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Gabon

Population: 1,475,000 (est.)

Language(s): French

Capital: Libreville

Interesting Facts:

The Central African CFA franc is the official currency of Gabon.
Approximately 73% of the population, including noncitizens, practice at least some elements of Christianity; 12% practice Islam (of whom 80 to 90% are foreigners); 10% practice traditional indigenous religious beliefs exclusively; and 5% practice no religion or are atheists.
Gabon’s literacy rate is 63.2%.
Gabon is a presidential republic and the first president of Gabon was Léon M’ba, who was elected in 1961, along with Omar Bongo Ondimba as his vice president, who later became the president.
Low population density, abundant petroleum, and foreign private investment have helped make Gabon one of the most prosperous countries in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Gabon has the highest HDI and the third highest GDP per capita (PPP) (after Equatorial Guinea and Botswana) in the region.
Almost 80-85% of Gabon is covered by rainforests, 11% of which has been dedicated for national parks making these parks some of the largest nature parks in the world.
People over the age of 65 years form only 3.9% of the population of Gabon.

Gabon, officially the Gabonese Republic is a sovereign state on the west coast of Central Africa. Located 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 south, and the Atlantic Ocean’s Gulf of Guinea to the west. It has an area of nearly 270,000 square kilometres (100,000 sq mi) and its population is estimated at 1.5 million people. Its capital and largest city is Libreville.

Since its independence from France on August 17, 1960, Gabon has been ruled by three presidents. In the early 1990s, Gabon introduced a multi-party system and a new democratic constitution that allowed for a more transparent electoral process and reformed many governmental institutions. Gabon was also a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council for the 2010–2011 term.

Low population density, abundant petroleum, and foreign private investment have helped make Gabon one of the most prosperous countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, with the highest HDIand the third highest GDP per capita (PPP) (after Equatorial Guinea and Botswana) in the region.

Source: Wikipedia