GABON

ExpeditionaryCulture

FieldGuide

Port-Gentil

Masuku Moanda (Franceville) Mouila

Makokou

Tchibanga

Lambaréné

Oyem

MASSIFDU

CHAILLU

Libreville

Gabon
This guide is designed to help prepare you for deployment to 

culturally complex environments and successfully achieve 

mission objectives. The fundamental information it contains will 

help you understand 

the decisive cultural 

dimension of your 

assigned location and 

gain necessary skills 

to achieve mission 

success.

The guide consists of 

two parts: 

Part 1: Introduces 

“Culture General,” the foundational knowledge you need to 

operate effectively in any global environment. 

Part 2: Presents “Culture Specific” Gabon, focusing on 

unique cultural features of Gabonese society and is designed 

to complement other pre-deployment training. It applies culturegeneral concepts to 

help increase your 

knowledge of your 

assigned deployment 

location.

For further 

information, visit the 

Air Force Culture and 

Language Center 

(AFCLC) website at 

https://wwwmil.maxwell.af.mil/afclc or contact AFCLC’s Region 

Team at AFCLC.Region@us.af.mil.

Disclaimer: All text is the property of the AFCLC and may not 

be modified by a change in title, content, or labeling. It may be 

reproduced in its current format with the expressed permission 

of the AFCLC. All photography is provided as a courtesy of the 

US government, Wikimedia, and other sources as indicated.

About this Guide

ECFG Gabon
What is Culture?

Fundamental to all aspects of human existence, culture shapes 

the way humans view life and functions as a tool we use to 

adapt to our social and physical environments. A culture is the 

sum of all of the beliefs, values, behaviors, and symbols that 

have meaning for a society. All human beings have culture, 

and individuals within a culture share a general set of beliefs 

and values. 

Members of a culture also 

usually assign the same 

meanings to the symbols in 

that culture. A symbol is 

when one thing – an image, 

word, object, idea, or story –

represents another thing. 

For example, the American 

flag is a physical and visual 

symbol of a core American value – freedom. At the same time, 

the story of George Washington admitting to having chopped 

down a cherry tree is also symbolic, representing the 

importance Americans place on personal honesty and 

leadership integrity. 

Force Multiplier

The military services have learned through experience the 

importance of understanding other cultures. Unlike the 20thcentury bipolar world order that dominated US strategy for 

nearly half a century, today the US military is operating in what 

we classify as asymmetric or irregular conflict zones where the 

notion of cross-cultural interactions is on the leading edge of 

our engagement strategies. 

We have come to view the people themselves, rather than the 

political system or physical environment, as the decisive 

feature in conflict areas. Our primary objective hinges on 

influencing constructive change through peaceful means where 

possible. We achieve this endeavor by encouraging local 

nationals to focus on developing stable political, social, and 

PART 1 – CULTURE GENERAL

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CULTURE 
economic institutions that reflect their cultural beliefs and 

traditions.

Therefore, understanding the basic concepts of culture serves 

as a force multiplier. Achieving an awareness and respect of a 

society’s values and beliefs enables deploying forces to build

relationships with people from other cultures, positively 

influence their actions, and ultimately achieve mission success.

Cultural Domains

Culture is not just represented by the beliefs we carry 

internally, but also by our behaviors and by the systems 

members of a culture create to organize their lives. These 

systems, such as political or educational institutions, help us to 

live in a manner that is appropriate to our culture and

encourages us to perpetuate that culture into the future. 

We can organize these behaviors and systems into categories 

– what the Air Force refers to as “cultural domains” – in order to 

better understand the primary values and characteristics of a 

society. A cross-culturally competent military member can use 

these domains – which include kinship, language and 

communication, and social and political systems among others

(see chart on next page) – as tools for understanding and 

adapting to any culture. For example, by understanding the 

ways different cultures define family or kinship, a deployed 

military member can more effectively interact with members of 

that culture.

