Compare Gabon (2006) - Tuvalu (2005)

Compare Gabon (2006) z Tuvalu (2005)

	Gabon (2006)	Tuvalu (2005)

Administrative divisions	9 provinces; Estuaire, Haut-Ogooue, Moyen-Ogooue, Ngounie, Nyanga, Ogooue-Ivindo, Ogooue-Lolo, Ogooue-Maritime, Woleu-Ntem	none
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: 30.8% (male 1,823/female 1,756) 15-64 years: 64.2% (male 3,620/female 3,847) 65 years and over: 5.1% (male 229/female 361) (2005 est.)
Agriculture - products	cocoa, coffee, sugar, palm oil, rubber; cattle; okoume (a tropical softwood); fish	coconuts; fish
Airports	56 (2006)	1 (2004 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)	-
Airports - with unpaved runways	total: 45 1,524 to 2,437 m: 7 914 to 1,523 m: 15 under 914 m: 23 (2006)	total: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 (2004 est.)
Area	total: 267,667 sq km land: 257,667 sq km water: 10,000 sq km	total: 26 sq km land: 26 sq km water: 0 sq km
Area - comparative	slightly smaller than Colorado	0.1 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.	In 1974, ethnic differences within the British colony of the Gilbert and Ellice Islands caused the Polynesians of the Ellice Islands to vote for separation from the Micronesians of the Gilbert Islands. The following year, the Ellice Islands became the separate British colony of Tuvalu. Independence was granted in 1978. In 2000, Tuvalu negotiated a contract leasing its Internet domain name ".tv" for $50 million in royalties over the next dozen years.
Birth rate	36.16 births/1,000 population (2006 est.)	21.91 births/1,000 population (2005 est.)
Budget	revenues: $2.463 billion expenditures: $1.618 billion; including capital expenditures of $325 million (2005 est.)	revenues: $22.5 million expenditures: $11.2 million, including capital expenditures of $4.2 million (2000 est.)
Capital	name: Libreville geographic coordinates: 0 23 N, 9 27 E time difference: UTC+1 (6 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)	Funafuti; note - administrative offices are located in Vaiaku Village on Fongafale Islet
Climate	tropical; always hot, humid	tropical; moderated by easterly trade winds (March to November); westerly gales and heavy rain (November to March)
Coastline	885 km	24 km
Constitution	adopted 14 March 1991	1 October 1978
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: Tuvalu former: Ellice Islands note: "Tuvalu" means "group of eight," referring to the country's eight traditionally inhabited islands
Death rate	12.25 deaths/1,000 population (2006 est.)	7.22 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.)
Debt - external	$3.903 billion (2005 est.)	NA
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	the US does not have an embassy in Tuvalu; the US ambassador to Fiji is accredited to Tuvalu
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	Tuvalu does not have an embassy in the US - the country's only diplomatic post is in Fiji - Tuvalu does, however, have a UN office located at 800 2nd Avenue, Suite 400D, New York, New York 10017, telephone: [1] (212) 490-0534
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)	$13 million; note - major donors are Australia, Japan, and the US (1999 est.)
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.	Tuvalu consists of a densely populated, scattered group of nine coral atolls with poor soil. The country has no known mineral resources and few exports. Subsistence farming and fishing are the primary economic activities. Fewer than 1,000 tourists, on average, visit Tuvalu annually. Government revenues largely come from the sale of stamps and coins and worker remittances. About 1,000 Tuvaluans work in Nauru in the phosphate mining industry. Nauru has begun repatriating Tuvaluans, however, as phosphate resources decline. Substantial income is received annually from an international trust fund established in 1987 by Australia, NZ, and the UK and supported also by Japan and South Korea. Thanks to wise investments and conservative withdrawals, this fund has grown from an initial $17 million to over $35 million in 1999. The US government is also a major revenue source for Tuvalu because of payments from a 1988 treaty on fisheries. In an effort to reduce its dependence on foreign aid, the government is pursuing public sector reforms, including privatization of some government functions and personnel cuts of up to 7%. In 1998, Tuvalu began deriving revenue from use of its area code for "900" lines and in 2000, from the lease of its ".tv" Internet domain name. Royalties from these new technology sources could increase substantially over the next decade. With merchandise exports only a fraction of merchandise imports, continued reliance must be placed on fishing and telecommunications license fees, remittances from overseas workers, official transfers, and income from overseas investments.
