Yearbook 1996
Gabon. In April, the government announced that the country’s railways and production and distribution of electricity and water should be privatized.
In June, the country withdrew from the oil exporting countries’ organization, OPEC, where it has been a member since 1975.
The ruling party, Parti démocratique gabonais (PDG) won the parliamentary elections in December. The party was the only one allowed until 1990, when multi-party systems were introduced.
- ABBREVIATIONFINDER.ORG: What does GA stand for? In the field of geography, this two letter acronym means Gabon. Check this to see its other meanings in English and other 35 languages.
Population 1996
According to Countryaah.com, the population of Gabon in 1996 was 1,084,835, ranking number 153 in the world. The population growth rate was 2.700% yearly, and the population density was 4.2106 people per km2.
Physical characteristics
The territory of the Gabon is centered on two main elements: the course of the Ogooué river, which describes a very wide curve from SE to NW, with convexity towards N; and a series of mountainous alignments, with predominantly NS direction. The result is a morphology substantially attributable to three parallel bands, of which the coastal one is the least extended, rarely exceeding 100 km in width. The course of the coastline is articulated to the North due to the presence of river estuaries and large bays, often faced by islands and constituting excellent natural ports (among these the estuary of the Gabon river, which gives the town its name); to the South of Capo Lopez, the extreme western point of the territory, however, the accumulation of sandy banks has closed the ancient inlets, so the coast appears low and bordered by lagoons. The reliefs that occupy the median strip slope down towards the coast from heights of just over 1000 m (Chaillu Massif and Birougou Mountains). Inside, the third band is finally constituted by the eastern plateaus, often engraved by the numerous streams that descend towards the depression of the Ogooué.
The fluvial regimes are generally constant, since the feeding is due to the equatorial precipitations, abundant (from 1300 to 4000 mm) and regularly distributed throughout the year; temperatures are mitigated by humidity and, along the coast, by the cold waters of the Benguela Current ; thermal excursions, both annual and diurnal, are not very sensitive, with the partial exception of some areas of the interior.
A fundamental element of the Gabonese landscape is the rainforest, widely exploited for the abundance of precious woods (okumè, mahogany, ebony). The floristic and faunal environment is also enhanced from the tourist point of view by the presence of national parks reached by new roads, such as the Okanda Park.