Social Behaviors Across Cultures

While humankind shares basic behaviors, various groups enact 

or even group those behaviors differently across cultural 

boundaries. For example, all 

societies obtain food for 

survival, although agrarian 

societies generally produce

their own food for limited 

consumption using very 

basic techniques.

Conversely, industrialized 

nations have more 

sophisticated market economies, producing foodstuffs for 

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universal consumption. Likewise, all cultures value history and 

tradition, although they represent these concepts through a 

variety of unique forms of symbolism. While the dominant world 

religions share the belief in one God, their worship practices 

vary with their traditional historical development. Similarly, in 

many kin-based cultures where familial bonds are foundational 

to social identity, it is customary for family or friends to serve as 

godparents, while for other societies this practice is nearly nonexistent.

Worldview

One of our basic human behaviors is the tendency to classify 

others as similar or different according to our cultural standard. 

As depicted in the chart 

below, we can apply the 12 

cultural domains to help us 

compare similarities and 

differences across cultures. 

We evaluate others’

behavior to determine if 

they are “people like me” or 

“people not like me.” 

Consequently, we assume 

that individuals falling into the “like me” category share our 

perspectives and values. 

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This collective perspective forms our worldview– how we see 

the world and understand our place in it. Your worldview 

functions as a lens through which you see and understand the 

world. It helps you to interpret your experiences and the values 

and behaviors of other people that you encounter. Consider 

your worldview as a way of framing behavior, providing an 

accountability standard for our actions and a logical 

explanation of why we individually or collectively act in a certain 

manner. 

Cultural Belief System

An important component of a worldview is our belief system. A 

community’s belief system sets its universal standards of what 

is good and bad, defines right and wrong behavior, and assigns 

a value of meaningful or meaningless. Our beliefs form the 

fundamental values we hold to be true – regardless of whether 

there is physical evidence to support these ideas. Beliefs are a 

central facet of human culture. They are shared views about 

world order and how the universe was physically and socially 

constructed. 

While all people have beliefs, their specific components tend to 

vary depending upon respective world views. What people 

classify as good or bad, right or wrong depends on our deeplyheld beliefs we started developing early in life that have help 

shape our characters. Likewise, 

these values are ingrained in our 

personalities and shape our 

behavior patterns and our selfidentities. Because cultural beliefs 

are intensely held, they are 

difficult, though not impossible, to 

change. 

Core Beliefs

Core beliefs shape and influence 

certain behaviors and also serve 

to rationalize those behaviors. 

Therefore, knowledge of individual 

or group beliefs can be useful in 

comprehending or making sense of their activities. We will use 

the iceberg model for classifying culture to illustrate two levels 

of meaning, as depicted. Beliefs and values, portrayed by the 

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deeper and greater level of the submerged iceberg, are seldom 

visible, but are indicated / hinted at / referenced by our 

behaviors and symbols (top level). It is important to recognize, 

though, that the parts of culture that are not visible (under the 

waterline) are informing and shaping what is being made 

visible (above the waterline). 

In many cases, different worldviews may present behaviors 

that are contrary to our own beliefs, particularly in many 

regions where US forces deploy. Your ability to suspend 

judgment in order to understand another perspective is 

essential to establishing relationships with your host-nation

counterparts. The ability to withhold your opinion and strive to 

understand a culture from a member of that culture’s 

perspective is known as cultural relativism. It often involves 

taking an alternate perspective when interpreting others’ 

behaviors and is critical to your ability to achieve mission 

success. 

As you travel throughout the African Continent, you will 

encounter cultural patterns of meaning that are common

among most African countries. What follows is a general 

description of 12 cultural domains which are used to frame 

those commonalities. 

1. History and Myth

History and myth are related concepts. History is a record of 

the past that is based on verifiable facts and events. Myth can 

act as a type of historical record, 

although it is usually a story which 

members of a culture use to explain 

community origins or important events 

that are not verifiable or which occurred 

prior to written language. 

