since 20 January 2006) 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 (no term limits); election last held 27 November 2005 (next to be held in 2012); prime minister appointed by the president election results: President El Hadj Omar BONGO Ondimba reelected; percent of vote - El Hadj Omar BONGO Ondimba 79.2%, Pierre MAMBOUNDOU 13.6%, Zacharie MYBOTO 6.6% |
chief of state:
Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952); the UK and New Zealand are represented by New Zealand High Commissioner John BRYAN (since NA May 2000) head of government: Premier Sani LAKATANI (since 1 April 1999) cabinet: Cabinet consists of the premier and three ministers elections: the monarch is hereditary; premier elected by the Legislative Assembly for a three-year term; election last held 19 March 1999 (next to be held NA March 2002) election results: Sani LAKATANI elected premier; percent of Legislative Assembly vote - NA% |
Exports | NA bbl/day | $117,500 (f.o.b., 1989) |
Exports - commodities | crude oil 77%, timber, manganese, uranium (2001) | canned coconut cream, copra, honey, passion fruit products, pawpaws, root crops, limes, footballs, stamps, handicrafts |
Exports - partners | US 53.5%, France 6.4%, China 6.3%, Trinidad and Tobago 4% (2005) | NZ 89%, Fiji, Cook Islands, Australia |
Fiscal year | calendar year | 1 April - 31 March |
Flag description | three equal horizontal bands of green (top), yellow, and blue | yellow with the flag of the UK in the upper hoist-side quadrant; the flag of the UK bears five yellow five-pointed stars - a large one on a blue disk in the center and a smaller one on each arm of the bold red cross |
GDP | - | purchasing power parity - $4.5 million (1997 est.) |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: 6.1%
industry: 59.2% services: 34.8% (2005 est.) |
agriculture:
NA% industry: NA% services: NA% |
GDP - per capita | - | purchasing power parity - $2,800 (1997 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | 2.9% (2005 est.) | NA% |
Geographic coordinates | 1 00 S, 11 45 E | 19 02 S, 169 52 W |
Geography - note | a small population and oil and mineral reserves have helped Gabon become one of Africa's wealthier countries; in general, these circumstances have allowed the country to maintain and conserve its pristine rain forest and rich biodiversity | one of world's largest coral islands |
Highways | - | total:
234 km paved: 86 km unpaved: 148 km (106 km of which is access and plantation road) (2001) |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA% |
lowest 10%:
NA% highest 10%: NA% |
Imports | NA bbl/day | $4.1 million (c.i.f., 1989) |
Imports - commodities | machinery and equipment, foodstuffs, chemicals, construction materials | food, live animals, manufactured goods, machinery, fuels, lubricants, chemicals, drugs |
Imports - partners | France 40.6%, US 6.4%, Cameroon 4.2% (2005) | NZ 59%, Fiji 20%, Japan 13%, Samoa, Australia, US |
Independence | 17 August 1960 (from France) | on 19 October 1974, Niue became a self-governing parliamentary government in free association with New Zealand |
Industrial production growth rate | 1.6% (2002 est.) | NA% |
Industries | petroleum extraction and refining; manganese, gold; chemicals, ship repair, food and beverages, textiles, lumbering and plywood, cement | tourism, handicrafts, food processing |
Infant mortality rate | total: 54.51 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 63.65 deaths/1,000 live births female: 45.1 deaths/1,000 live births (2006 est.) |
NA deaths/1,000 live births |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | -0.1% (2005 est.) | 1% (1995) |
International organization participation | ACCT, ACP, AfDB, AU, BDEAC, CEMAC, FAO, FZ, G-24, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ITU, MIGA, NAM, OIC, OIF, OPCW, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNMIS, UPU, WCL, WCO, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTO | ACP, ESCAP (associate), FAO, Intelsat (nonsignatory user), Sparteca, SPC, SPF, UNESCO, WHO, WMO |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | - | 1 (2000) |
Irrigated land | 70 sq km (2003) | NA sq km |
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 | Supreme Court of New Zealand; High Court of Niue |
Labor force | 640,000 (2005 est.) | 450 (1992 est.) |
Labor force - by occupation | agriculture: 60%
industry: 15% services: 25% |
most work on family plantations; paid work exists only in government service, small industry, and the Niue Development Board |
Land boundaries | total: 2,551 km
border countries: Cameroon 298 km, Republic of the Congo 1,903 km, Equatorial Guinea 350 km |
0 km |
Land use | arable land: 1.21%
permanent crops: 0.64% other: 98.15% (2005) |
arable land:
19% permanent crops: 8% permanent pastures: 4% forests and woodland: 19% other: 50% (1993 est.) |
Languages | French (official), Fang, Myene, Nzebi, Bapounou/Eschira, Bandjabi | Polynesian closely related to Tongan and Samoan, English |
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 | English common law |
Legislative branch | bicameral legislature consists of the Senate (91 seats; members elected by members of municipal councils and departmental assemblies) and the National Assembly or Assemblee Nationale (120 seats; members are elected by direct, popular vote to serve five-year terms)
