Gabon: History, Politics, Population, and Geography
Created: 12/18/2021, 7:33 PM
People in a market in Libreville © Lou Jones / IMAGO
From the former French colony to the aspiring emerging country - Gabon's recent history has been relatively positive despite many challenges.
That is why the state on the west coast of Africa is a popular destination not only for internal migration, but also for tourists who want to get to know Gabon's natural beauties.
Libreville - It was not until 1960 that the former French colonial area of Gabon was granted independence.
Since then, a lot has changed in the West African state, which is only about half the size of Spain.
Thanks to the democracy enshrined in the constitution, Gabon is considered stable and has as yet untapped economic potential.
Gabon: dynamic history and development since independence
Little is known about Gabon's early history - which is also due to the nature of the country.
Most of the area of today's state was already covered by dense tropical forest in pre-Christian times, so that larger political units never emerged.
Prehistoric and early historians assume that Gabon was only sparsely populated, probably by ethnic San or pygmies.
Only around 1000 AD did other ethnic groups immigrate, mainly from the Bantu group.
The story becomes tangible from the 15th century.
Late 15th century to early 19th century
The inhabitants had contact with Europeans as early as the end of the 15th century, when first Portuguese, then English, French and Dutch came to the coast of the country to do business.
In addition to tropical timber and ivory, slaves were bought from the inhabitants of the coast, and the retail chains reached into the interior of the country.
Formal colonization has not yet taken place.
France as protecting power from 1839
There was no overarching, larger state structure in Gabon, and so from 1839 the French were able to gradually conclude “protection treaties” with local tribal chiefs.
The ostensible reason for the increased presence was the suppression of the slave trade.
Accordingly, today's capital of Gabon emerged from 1849 under the name Libreville as a refuge for released slaves.
Formal colony from 1889
A comprehensive development and use of the area of Gabon by the French protecting power did not initially take place, and the exploration of the interior remained rather summary.
Formally, the French colony was declared relatively late in 1886. The demarcation of the Spanish and German claim areas, namely Guinea and Cameroon, took place in 1900 - Gabon became the “French Congo” together with what is now the Congo.
Colonial state and rubber supplier
For the inhabitants of the country, the status quo was particularly noticeable in the increased pressure on rubber production, which for the colonial rulers was the most important product of the African state.
In order to meet the desired production goals, forced labor was often used.
Because of the ethnic diversity, the uprisings never really took off.
Independence 1960
After the two world wars, Gabon was unable to shake off its colonial status, but in 1944 during the historically significant conference in Brazzaville (Congo), like other African properties, it received the right to vote and its own members in the National Assembly.
There were independence movements as early as the 1940s and then increasingly in the 1950s, until the country formally shook off French rule in 1960.
Gabon: geography and demography of the state
Even today, Gabon is mainly covered by tropical rainforest, some of which stretch as far as the Atlantic Ocean and are protected by the establishment of various national parks.
African savannah landscapes can also be found, but only in the east on the border with the Congo.
Gabon is crossed by smaller and larger rivers.
The most important of them is the Ogooué with its tributaries, which is also a main artery.
Lakes and lagoons line the coastal plain, which rises inland to form a highland.
The exact height of the mountains of Gabon has still not been adequately researched due to the inaccessible geography.
The state's biodiversity is enormous - in addition to great apes, forest elephants and various antelope species live in Gabon, and turtles and whales can be found on the coasts.
The fauna, which should be preserved thanks to the large national parks, is just as rich.
The country is sparsely populated and central Gabon is almost completely deserted.
Agriculture, especially in the coastal plain, consists of subsistence farming with sweet potatoes, cassava and other roots, for example, oil palms, coffee and cocoa are particularly important for export.
Young population, still very poor
According to estimates from 2020, Gabon has a total of little more than two million inhabitants, who are spread over around 40 different ethnic groups.
In addition to the catch, which make up almost a third of the population, the Mbete and the Bapunu are particularly large ethnic groups, each with around 15 percent.
Most Gabonese are ethnic Bantu, the languages are also Bantu languages.
French is widely spoken.
Since Gabon has considerable income from oil deposits and only has a small population, the government has been able to successfully reduce the birth rate since independence - at 3.9 children per woman, it is low by African standards.
The drinking water supply is also good and reaches around 93 percent of the population.
Around a third of people are 15 years old or less, life expectancy is 65 years and thus higher than in comparable neighboring countries.
The expansion of the health system has progressed so far that more than 80 percent of all births receive medical care.
Despite the country's resources, which give Gabon a certain degree of prosperity and also have an impact on demographics, the imbalance is large - every third inhabitant lives in poverty.
This should change in the coming years, as Gabon wants to achieve the status of an emerging country.
The state of Gabon: economy with as yet unrealized potential
Oil is one of the pillars of Gabon's economy, but phasing out oil and protecting the environment and climate is a government priority. In addition to the oil deposits, there are other, sometimes large, raw material deposits: In addition to tropical wood, these include minerals such as gold, manganese and uranium, as well as some coveted rare earths such as niobium. Most of the mineral deposits are known, but not yet developed, and should gradually compensate for the declining oil production.
Gabon aims to make the leap from developing to emerging country by 2025.
In order to achieve this goal, the raw material deposits are to be processed or refined in a first stage in the country.
A processing industry was also created for tropical wood, and the export of unprocessed wood has been stopped for about a decade.
For the ambitious development agenda, Gabon is hoping for investments from abroad - not only from France, but also from the USA, China and India.
There are also collaborations with Turkey, Morocco and South Korea.
Gabon: Democracy in the State as a Family Policy
Democracy has been anchored in the constitution as a form of government since independence. The state institutions and the administrative structures were designed on the French model, with two large parties forming the political landscape. The country's first president was Leon M'ba, a former member of the independence movement - he would remain in power until his death in 1966. Omar Bongo became president and remained president for over 40 years due to a constitutional amendment that automatically raised the vice president to office in such a situation. His endless terms of office were riddled with elections as well as repeated coup attempts.
After Omar Bongo's death, a transitional government was installed and elections were held, which the son of the late head of state, Ali-Ben Bongo Ondimba, won just ahead of a representative of the opposition party.
Despite a stroke in 2018 and subsequent inpatient treatment abroad, the president, who was born in 1959, does not want to withdraw from politics yet.