Africa has a history that spans the

entire existence of humankind. In 

ancient times prior to the emergence of 

written languages, history and wisdom 

were preserved across generations and 

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CULTURAL DOMAINS
ethnic boundaries through oral folk legends or myths. Most 

early human evolution began as hunting and gathering cultures 

in East and South Africa, with countries such as Ethiopia, 

Kenya, Tanzania, and South Africa renowned for their early 

human sites. In the last several millennia, the development of 

agriculture and pastoralism (animal herding) replaced hunting 

and gathering lifestyles (Photo: Kutubiyya Mosque courtesy of 

CultureGrams, ProQuest, 2013).

Ancient civilizations evolved in all corners of Africa, inspired in 

part by peoples from the Middle East bringing trade, beliefs, 

customs, language, and on occasion, colonization. Far from 

being isolated empires, the African civilizations were intimately 

connected by commerce and marriage throughout various 

regions of the continent, and when confronted by outsiders, 

managed to adapt to their influences. Eventually, Arab traders 

introduced Islam to Africa and also instituted the TransSaharan African slave trade that lasted from the 7th to 19th 

Centuries. 

The “golden age” of European exploration, which lasted from 

the 18th to mid-20th century, prompted the wholesale 

exploitation of Africans resources – first human assets through 

slavery, followed by natural resources such as minerals, 

precious gems and 

metals, and wildlife, 

thereby diminishing 

most of what was 

traditional and African. 

The introduction of the 

European Trans-Atlantic 

Slave Trade altered the 

slave trade through both 

the sheer number of 

Africans enslaved and

through the cementing of a racist ideology of Black inferiority to 

legitimize the institution of slavery. Slavery decimated the 

African continent for over 400 years through the forced 

relocation of an estimated 25 to 30 million Africans worldwide. 

This figure does not include those Africans who died aboard 

ships or during capture. While abolition of the slave trade 

dissolved the institution of slavery, it did not end the European 

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presence on the African continent nor did it drastically alter 

their attitudes towards Africans.

Starting in the mid-19th century, European colonialism served 

to redefine African ethnic relations on a large scale; however,

as African societies began to resist colonial rule and seek their

independence, widespread ethnic conflict and genocide

occurred. Sustained westernization and globalization continue

to shape the continent through poverty, disease, and social 

reform. A history still to be recorded, Africa’s future identity 

faces many challenges in critical areas such as environmental 

change, ethnic strife, women’s health and security, and 

education. 

2. Political and Social Relations

Political relations are the ways in which members of a 

community organize leadership, power, and authority. Social 

relations are all of the ways in which individuals are linked to 

others in their community. 

Traditional African political 

organizations in the form of 

bands, tribes, and 

chiefdoms have existed for 

several millennia and 

continue to influence 

contemporary African 

governments. Uncommon 

in modern society, bands 

are limited to hunting and gathering economies, such as the

!Kung of the southern African Kalahari Desert and foragers of 

central African forests. 

Tribes are still represented today across the African political 

landscape, although the use of the word “tribe” is sometimes 

misinterpreted due to its western notion of “primitiveness” and 

oftentimes substituted with the term “ethnic group.” Lacking 

centralized authority, tribes are organized around segmented 

descent groups or in some cases age groups. 

Everyday governance is discharged through councils of 

respected elders and sanctioned through ritual and other 

means. East African pastoralist groups such as the Maasai, 

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along with some West African tribes and the Berbers in North

Africa, represent this type of organization. 

Chiefdoms or kingdoms are ruled by kings or queens from a 

royal clan and generally incorporate millions of subjects. 

Kingdoms such as the Zulu or Swazi in southern Africa 

developed through conquest, while others like Ghana’s 

Ashante developed through an association of related traditional 

states. However, colonialism eventually diluted the power and 

reach of these empires, 

whose leaders were often 

retained as indirect rulers 

or figureheads. 