Electricity - consumption	1.383 billion kWh (2003)	-
Electricity - exports	0 kWh (2003)	-
Electricity - imports	0 kWh (2003)	-
Electricity - production	1.487 billion kWh (2003)	-
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 5 m
Environment - current issues	deforestation; poaching	since there are no streams or rivers and groundwater is not potable, most water needs must be met by catchment systems with storage facilities (the Japanese Government has built one desalination plant and plans to build one other); beachhead erosion because of the use of sand for building materials; excessive clearance of forest undergrowth for use as fuel; damage to coral reefs from the spread of the Crown of Thorns starfish; Tuvalu is very concerned about global increases in greenhouse gas emissions and their effect on rising sea levels, which threaten the country's underground water table; in 2000, the government appealed to Australia and New Zealand to take in Tuvaluans if rising sea levels should make evacuation necessary
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, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements
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 96%, Micronesian 4%
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)	Tuvaluan dollars or Australian dollars per US dollar - 1.3598 (2004), 1.5419 (2003), 1.8406 (2002), 1.9334 (2001), 1.7248 (2000)
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), represented by Governor General Filoimea TELITO (since 15 April 2005) head of government: Prime Minister Maatia TOAFA (since 11 October 2004) cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the governor general on the recommendation of the prime minister elections: the monarch is hereditary; governor general appointed by the monarch on the recommendation of the prime minister; prime minister and deputy prime minister elected by and from the members of Parliament; election last held 11 October 2004 (next to be held following parliamentary elections in 2006) election results: Saufatu SOPOANGA resigned parliamentary seat on 27 August 2004 following no-confidence vote on 25 August 2004; succeeded by Deputy Prime Minister Maatia TOAFA in an acting capacity on 27 August 2004; Maatia TOAFA confirmed Prime Minister in a Parliamentary election (8-7 vote) on 11 October 2004
Exports	NA bbl/day	$1 million f.o.b. (2002)
Exports - commodities	crude oil 77%, timber, manganese, uranium (2001)	copra, fish
Exports - partners	US 53.5%, France 6.4%, China 6.3%, Trinidad and Tobago 4% (2005)	Germany 56.5%, Fiji 14.3%, Italy 10.9%, UK 7.7%, Poland 4.9% (2004)
Fiscal year	calendar year	calendar year
Flag description	three equal horizontal bands of green (top), yellow, and blue	light blue with the flag of the UK in the upper hoist-side quadrant; the outer half of the flag represents a map of the country with nine yellow five-pointed stars symbolizing the nine islands
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 - $1,100 (2000 est.)
GDP - real growth rate	2.9% (2005 est.)	3% (2000 est.)
Geographic coordinates	1 00 S, 11 45 E	8 00 S, 178 00 E
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 the smallest and most remote countries on Earth; six of the coral atolls - Nanumea, Nui, Vaitupu, Nukufetau, Funafuti, and Nukulaelae - have lagoons open to the ocean; Nanumaya and Niutao have landlocked lagoons; Niulakita does not have a lagoon
Highways	-	total: 8 km paved: 0 km unpaved: 8 km (1999 est.)
Household income or consumption by percentage share	lowest 10%: NA% highest 10%: NA%	lowest 10%: NA highest 10%: NA
Imports	NA bbl/day	$79 million c.i.f. (2002)
Imports - commodities	machinery and equipment, foodstuffs, chemicals, construction materials	food, animals, mineral fuels, machinery, manufactured goods
Imports - partners	France 40.6%, US 6.4%, Cameroon 4.2% (2005)	Fiji 50.2%, Japan 18.1%, Australia 9.6%, China 8%, New Zealand 5.5% (2004)
Independence	17 August 1960 (from France)	1 October 1978 (from UK)
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	fishing, tourism, copra
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.)	total: 20.03 deaths/1,000 live births male: 22.9 deaths/1,000 live births female: 17.02 deaths/1,000 live births (2005 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices)	-0.1% (2005 est.)	5% (2000 est.)
