FAX: 74 55 07

FAX: (202) 332-0668

consulate(s): New York

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: 76 20 03 through 76 20 04, 74 34 92

Flag description: three equal horizontal bands of green (top), yellow, and blue

Gabon Economy

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.

GDP: purchasing power parity - $7.7 billion (2000 est.)

GDP - real growth rate: 1.2% (2000 est.)

GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $6,300 (2000 est.)

GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 10%

industry: 60%

services: 30% (1999 est.)

Population below poverty line: NA%

Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%: NA%

highest 10%: NA%

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 1.5% (2000 est.)

Labor force: 600,000

Labor force - by occupation: agriculture 60%, services and government 25%, industry and commerce 15%

Unemployment rate: 21% (1997 est.)

Budget: revenues: $1.5 billion

expenditures: $1.3 billion, including capital expenditures of $302 million (1996 est.)

Industries: food and beverage; textile; lumbering and plywood; cement; petroleum extraction and refining; manganese, uranium, and gold mining; chemicals; ship repair

Industrial production growth rate: 2.3% (1995)

Electricity - production: 1.02 billion kWh (1999)

Electricity - production by source: fossil fuel: 29.9%

hydro: 70.1%

nuclear: 0%

other: 0% (1999)

Electricity - consumption: 948.6 million kWh (1999)

Electricity - exports: 0 kWh (1999)

Electricity - imports: 0 kWh (1999)

Agriculture - products: cocoa, coffee, sugar, palm oil, rubber; cattle; okoume (a tropical softwood); fish

Exports: $3.4 billion (f.o.b., 2000 est.)

Exports - commodities: crude oil 75%, timber, manganese, uranium (1998)

Exports - partners: US 47%, France 19%, China 8%, Japan 1.3% (1999)

Imports: $1 billion (f.o.b., 2000 est.)

Imports - commodities: machinery and equipment, foodstuffs, chemicals, petroleum products, construction materials

Imports - partners: France 64%, US 4%, UK 2%, Netherlands 2%, (1999)

Debt - external: $3.9 billion (2000 est.)

Economic aid - recipient: $331 million (1995)

Currency: Communaute Financiere Africaine franc (XAF); note - responsible authority is the Bank of the Central African States

Currency code: XAF

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

Fiscal year: calendar year

Gabon Communications

Telephones - main lines in use: 37,000 (1997)

Telephones - mobile cellular: 9,500 (1997)

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)

Radio broadcast stations: AM 6, FM 7, shortwave 6 (1998)

Radios: 208,000 (1997)

Television broadcast stations: 4 (plus five low-power repeaters) (1997)

Televisions: 63,000 (1997)

Internet country code: .ga

Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 1 (2000)

Internet users: 5,000 (2000)

Gabon Transportation

Railways: total: 649 km (Gabon State Railways or OCTRA)

standard gauge: 649 km 1.435-m gauge; single track (1994)

Highways: total: 7,670 km

paved: 629 km (including 30 km of expressways)

unpaved: 7,041 km (1996)

Waterways: 1,600 km (perennially navigable)

Pipelines: crude oil 270 km; petroleum products 14 km

Ports and harbors: Cap Lopez, Kango, Lambarene, Libreville, Mayumba,
Owendo, Port-Gentil

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.)

Gabon Military

Military branches: Army, Navy, Air Force, Republican Guard (charged with protecting the president and other senior officials), National Gendarmerie, National Police

Military manpower - military age: 20 years of age

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 - reaching military age annually: males: 11,304 (2001 est.)

Military expenditures - dollar figure: $91 million (FY96)

Military expenditures - percent of GDP: 1.6% (FY96)

Gabon Transnational Issues

Disputes - international: maritime boundary dispute with Equatorial
Guinea because of disputed sovereignty over islands in Corisco Bay

@Gambia, The

Gambia, The Introduction

Background: The Gambia gained its independence from the UK in 1965; it formed a short-lived federation of Senegambia with Senegal between 1982 and 1989. In 1991 the two nations signed a friendship and cooperation treaty. A military coup in 1994 overthrew the president and banned political activity, but a new 1996 constitution and presidential elections, followed by parliamentary balloting in 1997, have completed a nominal return to civilian rule.

Gambia, The Geography

Location: Western Africa, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean and
Senegal

Geographic coordinates: 13 28 N, 16 34 W

Map references: Africa

Area: total: 11,300 sq km

land: 10,000 sq km

water: 1,300 sq km

Area - comparative: slightly less than twice the size of Delaware

Land boundaries: total: 740 km

border countries: Senegal 740 km

Coastline: 80 km

Maritime claims: contiguous zone: 18 NM

continental shelf: not specified

exclusive fishing zone: 200 NM

territorial sea: 12 NM

Climate: tropical; hot, rainy season (June to November); cooler, dry season (November to May)

Terrain: flood plain of the Gambia river flanked by some low hills

Elevation extremes: lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m

highest point: unnamed location 53 m

Natural resources: fish

Land use: arable land: 18%

permanent crops: 0%

permanent pastures: 9%

forests and woodland: 28%

other: 45% (1993 est.)

