Everything you need to know about Gabon: news, reviews, in-depth analysis, opinion and more
Gabon: The land of Crystal Mountains
The early inhabitants of Gabon were the Babingas in around 7000 B.C. Then came the Bantu tribals from the surrounding parts of Africa. Fang tribal group comprise around 25% of the total population. This area was first sighted by a Portuguese explorer Diego Cam in 15 th century followed by Dutch and then finally the French colonists annexed this state in 1888 and their rule lasted till 1960 when Gabon finally gained independence.
Gabon Fast Facts :
Gabon Geography, Climate and Economy :
The geography of Gabon is characterized by dense equatorial forests that extensively covers 85% of the country. Its area is considerably less than Colorado. Ogooué is Gabon's largest river that is 1200 km long flowing through the thick rain forests.
The climate of Gabon remains relatively humid and hot throughout the year. The Equatorial climate comprises around 80% humidity. From the month of June to August there is an extremely dry season while from October to May it receives heavy rainfall. The average temperature hovers around 25 degree Celsius.
In terms of Economy, as compared to other nearby African countries Gabon has a thriving per capita income. The largest economic contribution is made by its offshore oil production. Its natural resource content includes petroleum, uranium, gold, timber, iron ore, natural gas and hydropower. Gabon mainly exports manganese, iron and timber.
Culture and Cuisine of Gabon:
Gabonese culture is largely influenced by France. However, the indigenous culture of the tribals is also preserved in the form of music and folk dance. Folklore and Mythology forms an integral part of their culture. Gabonese traditional music is famous among the locals. The tribals also use specific masks such as n'goltang (Fang) for their colourful festivals.
The traditional Gabonese cuisine includes rice, yams, cassava, meat and fish. The essence of African cuisine is still ingrained into its cuisine. Some of the popular dishes include nyembwe, stuffed crab, meat stews and fufu. Gabonese people follow different cooking methods, which enhances the flavor of the dishes. They follow roasting, baking, mashing and spicing.
Tourist Sites in Gabon:
Tourists can enjoy the sightseeing in Gabon besides exploring never ending white sand beaches, natural sites, enchanting wildlife, historical sculptures and adventurous safari through dense tropical forests. Libreville, the charming town and capital of Gabon is known for its Gabonese sculptures. One of the other popular places is Arboretum de Sybang that comes on the way to Libreville.
Some other Tourist Sites :
Vasco (Goa), May 7 (IANS) Churchill Brothers Sports Club managed a 1-1 draw against Mohun Bagan to emerge I-League champions for the second time at the Tilak Maidan here Tuesday.
Marrakech, April 21 (IANS) The Golden Eaglets of Nigeria lashed Congo 7-0 here to qualify from Group B for the semi-finals of the ongoing 10th African Under-17 Football Championship.
Tunis, April 17 (IANS) Tunisia's U-17 team defeated Gabon 4-2 in Round 2 of the African Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifying tournament in Morocco.
Casablanca, April 17 (IANS) Morocco beat Botswana 3-0 in their second Group A match here at the ongoing CAF Under-17 Championship.
Marrakesh (Morocco), April 15 (IANS) Nigeria defeated Ghana 6-1 here in their opening group B match at the ongoing 10th Confederation of African Football (CAF) Under-17 championship.
Washington, Mar. 30 (ANI): African forest elephants are being poached out of existence.
Libreville, March 22 (IANS) At least 30 people died when a boat, carrying 60 illegal immigrants, capsized off the coast of Gabon, a west African country, Xinhua reported.
New Delhi/Chennai, Mar. 21 (ANI): The All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) and the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) on Thursday accused the UPA Government of "diluting" the US-sponsored resolution against Sri Lanka at the UN Human Rights Council by not moving any amendments as demanded by it.
Cape Town, Mar. 5 (ANI): African forest elephants are being poached out of existence.
Washington, Mar 1 (IANS) Elephants, a protected species, are fast vanishing from Congo's Okapi Faunal Reserve (OFR), recording an alarming 37 percent decline over the past five years, according to surveys carried out by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), an environmental protection organisation.
Accra, Feb 8 (IANS) Ghanaian president John Dramani Mahama has said the government would engage the Ghana Football Association (GFA) to perform a post-mortem on the Black Stars' failure to glitter in the ongoing African Cup of Nations (AFCON) in South Africa.
Washington, Feb 7 (IANS) Gabon's Minkebe Park in Africa, home to the largest elephant population, has lost 11,000 jumbos to ivory poaching since 2004, The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) said.
Nairobi, Jan 31 (IANS) Kenya will play Libya in Tunis next week minus their midfield maestro McDonald Mariga of Inter Milan.
New York, Nov 13 (IANS) Limited competition in elections for the UN Human Rights Council undermines membership standards set for the body by the UN General Assembly, Human Rights Watch has said.
