Where Is Gabon and What
Is It Known For?

Gabon. Surrounding territory greyed out. Colored according to vegetation.

Gabon, on the Atlantic coast of central Africa, shares borders with Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the north, and with the Republic of the Congo curving around the east and south. The Gulf of Guinea, an arm of the Atlantic Ocean, is to the west. It covers a land area of nearly 270,000 km² and has an estimated population of 1,500,000. Its capital and largest city is Libreville.

Gabon consists of low plateaus and a coastal plain lined by lagoons and mangrove swamps. The climate is tropical and rainforests cover over three-quarters of the land area. Over 70 percent of the population lives in towns.

The small population density together with abundant natural resources and foreign private investment have helped make Gabon one of the most prosperous countries in the region, with the highest Human Development Index in Sub-Saharan Africa. The economy is heavily dependent on oil, which accounts for around 75 percent of exports; manganese, uranium and timber are the other main exports. Agriculture is mainly at subsistence level.