Irrigated land: 150 sq km (1993 est.)

Natural hazards: drought (rainfall has dropped by 30% in the last 30 years)

Environment - current issues: deforestation; desertification; water-borne diseases prevalent

Environment - international agreements: party to: Biodiversity,
Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous
Wastes, Law of the Sea, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection,
Ship Pollution, Wetlands

signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

Geography - note: almost an enclave of Senegal; smallest country on the continent of Africa

Gambia, The People

Population: 1,411,205 (July 2001 est.)

Age structure: 0-14 years: 45.22% (male 320,458; female 317,647)

15-64 years: 52.13% (male 364,900; female 370,717)

65 years and over: 2.65% (male 19,660; female 17,823) (2001 est.)

Population growth rate: 3.14% (2001 est.)

Birth rate: 41.76 births/1,000 population (2001 est.)

Death rate: 12.92 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.)

Net migration rate: 2.59 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.)

Sex ratio: at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female

under 15 years: 1.01 male(s)/female

15-64 years: 0.98 male(s)/female

65 years and over: 1.1 male(s)/female

total population: 1 male(s)/female (2001 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 77.84 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.)

Life expectancy at birth: total population: 53.59 years

male: 51.65 years

female: 55.58 years (2001 est.)

Total fertility rate: 5.68 children born/woman (2001 est.)

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: 1.95% (1999 est.)

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: 13,000 (1999 est.)

HIV/AIDS - deaths: 1,400 (1999 est.)

Nationality: noun: Gambian(s)

adjective: Gambian

Ethnic groups: African 99% (Mandinka 42%, Fula 18%, Wolof 16%, Jola 10%, Serahuli 9%, other 4%), non-African 1%

Religions: Muslim 90%, Christian 9%, indigenous beliefs 1%

Languages: English (official), Mandinka, Wolof, Fula, other indigenous vernaculars

Literacy: definition: age 15 and over can read and write

total population: 47.5%

male: 58.4%

female: 37.1% (2001 est.)

Gambia, The Government

Country name: conventional long form: Republic of The Gambia

conventional short form: The Gambia

Government type: republic under multiparty democratic rule

Capital: Banjul

Administrative divisions: 5 divisions and 1 city*; Banjul*, Lower
River, Central River, North Bank, Upper River, Western

Independence: 18 February 1965 (from UK)

National holiday: Independence Day, 18 February (1965)

Constitution: 24 April 1970; suspended July 1994; rewritten and approved by national referendum 8 August 1996; reestablished in January 1997

Legal system: based on a composite of English common law, Koranic law, and customary law; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal

Executive branch: chief of state: President Yahya A. J. J. JAMMEH (since 18 October 1996); Vice President Isatou Njie SAIDY (since 20 March 1997); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government

head of government: President Yahya A. J. J. JAMMEH (since 18 October 1996); Vice President Isatou Njie SAIDY (since 20 March 1997); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government

cabinet: Cabinet is appointed by the president

elections: the president is elected by popular vote for a five-year term; the number of terms is not restricted; election last held 26 September 1996 (next to be held NA October 2001)

election results: Yahya A. J. J. JAMMEH elected president; percent of vote - Yahya A. J. J. JAMMEH 55.8%, Ousainou DARBOE 35.8%

Legislative branch: unicameral National Assembly (49 seats; 45 elected by popular vote, 4 appointed by the president; members serve five-year terms)

elections: last popular election held 2 January 1997 (next to be held NA January 2002)

election results: percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - APRC 33, UDP 7, NRP 2, PDOIS 1, independents 2

Judicial branch: Supreme Court

Political parties and leaders: Alliance for Patriotic Reorientation
and Construction or APRC [Yahya A. J. J. JAMMEH]; National
Reconciliation Party or NRP [Hamat N. K. BAH]; People's Democratic
Organization for Independence and Socialism or PDOIS [Sidia JATTA];
United Democratic Party or UDP [Ousainou DARBOE]

note: in August 1996 the government banned the following from participation in the elections of 1996: People's Progressive Party or PPP [former President Dawda K. JAWARA (in exile)], and two opposition parties - the National Convention Party or NCP [former Vice President Sheriff DIBBA] and the Gambian People's Party or GPP [Hassan Musa CAMARA]

Political pressure groups and leaders: NA

International organization participation: ACP, AfDB, C, CCC, ECA,
ECOWAS, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC,
IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Intelsat (nonsignatory user), Interpol, IOC,
ITU, NAM, OAU, OIC, OPCW, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNMEE, UPU,
WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO

Diplomatic representation in the US: chief of mission: Ambassador
John P. BOJANG

chancery: Suite 1000, 1155 15th Street NW, Washington, DC 20005

telephone: (202) 785-1399