Today, all three of these 

political organizations still 

exist, although in the 

confines of modern African 

nation-states created by 

colonial powers who had little regard or understanding of 

African cultures. This juxtaposition of modernity with tradition 

has caused severe conflict throughout the continent. 

Challenged to construct their respective “national” identities, 

regional leaders attempt to do so by diluting the traditionally 

cohesive power of ancestry. These national ruling elites, who 

derive their power from wealth and commerce rather than tribal 

affiliation, feel threatened by loyalty to these traditional 

organizations, labeling their rule as “tribalism.” 

This “class versus descent” scrimmage for power has resulted 

in conflicts across the continent and a dramatic divergence of 

interests. As a means to overcome these and other issues on 

the continent, a 53-nation federation, the African Union (AU), 

was formed in 2002. AU’s charter is to promote “greater unity 

and solidarity between African countries and peoples” by

building partnerships in all segments of “civil society.”

3. Religion and Spirituality

Religion is a cultural belief system that provides meaning to 

members of a community. Religious and spiritual beliefs help 

preserve the social order by defining proper behavior. They 

also create social unity by defining shared identity, offer 

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individuals peace of mind, and explain the causes of events in 

a society. Prior to the arrival of Islam and Christianity, the 

African continent consisted of orally transmitted indigenous

religious practices. As in many societies, African indigenous 

beliefs influenced diet, subsistence patterns, family structures, 

marriage practices, and healing and burial processes. In 

essence, Africans constructed their worldview through their 

indigenous religions. 

Today, the African continent

is primarily either Muslim or 

Christian. Other faiths such 

as Judaism and Hinduism 

exist as pockets in different

regions of the continent, 

primarily in urban areas. The 

historical trajectories of 

Islamic and Christian 

expansion in Africa offer intriguing commonalities in how 

Africans across the continent initially reacted to the introduction 

of each of those religions. For example, it is common 

throughout the continent to find a blending of many elements of 

indigenous religious practices with local Islam and Christianity

(Photo courtesy of Wikimedia).

Consequently, many African native religions share similarities 

with religions such as Christianity, Islam, and Judaism in their 

understanding of God as the creator 

and ruler of all life, although He is 

considered untouchable by humans. 

However, unlike Christianity and 

Islam, many African indigenous 

religions believe that God is not 

directly involved in people's lives. To 

them there is a spirit world 

populated with former good and bad 

human beings. The good spirits 

intercede with God on behalf of their 

living families to whom they then 

relay God's will through dreams and acquired possessions. 

The bad spirits work to bring misfortune through sickness, 

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death, or natural disasters to those who behave 

inappropriately. 

Many indigenous African religions revere "nature" spirits living 

in the sky, water, and forests. These impersonal spirits help 

protect people from harm and provide them with life’s essential 

ingredients such as water, sun, and wildlife. This belief system 

is commonly referred to as animism.

Just as spirits mediate relations between God and humans,

religious specialists act as mediators between spirits and 

humans to provide protection from harm. 

4. Family and Kinship 

The domain of family and kinship refers to groups of people 

related through blood ties, marriage, or through strong 

emotional bonds that influence them to treat each other like 

family members (often called “fictive kin”).The traditional 

African family with respect to marriage, family structure, and 

descent is a much 

different arrangement

than is found in most 

American families. 

Likewise, there are 

several components of 

the traditional African 

family that are common 

to all African cultures. 

First, perhaps the most 

difficult feature to 

reconcile to Americans 

is that of polygyny – the practice of a husband having more 

than one wife. A benefit of this arrangement is that it promotes

societal alliances through marriage, procreation, and family 

wealth through female labor. 

Second, due to polygyny, the family in most African cultures 

has historically consisted of an expanded set of kin or relatives 

that extends well beyond the American notion of a nuclear 

family. This arrangement created a family environment where 

children considered all siblings as “brothers and sisters” and all 

of the wives/mothers as “mother.” 