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, AsDB, C, FAO, IFRCS (observer), IMO, ITU, OPCW, PIF, Sparteca, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UPU, WHO
Irrigated land	70 sq km (2003)	NA
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	High Court (a chief justice visits twice a year to preside over its sessions; its rulings can be appealed to the Court of Appeal in Fiji); eight Island Courts (with limited jurisdiction)
Labor force	640,000 (2005 est.)	7,000 (2001 est.)
Labor force - by occupation	agriculture: 60% industry: 15% services: 25%	people make a living mainly through exploitation of the sea, reefs, and atolls and from wages sent home by those abroad (mostly workers in the phosphate industry and sailors)
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: 0% permanent crops: 0% other: 100% (2001)
Languages	French (official), Fang, Myene, Nzebi, Bapounou/Eschira, Bandjabi	Tuvaluan, English, Samoan, Kiribati (on the island of Nui)
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	NA
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 Parliament or Fale I Fono, also called House of Assembly (15 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms) elections: last held 25 July 2002 (next to be held NA 2006) election results: percent of vote - NA%; seats - independents 15
Life expectancy at birth	total population: 54.49 years male: 53.21 years female: 55.81 years (2006 est.)	total population: 68.01 years male: 65.79 years female: 70.33 years (2005 est.)
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: NA% male: NA% female: NA%
Location	Western Africa, bordering the Atlantic Ocean at the Equator, between Republic of the Congo and Equatorial Guinea	Oceania, island group consisting of nine coral atolls in the South Pacific Ocean, about one-half of the way from Hawaii to Australia
Map references	Africa	Oceania
Maritime claims	territorial sea: 12 nm contiguous zone: 24 nm exclusive economic zone: 200 nm	territorial sea: 12 nm contiguous zone: 24 nm exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
Merchant marine	registered in other countries: 2 (Cambodia 1, Panama 1) (2006)	total: 23 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 54,993 GRT/86,048 DWT by type: cargo 20, passenger/cargo 1, petroleum tanker 2 foreign-owned: 16 (China 9, Germany 2, Hong Kong 4, Thailand 1) (2005)
Military branches	Army, Navy, Air Force, National Gendarmerie, National Police	no regular military forces; national police force
Military expenditures - dollar figure	$253.5 million (2005 est.)	NA
Military expenditures - percent of GDP	3.4% (2005 est.)	NA
National holiday	Founding of the Gabonese Democratic Party (PDG), 12 March (1968)	Independence Day, 1 October (1978)
Nationality	noun: Gabonese (singular and plural) adjective: Gabonese	noun: Tuvaluan(s) adjective: Tuvaluan
Natural hazards	NA	severe tropical storms are usually rare, but, in 1997, there were three cyclones; low level of islands make them very sensitive to changes in sea level
Natural resources	petroleum, natural gas, diamond, niobium, manganese, uranium, gold, timber, iron ore, hydropower	fish
Net migration rate	-2.65 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2006 est.)	0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.)
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]	there are no political parties but members of Parliament usually align themselves in informal groupings
Political pressure groups and leaders	NA	none
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.)	11,636 (July 2005 est.)
Population below poverty line	NA%	NA
Population growth rate	2.13% (2006 est.)	1.47% (2005 est.)
Ports and harbors	-	Funafuti
Radio broadcast stations	AM 6, FM 7 (and 11 repeaters), shortwave 4 (2001)	AM 1, FM 1, shortwave 0 (2004)
Railways	total: 814 km standard gauge: 814 km 1.435-m gauge (2005)	-
Religions	Christian 55%-75%, animist, Muslim less than 1%	Church of Tuvalu (Congregationalist) 97%, Seventh-Day Adventist 1.4%, Baha'i 1%, other 0.6%
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.)	at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.94 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.63 male(s)/female total population: 0.95 male(s)/female (2005 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: serves particular needs for internal communications domestic: radiotelephone communications between islands international: country code - 688; international calls can be made by satellite
Telephones - main lines in use	39,100 (2005)	700 (2002)
Telephones - mobile cellular	649,800 (2005)	0 (2004)
Television broadcast stations	4 (plus four low-power repeaters) (2001)	0 (2004)
Terrain	narrow coastal plain; hilly interior; savanna in east and south	very low-lying and narrow coral atolls
Total fertility rate	4.74 children born/woman (2006 est.)	3 children born/woman (2005 est.)
Unemployment rate	21% (1997 est.)	NA%
Waterways	1,600 km (310 km on Ogooue River) (2005)	-

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