The population of Gabon consists predominantly of around 40 Bantu groups. Of these, about 26% are Fang, 24% Punu, 11% Nzebi, 8% Teke and 7% each Kota and Myene.
Furthermore, about 0.5% pygmies live in the country as well as about 200,000 foreigners (mostly West Africans and about 10,000 French).
Religious
affiliation 41% of the population of Gabon are Catholic and 13% Protestant and almost 40% are followers of natural religions. In addition, around 6% are Muslim.
National languages
French is the official language of Gabon. Various Bantu languages such as Fang, Eshira, Batéké, Bapounou and Bandgabi are used as colloquial languages.
Capital and other cities
Libreville
The capital of Gabon is Libreville with around 700,000 residents. According to Abbreviation Finder, GAB stands for Gabon in English. Click to see other meanings of this 3-letter acronym. Other larger cities are:
Port-Gentil with around 110,000 residents
Masuku with around 43,000 residents
Oyem with around 31,000 residents
Moanda with around 31,000 residents
Gabon: geography, map
Gabon is located in central Africa on both sides of the equator. To the west it borders the Gulf of Guinea as part of the Atlantic Ocean. After about 200 kilometers, the coastal plain merges into the Lower Guinea Sill in the east of the country. A specialty in Gabon is the “natural nuclear reactor” in Oklo. About 2 million years ago there was such a high uranium concentration that a nuclear chain reaction was set off. Check topmbadirectory for politics, flags, famous people, animals and plants of Gabon.
Area and boundaries
Gabon covers an area of 267,667 km². Thereof:
ForestAround 74% of the country are tropical rainforests and bushland.
Meadow and pasture landAround 17% of the land is used as meadow or pasture land.
Fields and fieldsAround 2% of the land is used as arable land or fields, especially for growing cocoa, coffee, sugar cane, oil palms and rubber.
MountainsThe east of the country is crossed by the Lower Guinea Sill.
Gabon borders on three states:
– Equatorial Guinea with a border length of 350 km,
– Cameroon with a border length of 298 km and
– Democratic Republic of the Congo with a border length of 1,903 km.
Gabon has a coast to the Gulf of Guinea with a length of 885 km.
Tidal range
In Libreville the mean tidal range is around 1.50 m. For detailed explanations of ebb and flow, see Tides, Ebb and Flow.
Compare
The world’s highest tidal range can be found in the Bay of Fundy in Canada, where it is up to 16 meters, and at spring tide even over 20 meters. The Bay of Fundy is located on the Atlantic between the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, which is called Nova Scotia in German and whose capital is Halifax. On the German North Sea coast it varies between one and three meters. In the western Baltic Sea, on the other hand, the tidal range is only 0.3 meters, while it is barely noticeable in the eastern Baltic Sea.
Longitude and latitude
Gabon extends over the following geographical latitude (abbreviation Δφ) and geographical longitude (abbreviation Δλ):
Δφ = from around 04 ° south to 02 ° north latitude Δλ = from 008 ° 30 ‘to 014 ° 30’ east longitude
You can find detailed information on this subject under Longitude and Latitude.
Legal time
For Gabon, the following value applies to Central European Time (CET), i.e. the time (without summer time). A minus sign means that it is earlier there, a plus sign that it is later than CET:
Δt (MEZ) = +/- 0 h
Further and detailed explanations of the time can be found under Time zones, time.
The highest point of the sun in Libreville
Libreville lies at a north latitude of around φ = 0.5 ° and thus almost on the equator. If the declination of the sun has the value of δ = 00 ° 30 ‘N, and thus the image point of the sun is above the city, the sun is perpendicular there. This happens exactly twice a year, roughly shortly after March 21st and shortly before September 21st.
Attention
If the image point of the sun and thus the declination δ is north of the latitude of Libreville, the sun is not there at noon in the south, as in our latitudes, but in the north. In this case, the sun moves from east to north to west, where, like us, it sets.
mountains
The highest mountain in Gabon is Mont Milondo with a height of 1,020 m.
Other high mountains are:
Iboundji with a height of 980 m
Mimongo with an altitude of 875 m
Mpele with a height of 834 m
Goumbi with a height of 820 m
Rivers
The longest river in the country is the Ogooué with a length of over 1,200 km. Its numerous tributaries include: the Mpassa, the Ivindo, the Lolo, the Offoué and the Ngounié. Other smaller rivers in the country are the Nyanga, Como, Noya, N’Tem, and Woleu.
Lakes
The country includes several smaller lakes. The largest of these is Lac Onangué. There is also the Lac Azingo and the Mandjé.
Gulf of Guinea, Atlantic
Gabon borders in the west of the country with a length of 885 km on the Gulf of Guinea, which is part of the Atlantic.
