Gabon

Republic of Gabon (République gabonaise), commonly known as Gabon , is a country in West Africa. It is a republic located just below the equator, facing the Gulf of Guinea .

Libreville , which means that the capital is a city of freedom . French is used as official language. Without French, they will not speak between 40 short -tech tribes.

The name of Gabon comes from a Portuguese navigator who came to the area and named the river mouth Gabão because the shape of the river resembles a hooded cloak. In terms of the names in Korean, it is the second team after Ghana on the same continent, and it will be the third team to enter the Olympic Games held in Korea , following Greece and Ghana . At the 1988 Seoul Olympics, they entered for the third time , following Greece and Ghana .

Dr. Albert Schweitzer began volunteering. To this day, Dr. Schweitzer's hospital remains, and Schweitzer is one of the greatest people in Gabon.

It is a country in the tropical rainforest area near the equator , bordering the Atlantic Ocean. Cities where people live are connected like beads on a thread along the banks of the river Ogooué, and the natural environment is very unique as there are many tropical rainforests throughout the country. In particular, it is known to be home to several primates such as western lowland gorillas , chimpanzees , and mandrills , as well as round-eared elephants , hippopotamuses , bongos , sitatungas , Nile crocodiles , Gabon vipers , African leopards , gray parrots , African ospreys , crowned eagles , and pangolins.[6] , dwarf crocodiles , Central African pythons , bush boars , and several types of duikers.[7] , African buffalo[8] Many similar wild animals live there.

While elephants in neighboring countries are usually African elephants that live in open areas such as savannas or shrub forests, Gabon's elephants are round-eared elephants that live in forests . During the rainy season, they come out of the forest and eat grass that grows on the ground. If the forest they live in is close to the coast, they even eat grass that grows near the coast.

Even the hippopotamus of this country also has a bath. Hamas living on the coast gets food while traveling between the sea and freshwater, and eat seaweed and seawood.

France dispatched to Gabon in 1972 The miners make a great discovery, the discovery of the Oklo Natural Reactor, the world's only natural nuclear fission power plant . This wonderful natural atom is uranium It also serves as a mine , and it has been confirmed that fission reactions are occurring in about 12 locations within the mine. According to scholars' investigations, Oklo started operating about 1.7 billion years ago. According to nuclear scientists' investigations, Oklo was found to operate using uranium, water, and blue-green algae.

The Oklo nuclear reactor controlled its own reaction like a geyser and started and stopped the reaction in 150-minute cycles, operating at 16 locations around Oklo. Additionally, the nuclear fingerprint of the Oklo reactor using neodymium matched that of a current artificial nuclear reactor.

 more detailsGabon/Flag documentcastPlease note.

Unlike the Central African Republic and Democratic Republic of Congo , which are suffering from civil war, the situation in Central Africa is quite good. Income is relatively high and it is safer than neighboring countries. However, you should not expect security like South Korea , Singapore , or the UAE . And walking around alone at night is prohibited.[9]

Originally, the Gabon area was a place where the primitive Pygmi gathered in several places. Thus, except that Carthage 's navigator Hanno The Navigator, who worked in the 5th century B.C.E. , has reached today's Gabong area , it is rarely known about the history of contact with Europeans. The Bantu immigration group settled in this place in the early 14th century. Portuguese explorers and traders arrived here in the late 15th century. The coastal area of ​​Gabon became a slave trade center for the Dutch , British , and French trade by the 16th century . In 1839 and 1841, France issued a protection in the Gabon coastal area. In 1849, prisoners escaped from Riverville's slave prisoners. Between 1862 and 1887, France gradually expanded deep into Gabon and finally robbed sovereignty. In 1910, Gabon became part of the French equator Africa, and by 1960, Gabon could be independent.

Afterwards, President Leon Mba and then President Omar Bongo ruled for 42 years. After his death in 2009, his son Ali Bongo Ondimba became president and also ruled for a long period of time. However, in 2023, the Gabon coup occurred and Ali Bongo was ousted. This coup was the first successful military coup since Gabon's independence.

It is famous as a country where the hereditary dictatorship of Omar Bongo and Ali Bongo Ondimba continued for 56 years from 1967 to 2023 .

