50 Fun Facts About Gabon

What is the capital and largest city of Gabon?

The name means 'Freetown': fifty-two freed slaves from a captured Brazilian ship were resettled there in 1849.

The name Gabon derives from a Portuguese word meaning what?

Navigators in the 1470s thought the outline of the Komo estuary resembled a gabão.

Gabon gained independence from which colonial power on 17 August 1960?

It had been an autonomous republic within the French Community since November 1958.

How many presidents has Gabon had since independence in 1960?

Léon M'ba, Omar Bongo, Ali Bongo and, after the 2023 coup, Brice Oligui Nguema.

Omar Bongo, president from 1967 to 2009, held what distinction after Fidel Castro stepped down in 2008?

Born Albert-Bernard Bongo, he stabilised his rule through the Françafrique client network.

The 2023 coup that removed Ali Bongo was led by Brice Oligui Nguema, who is his what?

It came hours after Bongo was declared winner of a third term on 30 August 2023.

Roughly what share of Gabon's land is forested?

In 2021 it became the first African country paid for reducing deforestation and emissions.

In 2002 Omar Bongo set aside about 10% of Gabon's territory as how many national parks?

The National Agency for National Parks (ANPN), created in 2007, runs the system.

Gabon's 'Africa's Last Eden' park is famous for photographs of which animals on its beaches?

The naturalist Mike Fay called Loango 'Africa's Last Eden'.

The Oklo site in Gabon is known for what unique geological phenomenon?

It ran roughly two billion years ago and was found in 1972 when mined uranium had too little U-235.

The Oklo natural reactor was discovered in the 1970s during mining for what?

The ore was destined for France's nuclear power industry.

Albert Schweitzer's famous hospital, founded in 1913, stands in which Gabonese town?

The Alsatian doctor, organist and philosopher won the 1952 Nobel Peace Prize.

In 2023 Gabon was the world's No. 2 producer of which ore, vital for steel and batteries?

USGS figures for 2023 put Gabon behind only South Africa; it ships from the Moanda mine down the Trans-Gabon Railway to the port of Owendo.

Gabon lies on which line of latitude?

It stretches from 3°N to 4°S on the Atlantic coast of Central Africa.

Which is NOT one of Gabon's land neighbours?

It also shares a maritime border with São Tomé and Príncipe.

Gabon's flag is a horizontal tricolour of green, blue and which colour in the middle?

The central stripe was widened when the French Tricolour was removed from the design.

Gabon joined which international association in June 2022, only to be partially suspended after the coup?

It followed Rwanda, Mozambique and Togo as members with no British colonial past.

Who was Gabon's first president, elected in 1961?

French paratroopers restored him within 24 hours of a 1964 army coup; he died in office in 1967.

When an army coup tried to oust Léon M'ba in 1964, who restored him to power within 24 hours?

The coup had aimed to restore parliamentary democracy after M'ba imposed one-party rule.

Which explorer led his first mission to the Gabon-Congo area in 1875 and founded Franceville?

The Italian-born Frenchman became colonial governor and gave his name to Congo's capital.

Gabon holds more than half the world's population of which animal?

Many live in Minkébé National Park; the country also shelters tens of thousands of gorillas and chimpanzees.

The freed slaves resettled at the future capital's site in 1849 came from a captured slave ship of which nationality?

The French navy seized L'Elizia near Loango in 1846 while helping the British blockade of Africa.

Gabon's population of about 2.3 million lives in an area of roughly what size?

It has one of the lowest population densities in Africa.

Bantu ethnic groups such as the Fang, Myènè and Punu make up roughly what share of Gabon's population?

There are at least 40 ethnic groups; the prehistoric hunter-gatherers were the Bambenga.

In which year did Ali Bongo first win the presidency, without his father Omar on the ballot?

There were 18 candidates and a three-week Constitutional Court review.

Gabon's national football team is best known for which striker, a former Arsenal captain?

He scored 141 goals for Borussia Dortmund before a then-record £56 million move to Arsenal in 2018.

Gabon co-hosted the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations and was sole host of which later edition?

The 2012 tournament was shared with Equatorial Guinea.

Anthony Obame won Gabon's first Olympic medal, a silver at London 2012, in which sport?

He competed in the men's 80+ kg category and returned to the Games in 2016 and 2020.

In which year was the 648 km Trans-Gabon Railway from Owendo completed?

Construction began in 1974 and the line was completed in December 1986; manganese dominates its freight.

Ivindo National Park, a UNESCO site since 2021, is most famous for which waterfalls?

The park also holds Langoué Baï, one of Central Africa's five most important forest clearings.

Lopé National Park, Gabon's first protected area, was listed by UNESCO in 2007 partly for what?

The reserve dates from 1946 and sits in a savanna-forest transition zone with its own gorilla study station.

Roughly what share of Gabon's population is Christian?

About 10% are Sunni Muslims, and Bwiti ritual music remains an important tradition.

Gabon has the fourth-highest sub-Saharan HDI after Mauritius, Seychelles and which other country?

Its oil wealth gives it a high average income, though much of the population is very poor.

By the 16th century, which kingdom had extended its control north along the Gabonese coast?

It fell under French control in the 1870s as the Atlantic slave trade died out.

Bantu migrants began settling what is now Gabon in roughly which period?

They formed early agricultural communities among the Bambenga hunter-gatherers.

Gabon's provinces are mostly named after which river and its stretches?

Haut-Ogooué, Moyen-Ogooué, Ogooué-Ivindo, Ogooué-Lolo and Ogooué-Maritime are five of the nine.

In June 2021 Gabon became the first African country to do what?

Its forests store vast amounts of carbon, and raw timber exports have been banned to add value locally.

The French gained control of what is now Gabon in 1839 when what happened?

The Berlin Conference of 1885 later confirmed the claim, and Gabon joined French Equatorial Africa in 1910.

Omar Bongo abolished the vice-presidency in 1975 and replaced it with what office?

The new office carried no right of automatic succession.

The 1994 devaluation of which currency helped tip Gabon into debt problems?

Overspending on the Trans-Gabon Railway and low oil prices added to the strain.

How many freed slaves were resettled on the site of the future capital in 1849?

The former slaves elected their own village leaders in 1849 after France's 1848 revolution.

Popular street food in the Gabonese capital includes brochettes, which are what?

They are served with hot chilli sauce; smoked meat on a baguette is another favourite.

What is the official language of Gabon?

Fang, with about 350,000 speakers, is the most widely spoken of the country's indigenous languages.

Which oil cartel did Gabon leave in 1995 and rejoin in 2016?

As of 2023 the country pumps roughly 200,000 barrels of crude a day.

Roughly how long is the Ogooué, Gabon's largest river?

Most of Gabon's provinces take their names from stretches of the river and its tributaries.

Which of Gabon's Pygmy peoples speaks the country's only non-Bantu language?

Gabon counts at least 40 ethnic groups; the Bongo are the other main indigenous Pygmy people.

In which year did Gabon become a territory of the AEF colonial federation?

The federation lasted until 1958, two years before Gabon's independence.

Around what year was the coastal Kingdom of Orungu established in what is now Gabon?

The Myènè-speaking kingdom grew rich as brokers in the coastal trade before falling under French control.

Which two cities, after the capital, are Gabon's other major urban centres?

Port-Gentil is the oil hub on the coast; Franceville was founded by the explorer Pierre Savorgnan de Brazza.

Gabon's prehistoric rainforest hunter-gatherers are known collectively by what name?

Bantu migrants began arriving in the 13th century BCE and formed the region's first farming communities.