Pune, Nov 3 (IANS) Pune FC will be out to prove that their slip-up in the previous round was a case of being unlucky when they take on Churchill Brothers in an I-League Round-4 home encounter Sunday.
Gaborone, Oct 5 (IANS) Bostwana's chief football coach Stanley Tshosane named a 25-member squad that will face Mali in a 2013 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) third round, second-leg qualifier slated for Oct 13.
New Delhi, Oct 3 (IANS) Speakers from six African nations are among 12 women presiding officers in the capital to attend a meet on gender-sensitive parliament.
Rio de Janeiro, Sep 28 (IANS) Real Madrid playmaker Kaka is set to make his first international appearance after being recalled to the Brazil squad.
Yaounde, Sep 14 (IANS) Cameroon Sports Minister Adoum Garoua has appointed Jean-Paul Akono as the new coach of the national football team after incumbent Denis Lavagne was sacked.
London, Aug 13 (IANS) The following is the final medal table at the 2012 London Olympic Games which concluded here Sunday. India finished 55th.
London, Aug 12 (IANS/RIA Novosti) Carlo Molfetta of Italy took the Olympic gold in a tight heavyweight taekwondo final.
London, July 30 (IANS) Spain crashed out of the London Olympics after they suffered a shock 0-1 defeat at the hands of Honduras.
Abu Dhabi, July 25 (IANS/WAM) UAE's Etisalat telecommunications company has posted a net profit of 1.9 billion dirhams for the second quarter of 2012 ending June 30.
Addis Ababa, July 17 (IANS) African leaders ended their 19th biannual summit that saw the election of the first female head of the African Union Commission and a renewed pledge to push democracy and fast-track resolution of crises in the continent's hotspots, including Mali, the Sudans, Guinea Bissau and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Addis Ababa, July 17 (IANS) African leaders have ended their 19th biannual summit that saw the election of the first female head of the African Union Commission and a renewed pledge to push democracy and fast-track resolution of crises in the continent's hotspots, including Mali, the Sudans, Guinea Bissau and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
Addis Ababa, July 16 (IANS) Sporting maroon headgear and an embroidered traditional African kitenge (gown), Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, the African Union's first woman executive head and an anti-apartheid icon, wears her victory lightly as she walks around the swish corridors of the Chinese-built new AU headquarters.
Addis Ababa, July 16 (ANI): South African President Jacob Zuma has congratulated Home Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma on her election as head of the African Union Commission.
Addis Ababa, July 16 (IANS) The guessing game is over. In what was touted as the mother of all contests in the continent, South Africa's Home Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, a doctor and anti-apartheid icon, has won a tightly-contested vote to become the first woman head of the African Union (AU) Commission.
Addis Ababa, July 15 (IANS) Voicing concern over the post-coup crisis in Mali, home to priceless treasures of Timbuktu, as one of biggest security threats to Africa, the 54-nation African Union Sunday pitched for restoration of the civilian government in the West African state by July-end.
Addis Ababa, July 13 (IANS) The 19th African Union summit has kicked off in this Ethiopian capital with all eyes set on intense lobbying for what is touted as the 'mother of all contests' for the executive head of the 54-nation bloc that seeks to find African solutions for African crises.
Accra, July 10 (IANS) India is seeking to invest in Ghana'soil and gas sector and double trade with West Africa to $40 billion by 2015 as part of its growing efforts to play a larger role in the development of Africa as a whole.
New Delhi, July 5 (IANS) An Indian business delegation of over 100 members, led by Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma, will visit Ghana next week to explore business opportunities between the two countries.
Moscow, June 27 (IANS/RIA Novosti) The Russian Post is among the world's worst postal services, outperformed even by counterparts in countries like Angola, Honduras and Mongolia, says a new study.
Libreville (Gabon), May 30 (IANS) Cameroon's football star Samuel Eto'o inaugurated the training centre for his foundation here with the presence of the Gabonese President Ali Bongo Ondimba and several players from the Spanish club Barcelona FC.
Accra (Ghana), May 19 (IANS) Ghana, quarter-finalists in 2010 FIFA World Cup, have replaced injured forward Albert Adomah with Solomon Asante in the 30-member squad for next month's 2014 World Cup qualifiers against lesotho and Zambia.
Addis Ababa, May 11 (Xinhua-ANI): Four African leaders at the World Economic Forum meeting on Africa have agreed that honesty, vision, clear priorities, responsibility, accountability and perseverance are characteristics needed for leadership today and will be required to lead Africa's transformation from growth into shared opportunities over the next 20 years.
New Delhi, May 6 (IANS) Bilateral bridges are often strengthened with acts of selfless giving and paying back to express gratitude. This is what wives of African heads of missions here are doing: starting charity projects for the poor, women and underprivileged children to thank India for helping in the continent's economic growth.
