Term Papers on Gabon: An Example For All Of Africa

Term Paper Title	Gabon: An Example For All Of Africa
# of Words	1153
# of Pages (250 words per page double spaced)	4.61

Gabon: An Example For All of Africa

     The country of Gabon is praised as being one of the most successful
countries in Africa. Gabon is a very diverse country in many ways.  There are a
variety of different tribes that call Gabon home.  Also, the land differs
through out the county.
     Gabon is one of the smaller countries of Africa with the area of 267,670
square miles. Comparatively, this is the almost the same size as Colorado.  The
terrain of this tiny country consists of narrow coastal plains; a hilly
interior; and Savannah in the east and south.  Much of the interior is rain
forests and is not arable.  Only 1% of the land is arable  The remaining land is
either meadows, permanent crops, or other land forms.  (The World Fact Book
1995)
     Gabon is one of the most thinly populated countries in Africa.  It has a
population of approximately 1,155,000 (July 1995 est.)  There are 11 people per
square mile.  The majority of the Gabonese are of ages 15-64 years.  The average
life expectancy is 55.14 years.  Women live to be around 58, while men are
usually around 52 when they die.  This is why only 5% of the population is older
than 65.  The infant mortality is lower than many other African countries, 92.4
per 1,000 live births.  (The World Fact Book 1995)
     As in most African countries, there are many Bantu tribes make up the
ethnicity of the country.  There are four major tribal groups.  The Fang, Eshira,
Bapounou, and the Bateke. (The World Fact Book)
     The largest of these tribes is the Fang.  They live mainly in the
northern area of Gabon. Many years ago they were considered the fiercest
warriors of the area.  Now, they dominate many of the countries governmental
positions.  (World Book Encyclopedia page  )
     One of the earlier tribes that is since gone was the Omyene.  They lived
along the coast. The Omyene are important because they were the first of the
natives to meet the European traders and missionaries.  They played an important
role of keeping peace with the Europeans. (World Book Encyclopedia, 1992 page
2)
     Along with there being so many different ethnic backgrounds, there are
many religions as well.  The major religion is Christian,75 % of the population.
About 1% of the population is Muslim.  The remaining 24% are animists.  These
include all of the tribal practices.  (The World Fact Book)
     One of the reasons why Gabon has been so successful is that it has a
stable government. It is a republic and has multiple political parties.  The
capitol, Libreville ( aprox. 275,000 people), is where all of governmental
issues are taken care of.  (1996 World Almanac pages 764-65) This is where the
National assembly, Gabon's legislative branch, meets.   Also this is where the
president lives.  President Omar Bongo has been president for 29 years.  He has
been getting reelected every 7 years since 1967.   ( Clement's Encyclopedia of
World Government 1996, page 146)
     As president, Mr. Bongo has many different jobs.  He serves not only as
chief administrator but also as Head of the State.  In order to help him to
govern the country well he gets to choose a council of ministers.  Also out of
the 120 representatives in the National Assembly, 9 are appointed by the
president.  The others are voted in by the people. The president can also
adjourn the Assembly for up to 18 months in order to rule alone.  ( World Book
Encyclopedia 1992 page 2)
     Gabon has a peaceful history.  They were first discovered by the
Portuguese in the mid 15th century.  The Portuguese didn't settle though.  But
during the 19th century France started gaining interest in Gabon.  The first
French settle...

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