 Located
on the West Coast of Central Africa,
Gabon covers a total area of 268,000 square kilometres. Forests cover an
estimated 220,000 square kilometres. Gabon’s population of 1.2 million
is mainly urban (73%) and almost one-third of the people live in the
capital, Libreville. As a result, the
percentage of people who depend directly on the forests for subsistence
livelihoods is relatively small. Because of its small population and
large expanse of primary rainforests, Gabon is often described as a
country where long-term sustainable timber production is a viable
possibility. However, financial mismanagement of the economy, weaknesses
within current forestry policy and practice and new evidence of negative
social and environmental impacts at the local level associated with
current logging operations all call into question the extent to which
industrial logging as currently practised will be ecologically
sustainable and will alleviate poverty and bring long-term sustainable
development to Gabon’s people.
 During the last seven centuries,
Bantu
ethnic groups arrived in the area from several directions to escape
enemies or find new land. Little is known of tribal life before European
contact, but tribal art suggests rich cultural heritages. Gabon's first
European visitors were Portuguese traders who arrived in the 15th
century and named the country after the Portuguese word "gabao," a coat
with sleeve and hood resembling the shape of the Komo River estuary. The
coast became a center of the slave trade. Dutch, British, and French
traders came in the 16th century. France assumed the status of protector
by signing treaties with Gabonese coastal chiefs in 1839 and 1841.
American missionaries from New England established a mission at Baraka
(now Libreville) in 1842. In 1849, the French captured a slave ship and
released the passengers at the mouth of the Komo River. The slaves named
their settlement Libreville-"free town."
French explorers penetrated
Gabon's dense jungles between 1862 and 1887. The most famous, Savorgnan
de Brazza, used Gabonese bearers and guides in his search for the
headwaters of the Congo River. France occupied Gabon in 1885 but did not
administer it until 1903. In 1910, Gabon became one of the four
territories of French Equatorial Africa, a federation that survived
until 1959. The territories became independent in 1960 as the Central
African Republic, Chad, Congo (Brazzaville), and Gabon.Ruled
 by autocratic presidents since
independence from France in 1960, Gabon introduced a multiparty system
and a new constitution in the early 1990s that allowed for a more
transparent electoral process and for reforms of governmental
institutions. A small population, abundant natural resources, and
foreign private investment have helped make Gabon one of the more
prosperous black African countries.
Almost all Gabonese are of
Bantu origin.
Gabon has at least 40 ethnic groups, with separate languages and
cultures. The largest is the Fang. Other ethnic groups include the
Myene, Bandjabi, Eshira, Bapounou, Bateke/Obamba, and Okande. Ethnic
group boundaries are less sharply drawn in Gabon than elsewhere in
Africa. French, the official language, is a unifying force. More than
10,000 French people live in Gabon, and France predominates foreign
cultural and commercial influences. Historical and environmental factors
caused Gabon's population to decline between 1900 and 1940. It is one of
the least-densely inhabited countries in Africa, and a labor shortage is
a major obstacle to development and a draw for foreign workers. The
population is generally accepted to be just over 1 million but remains
in dispute.
©
- Copyright hotels-world.com Travel Info
|
