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Basic facts about Gabon
Posted: November-10-2008Adjust font size:

China's top legislator Wu Bangguo is to pay an official visit to Gabon beginning Thursday, on his five-nation African tour which includes Algeria, Gabon, Ethiopia, Madagascar and Seychelles.

Gabon, located in west central Africa, shares borders with Equatorial Guinea, Cameroon, the Republic of Congo and the Gulf of Guinea. The country's total area is 267,700 sq. kms and its capital and largest city is Libreville.

Gabon has a population of nearly 1.5 million, most of which are of Bantu origin. The official language is French. Most inhabitants are Christians, a majority of whom are members of the Roman Catholic Church. The rest are mostly Protestants, Muslims and animists.

Gabon is more prosperous than most neighboring countries, with its per capita income four times the average for Sub-Saharan Africa. This is in large part due to its offshore oil production. The country's main exports are manganese, iron and timber. Its proven manganese reserves stands at about 200 million tons, a fourth of the world's known deposits.

During the 1990s, the devaluation of the CFA franc left Gabon struggling to pay its overseas debt. France and the IMF provided further loans and aid in exchange for the implementation of changes to the economy. Gabon's principal trading partners are the United States, China, Russia and France.

Since the establishment of diplomatic ties in 1974, friendly relations between the two countries have been developing smoothly, with cooperation and exchanges being expanded in various fields. In 2007, two-way trade reached nearly 1.2 billion U.S. dollars, a 36 percent increase over the previous year.

Source: Xinhua News AgencyEditor: Lydia
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