|
Gabon, officially the Gabonese Republic, is a country in
west central Africa. It borders on Equatorial Guinea, Cameroon,
Republic of the Congo and the Gulf of Guinea. Since its independence
from France on August 17, 1960, the Republic has been ruled by only two
autocratic Presidents; the incumbent El Hadj Omar Bongo Ondimba has
been in power since 1967 and is currently (2007) Africa's longest-serving
Head of State. Gabon introduced a multiparty system and a new
democratic 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 most
prosperous countries in the region. Its coat of arms shows two jungle
cats representing their prided animals.
Gabon
is located on the Atlantic coast of central Africa. Located on the
equator, Gabon has an equatorial climate with an extensive system of
rainforests covering 85% of the country. There are three distinct
regions: the coastal plains (ranging between 20 to 300 km from the
ocean's shore), the mountains (the Cristal Mountains to the northeast
of Libreville, the Chaillu Massif in the centre, culminating at 1575 m
with Mont Iboundji), and the savanna in the east. The coastal plains
form a large section of the World Wildlife Fund's Atlantic Equatorial
coastal forests ecoregion and contain patches of Central African
mangroves especially on the Muni River estuary on the border with
Equatorial Guinea.
 Gabon's
largest river is the Ogooué which is 1200 km long. Gabon has three
karst areas where there are hundreds of caves located in the dolomite
and limestone rocks. Some of the
caves include Grotte du Lastoursville, Grotte du Lebamba, Grotte du
Bongolo, and Grotte du Kessipougou. Many caves have not been explored
yet. A National Geographic Expedition visited the caves in the summer
of 2008 to document them.
Gabon
is also noted for efforts to preserve the natural environment. In 2002,
President Omar Bongo Ondimba put Gabon firmly on the map as an
important future ecotourism destination by designating more than 11% of
the nation's territory to be part of its national park system (with 13
parks in total), one of the largest proportions of nature parkland in
the world. Natural resources include: petroleum, magnesium, iron, gold,
uranium, and forests.
Tourism
Straddling
the equator, this rainforest nation is situated on West Africa’s
Atlantic coast. Animals are abundant – Gabon is the continent’s fifth
least densely populated country – and is 85 per cent covered in
tropical forest.[citation needed] This, along with savannahs,
mangroves, lagoons and beaches makes it an ideal habitat for varied
species of animals and reptiles including 20,000 western lowland
gorillas and 60,000 forest elephants – the largest population in Africa
– and 700 types of exotic birds.
The
National Tourism Strategy, written in consultation with the The
Wildlife Conservation Society, aims to achieve 100,000 visitors per
annum.
|