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Third, the extended African family traces descent through 

either the male or female side of the family, a practice which 

differs considerably from the American family. Patrilineal 

descent (through the male side of the family) is the more 

common approach and usually features polygyny. The

matrilineal (through the female bloodline) marriage pattern is 

more uncommon and almost always features monogamy – it is 

rare to encounter a wife having more than one husband. 

Lastly, it is common for two or more blood lines (lineages) to 

share a common ancestor and collectively form a clan, which is 

the largest social unit. Clans do not have formal leaders or 

organizational structures. Membership is transferred from 

father to child and cuts across ethnic and social boundaries. 

The dramatic social changes in Africa during and after 

colonialism in the last 4 decades have obviously affected the 

traditional family, and variations on these 3 features can be 

found across the continent.

5. Sex and Gender

Sex refers to the biological/reproductive differences between 

males and females, while gender is a more flexible concept 

that refers to a culture’s categorizing of masculine and feminine 

behaviors, symbols, and social roles. Gender roles in Africa 

follow no single model nor is there a generalized concept of 

sex and common standard of sexual behavior. 

Prehistorically, gender role differentiation in Africa’s hunting 

and gathering cultures was based on a division of labor 

featuring different, yet complementary, sets of responsibilities 

for males and females, adults and children. Females gathered 

over half the caloric 

needs from natural 

vegetation, while also 

reproducing and raising 

offspring. Males were 

primarily hunters but also 

assisted with gathering. 

These gender patterns 

continued as agricultural 

practices advanced. 

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Females shared in farming while continuing to provide for the 

family’s subsistence, and males produced the cash crops. 

Pastoralists like the Maasai of Kenya traditionally have featured 

males involved in cattle-raising and females in food production. 

The 19th-century European colonial period introduced a cash 

economy into Africa, with female labor used to produce the 

cash crops. By inserting male authority over females, colonial 

administrators disrupted the distinct yet complementary 

male/female relationship that had been traditionally African. 

More recently, western influence across the continent has 

dramatically altered the traditional gender roles. Educational 

and professional opportunities for females, along with 

increased family migrations to urban areas, have radically

altered traditional male and female gender roles. 

Likewise, the number of singles parents and even child- or 

other relative-led families has increased with the predominance 

of HIV/AIDS-related deaths and warfare, further altering 

traditional gender responsibilities. Additionally, ethnic conflicts 

involving abuse of women are prevalent in many unstable 

countries, and while the rubric of traditional African gender 

generally remains, the forces of change are gradually ripping it 

away.

6. Language and Communication

Language is a system for sharing information symbolically, 

whereby words are used to represent ideas. Communication is 

defined as the cultural 

practice of sharing 

meaning in interaction, 

both verbally and nonverbally. America is 

predominantly a 

monolingual society, 

where traditionally, 

fluency in a second 

language has been 

considered a luxury 

rather than a necessity. 

Conversely, national survival for many societies in Africa 

required them throughout their existence to adopt multilingual 

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practices, if for no other reason than to preserve their native 

heritage. 

You may find it challenging to comprehend the scope of 

Africa’s linguistic diversity. There are over 2,000 African 

languages (many spoken-only) from 6 major language families, 

and perhaps 100 of these languages are used to communicate 

among the more dominant ethnic groups such as Berber, 

Swahili, Yoruba, and others. 

Official languages of African nation-states are few, yet the 

linguistic diversity expressed across the continent (Nigeria has 

250 languages) has prompted an awareness of the value of 

Africa’s linguistic traditions. While most areas of the continent 

speak the adopted language of their colonial past – such as 

French and Portuguese in West Africa, French and Arabic in 

Morocco, and English in Kenya and South Africa – the majority 

of people also speak one or more traditional “indigenous” 

languages of their and other ethnic groups. As African 

independence spread throughout the continent, ethnic groups 

continued to depend on their indigenous identifiers, such as 

language, to celebrate their “release” from colonial rule and to 

preserve a sense of 

indigenous identity. 

