Gabon, officially the Gabonese Republic, is a country on the west coast of Central Africa. Found on the equator, Gabon is bordered by Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the north, the Republic of the Congo on the east and southern, and also the Gulf of Guinea to the west. It has a location of nearly 270,000 square kilometres (100,000 sq mi) and its populace is estimated at 2.1 million individuals. There are three unique regions: the coastal plains, the mountains (the Cristal Mountains and also the Chaillu Massif in the centre), and the savanna in the east. Gabon’s capital and also biggest city is Libreville. The official language is French.

Originally worked out by Pygmy peoples, they were greatly replaced as well as absorbed by Bantu tribes as they migrated. By the 18th century, a Myeni-speaking kingdom called the Kingdom of Orungu developed in Gabon. It had the ability to come to be a powerful trading center primarily because of its capability to acquire as well as sell servants.

The kingdom fell with the death of the slave labor in the 1870s. Considering that its freedom from France in 1960, the sovereign state of Gabon has actually had three presidents. In the very early 1990s, Gabon introduced a multi-party system and a new democratic constitution that allowed for an extra clear electoral procedure and changed many governmental establishments.

Bountiful oil and also foreign exclusive investment have helped make Gabon among one of the most thriving nations in Sub-Saharan Africa, with the fifth greatest HDI in the area (after Mauritius, Seychelles, Botswana as well as South Africa) and the fifth highest possible GDP per capita (PPP) in all of Africa (after Seychelles, Mauritius, Equatorial Guinea and Botswana). Its GDP grew by more than 6% each year from 2010 to 2012. However, as a result of inequality in revenue distribution, a significant proportion of the populace remains impoverished.

Gabon is rich in mythology and also folklore. “Raconteurs” maintain customs active such as the mvett among the Fangs and also the ingwala among the Nzebis. Gabon is also understood for its masks, such as the n’goltang (Fang) and the reliquary numbers of the Kota.