elections: Senate - last held 26 January and 9 February 2003 (next to be held by January 2009); National Assembly - last held 9 and 23 December 2001 (next to be held December 2006) election results: Senate - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - PDG 53, RNB 20, PGP 4, ADERE 3, RDP 1, CLR 1, independents 9; National Assembly - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - PDG 86, RNB-RPG 8, PGP 3, ADERE 3, CLR 2, PUP 1, PSD 1, independents 13, others 3 |
unicameral Legislative Assembly (20 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve three-year terms; six elected from a common roll and 14 are village representatives)
elections: last held 19 March 1999 (next to be held NA March 2002) election results: percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - NPP 9, independents 11 |
Life expectancy at birth | total population: 54.49 years
male: 53.21 years female: 55.81 years (2006 est.) |
total population:
NA years male: NA years female: NA years |
Literacy | definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 63.2% male: 73.7% female: 53.3% (1995 est.) |
definition:
NA total population: 95% male: NA% female: NA% |
Location | Western Africa, bordering the Atlantic Ocean at the Equator, between Republic of the Congo and Equatorial Guinea | Oceania, island in the South Pacific Ocean, east of Tonga |
Map references | Africa | Oceania |
Maritime claims | territorial sea: 12 nm
contiguous zone: 24 nm exclusive economic zone: 200 nm |
exclusive economic zone:
200 NM territorial sea: 12 NM |
Merchant marine | registered in other countries: 2 (Cambodia 1, Panama 1) (2006) | none (2000 est.) |
Military - note | - | defense is the responsibility of New Zealand |
Military branches | Army, Navy, Air Force, National Gendarmerie, National Police | Police Force |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | $253.5 million (2005 est.) | - |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | 3.4% (2005 est.) | - |
National holiday | Founding of the Gabonese Democratic Party (PDG), 12 March (1968) | Waitangi Day (Treaty of Waitangi established British sovereignty over New Zealand), 6 February (1840) |
Nationality | noun: Gabonese (singular and plural)
adjective: Gabonese |
noun:
Niuean(s) adjective: Niuean |
Natural hazards | NA | typhoons |
Natural resources | petroleum, natural gas, diamond, niobium, manganese, uranium, gold, timber, iron ore, hydropower | fish, arable land |
Net migration rate | -2.65 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2006 est.) | NA migrant(s)/1,000 population |
Pipelines | gas 272 km; oil 1,354 km (2006) | - |
Political parties and leaders | Circle of Liberal Reformers or CLR [General Jean Boniface ASSELE]; Congress for Democracy and Justice or CDJ [Jules Aristide Bourdes OGOULIGUENDE]; Democratic and Republican Alliance or ADERE [Divungui-di-Ndinge DIDJOB]; Gabonese Democratic Party or PDG [Simplice Nguedet MANZELA] (former sole party); Gabonese Party for Progress or PGP [Pierre-Louis AGONDJO-OKAWE]; National Rally of Woodcutters or RNB; National Rally of Woodcutters-Rally for Gabon or RNB-RPG (Bucherons) [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]; Union for Democracy and Social Integration or UDIS; Union of Gabonese People or UPG [Pierre MAMBOUNDOU] | Niue People's Action Party or NPP [Sani LAKATANI] |
Political pressure groups and leaders | NA | NA |
Population | 1,424,906
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 2006 est.) |
2,124 (July 2001 est.) |
Population below poverty line | NA% | NA% |
Population growth rate | 2.13% (2006 est.) | 0.5% (2001 est.) |
Ports and harbors | - | none; offshore anchorage only |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 6, FM 7 (and 11 repeaters), shortwave 4 (2001) | AM 1, FM 1, shortwave 0 (1998) |
Radios | - | 1,000 (1997) |
Railways | total: 814 km
standard gauge: 814 km 1.435-m gauge (2005) |
0 km |
Religions | Christian 55%-75%, animist, Muslim less than 1% | Ekalesia Niue (Niuean Church - a Protestant church closely related to the London Missionary Society) 75%, Latter-Day Saints 10%, other 15% (mostly Roman Catholic, Jehovah's Witnesses, Seventh-Day Adventist) |
Sex ratio | at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.01 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.71 male(s)/female total population: 0.99 male(s)/female (2006 est.) |
- |
Suffrage | 21 years of age; universal | 18 years of age; universal |
Telephone system | general assessment: adequate service by African standards and improving with the help of the growing mobile cell system
domestic: adequate system of cable, microwave radio relay, tropospheric scatter, radiotelephone communication stations, and a domestic satellite system with 12 earth stations international: country code - 241; satellite earth stations - 3 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean); fiber optic submarine cable (SAT-3/WASC) provides connectivity to Europe and Asia |
general assessment:
primitive system domestic: single-line telephone system connects all villages on island international: NA |
Telephones - main lines in use | 39,100 (2005) | 376 (1991) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 649,800 (2005) | 0 (1991) |
Television broadcast stations | 4 (plus four low-power repeaters) (2001) | 1 (1997) |
Terrain | narrow coastal plain; hilly interior; savanna in east and south | steep limestone cliffs along coast, central plateau |
Total fertility rate | 4.74 children born/woman (2006 est.) | NA children born/woman |
Unemployment rate | 21% (1997 est.) | NA% |
Waterways | 1,600 km (310 km on Ogooue River) (2005) | none |