In the presidential election held on August 28, 2016, former president of the African Union , Zhang Ping, who was an opposition candidate, initially expected victory, but after the re-election of the current president was confirmed at the election committee on the 31st, the opposition side protested that the election was fraudulent. As protests are continuing along with demands for a recount, political confusion is escalating. And while the Gabon Constitutional Court decided on the re-election of President Bongo, opposition parties are protesting.

In 2019, a coup d'état was aimed at the exposing of the president of Bongo in Gabon, but failed. #

The coup took place on August 30, 2023 . Just a few minutes after the current presidential election was announced and the three -year -old was confirmed, the military leader claimed that they had dominated power in Gabong 24 broadcast on Wednesday morning, and in the capital, Libreville. #

Afterwards, Brice Clotaire Oligi Nguema , the commander of the coup force , took office as interim president, and the military took control of the National Assembly by dismissing 76 anti-military lawmakers out of 143 members of the National Assembly and appointing 31 new pro-military figures to the National Assembly.

November 2024. A constitutional amendment bill aimed at extending the presidential term to seven years was passed in a national referendum. #

On April 12, 2025, the voter turnout and 90.35%votes were elected. According to international observers, there was no significant case. The opposition leader described the presidential election that "not free" and "stained with" all state resources ". Nevertheless, he prayed for the new leadership. #

It ranks high in the press freedom index, and when the Bongo family was in power, it was ranked outside the top 100, but has risen quickly. Usually, when the government changes due to a coup, press freedom stagnates or regresses, but this is a unique case that led to the exact opposite result.

Like the neighboring equator , the oil is the main source of oil, and the petroleum is high in the national economy.[10] Although the petroleum reserves are small, the population density is about 9 per km², which is less than the country.[11] The GDP per capita in the IMF statistics in 2024 is the highest GDP per capita in the sub -Saharan African mainland, which is nearly $ 1,500, which is the second highest ' minimum of the middle country ' after the Gabon .[12][13]

There are also significant reserves of underground resources such as manganese , uranium , and gold , and agricultural crops including cocoa and peanuts are also exported. In addition, we export high-quality wood from the dense forests that occupy most of the country , but thanks to the forest protection policy of the Gabon government, forest conservation is better than in other developing countries. Although it is a country where about 40 tribes coexist, the society is stable because there has been no civil war between tribes.[14]

However, the majority of the population lives in cities and there is a lack of investment in agriculture, so even though the country is large compared to the population, there is a shortage of grains such as wheat and corn , so most of the country relies on imports. In addition, the domestic oil market is small and the manufacturing industry is not developed, and the unemployment rate is in the 20% range, so the gap between the rich and the poor is so severe that the poor who barely survive each day make up 1/3 of the total population. Moreover, it is said that Gabon's oil will be depleted around 2030 , but the plan after that is still insufficient, so it may fall into a bankrupt country in the future.[15]

Most religions are Christian, but are also harmoniously mixed with indigenous religious practices. 73% of the population, including foreigners , believe in Christianity (Catholicism, Protestantism), 12% believe in Islam , and 10% believe in indigenous faiths.

It is a country where Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre , who founded the Society of St. Pius X, worked as a missionary while a priest. The Society of St. Pius X also dispatched missionaries to Gabon, and its church is located in Libreville.

Originally, Gabon had a majority indigenous faith, but Christianity was introduced from the West during the modern era, and due to the influence of trans-Saharan trade , a small number of Muslim merchants came to Gabon and some Islam was also spread.

The official language is French . In Gabon, due to French rule and influence, French is the official language and is also used for communication among other ethnic groups. In addition, many ethnic minorities live in Gabon, so their languages ​​are also diverse.

Although football is popular, it is middle and lower in Africa. For details, see the Gabon National Team . The most famous player in this country is Pierre Malic Obama He scored the Bundesliga and the Premier League scorer , the highest scorer of the UEFA Europa League , and one of the best attackers in the 2010s, ranking eighth among football players in the 2010s. The father, Pierre Prandoa Obama, was also a legendary football player in Gabon. In addition, Gabon also played in Sunderland AFC and is currently playing in the League Team Dijon FCO .

Denis Bouanga , who plays with Son Heung -min at LA FC of MLS, is also the national representative of Gabon football.

On January 2, 2026, the Gabon government disbanded the Gabon national football team after being eliminated from the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco .

 more detailsGabon Cuisine documentcastPlease note.

A famous dish among Gabonese cuisine is a stew called chicken moambe, made with chicken.

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