Accra (Ghana), May 4 (IANS) The Ghana Football Association (GFA) appointed Maxwell Konadu, coach of local premier side Asante Kotoko, as the assistant coach of the men's senior national football team.
New Delhi, May 2 (IANS) India's Bharti Airtel Wednesday reported a 16 percent growth in revenue in its Africa operations at $1.2 billion during the quarter ended March 31 over the like period of the previous financial year.
Libreville (Gabon), April 29 (IANS) The Gabonese Football Federation confirmed that Portuguese Paulo Duarte will replace Gernot Rohr as head coach of Gabon.
London, April 25 (IANS) The British men's football team has been handed out a tough draw in the 2012 London Games.
Seoul, March 26 (IANS) Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's wife Gursharan Kaur was among the 14 spouses of leaders of countries and heads of international organizations at a dinner hosted by South Korean First Lady Kim Yoon-ok here Monday.
New York, Jan 1(ANI): Pakistan will assume a seat today in the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) as a non-permanent member for two years.
Washington, Dec 7 (ANI): An international team of researchers has found that the appearance of oxygen in the Earth's atmosphere probably did not occur as a single event, but as a long series of starts and stops.
Washington, Dec 2 (ANI): An international team of researchers has found that the appearance of oxygen in the Earth's atmosphere probably did not occur as a single event, but as a long series of starts and stops.
Paris, Sept 12 (ANI): Former French President Jacques Chirac and Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin, received suitcases stuffed with millions of francs on a regular basis from some African leaders, it has emerged.
New York, June 18 (ANI): The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) has unanimously adopted a resolution, recommending that Ban Ki-moon be allowed to take charge as the UN Secretary-General for a second term.
London, June 8 (ANI): An international survey has found that tropical forests of the world are better managed now than five years ago.
Beijing, Mar 28 (ANI): China and the United States still remain among top countries to execute prisoners, resisting the global trend of abolishing death penalty, an Amnesty International report has revealed.
London, Aug 15 (ANI): One wouldn't expect the biggest mammal on land to be afraid of anything - but it is. It is afraid of humans.
London, July 1 (ANI): The 2.1billion-year-old, thumb-sized fossils discovered in Gabon, West Africa, represent ancient signs of multicultural life, according to palaeontologists.
Washington, March 6 (ANI): A recent study that found monkey DNA in the feces of wild African mountain gorillas, has hinted that some gorilla species eat monkeys, and are not entirely vegetarian as earlier presumed.
London, Jan 19 (ANI): Scientists from France, Cameroon, Gabon and the US claim that they have found the parasite that causes malignant malaria in humans in gorillas.
Washington, December 24 (ANI): A new research project launched by the University of Exeter, UK, is tracking the journeys of two marine turtles around the world's oceans.
Washington, Nov 4 (ANI): The world's largest trial of one of the leading malaria vaccine candidates, called RTS,S, is now underway in seven African countries: Burkina Faso, Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique and Tanzania.
London, May 31 (ANI): Chimps are so nuts about honey that, even though they've no access to a hardware store, they construct their own brand of toolkits when foraging for snacks from beehives, a new study has found.
Washington, May 18 (ANI): In a new research, an international team of scientists has identified the world's largest leatherback sea turtle population in Gabon, West Africa.
London, April 20 (ANI): Marc Ona Essangui, a campaigner who was jailed during his battle to save the rainforest in Gabon, Africa, has received a top international award, known as the 'Green Nobel'.
Washington, March 22 (ANI): A new study has determined that almost a quarter of the world's land area is degrading, often in very productive areas.
Paris, Jan 19 (DPA) At least seven soldiers were killed and one soldier remained missing after a French military helicopter crashed off the coast of the central African country of Gabon, the French government announced Sunday.
New Delhi, Jan 15 (IANS) Oil India Ltd (OIL), a state-owned upstream oil company, Thursday said it has received the market regulator's approval for its proposed public issue, but that the timing of the offer would depend on market conditions.
Poznan (Poland), Dec 17 (IANS) The climate change summit may have ended in failure, but it showed rare unity of purpose between India and China which took on the industrialised world together at the closing moments of the climate summit here. The Indian position also received support from Pakistan.
Poznan (Poland), Dec 13 (IANS) The climate summit ended in the early hours of Saturday with the collapse of a key deal to pay developing countries to cope with global warming. The senior-most member of the Indian government delegation said: 'This is one of the saddest moments I have witnessed' during his attendance in 12 such summits.
Poznan (Poland), Dec 13 (DPA) A UN climate conference ended early Saturday with a deal to help poor countries fight floods, drought and storms, but little progress on cuts in emissions blamed for global warming.
Washington, August 21 (ANI): A new study has determined that extracting elephant DNA from confiscated ivory could be an important tool to help wildlife investigations stop elephant poaching at its source.
Washington, Aug 16 (ANI): A new species of bird, that was, until now, unknown to the scientific community has been discovered.
