Gabon. Information.
GABON (Gabonese Republic), is a country in west central Africa Area - 267,668 sq.km. Population - 1,384,000 (2005) Capital - Libreville. It borders on Equatorial Guinea, Cameroon, Republic of the Congo and the Gulf of Guinea. The earliest inhabitants of the area were Pygmy peoples. They were largely replaced and absorbed by Bantu tribes during Bantu migrations. French explorer Pierre Savorgnan de Brazza led his first mission to the Gabon-Congo area in 1875. He founded the town of Franceville, and was later colonial governor. Several Bantu groups occupied the area that is now Gabon when France occupied it in 1885. In 1910, Gabon became one of the four territories of French Equatorial Africa, a federation that survived until 1959. These territories became independent on August 17, 1960. The first president of Gabon, elected in 1961, was Leon M’ba, with Omar Bongo Ondimba as his vice president. When M'Ba died in 1967, Bongo replaced him as president, and has been the head of state ever since, winning each contested election with a substantial majority. Currency : CFA franc (XAF) .