While communication 

styles tend to vary by 

ethnic or social groups, 

Africans generally are 

friendly and outgoing 

people although they 

tend to communicate 

with reserve to avoid 

confrontation. As in most kin-based societies, Africans believe 

that saving face or protecting one’s honor and dignity are of 

utmost importance; therefore, they avoid public criticism and 

controversial topics at all costs – even to the extent of 

withholding their honest opinion or modifying the truth. 

Africans admire and even expect extended greetings and small 

talk, and to attempt to rush or avoid social graces is considered 

disrespectful. Similarly, Africans avoid direct eye contact when 

communicating with new acquaintances and people of status, 

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AL
particularly elders. They also are fond of non-verbal gestures, 

and it is common throughout African societies for members of 

the same gender to hold hands or touch while conversing.

7. Learning and Knowledge

All cultures require that the older generation transmit important 

information to the younger generation. This information can be 

strictly factual (for example, how to fulfill subsistence and 

health requirements) and culturally traditional (the beliefs, 

behaviors, and symbols that have meaning to the community). 

This knowledge transfer may occur through structured, 

formalized systems such as 

schools or through informal

learning by watching adults or 

peers.

The contemporary African 

educational system hardly 

resembles the traditional precolonial structure, whereby 

community elders were primarily responsible for preparing 

youth for adulthood. Their instruction included fundamentals of 

ethnic ritual and ceremony, along with customary protocol for 

their distinctive gender roles. A rite-of-passage commemorating 

their successful journey from childhood to adulthood served as 

a form of graduation.

European colonialism brought a more structured, formal 

educational system that catered to a small group of African 

elite who demonstrated potential to administer expanding 

colonial territories. Following independence, many African 

nations adopted the European system because they believed it 

would prepare them to be more competitive in intra-continental 

and global marketplaces, thereby enhancing their quality of life.

However, progress in developing and maintaining reliable 

educational institutions has been slow for a variety of reasons. 

Since most Africans live in rural environments, they continue to 

rely heavily on child labor for family survival, resulting in 

decreased school enrollments or early withdrawals. Likewise, 

widespread HIV/AIDS epidemics, ethnic conflict, teacher and 

resource deficits, and inaccessibility to remote rural areas also 

hamper progress. According to 2005 statistics, only half of the 

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continent’s children were enrolled in primary school, leaving 

over 40 million African children without any schooling at all. 

8. Time and Space

In every society, people occupy space and time in ways that 

are not directly linked to physical survival. In low-context 

western cultures, people tend to be preoccupied with strict time 

management, devoting less effort to relationship-building. 

Conversely, most African cultures are traditionally high-context 

societies, whereby people center their activities on socializing 

and establishing close associations, having little regard for the 

passage-of-time. 

Only after establishing trust and honor will your typical African 

counterpart agreeably proceed with business. In his worldview, 

time is a precious commodity used to establish relationships 

and form alliances. Any 

attempt to accelerate the 

tempo at the expense of 

social pleasantries will 

likely result in deadlock. 

To an African, close 

physical proximity between 

individuals encourages 

cooperative trust, and for 

centuries they have viewed 

human linkage as a core 

element to survival. This closeness is best represented in a 

traditional African village where strong kinship connections are 

evidenced by a display of close interpersonal relations among

family members. 

While conventional African concepts of time and space remain 

intact, throughout the continent western influence and 

globalization have stepped up the pace of African living, mostly 

in urban areas. Consequently, rural-to-urban migrations have 

reshaped traditional social and subsistence patterns. 

9. Aesthetics and Recreation

Every culture has its own forms of creative expression that are 

guided by aesthetic principles of imagination, beauty, skill and 

style. Prior to 19th-century European colonization of Africa, 

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recreation served a vital subsistence role, whereby adolescents 

and adults alike participated in intellectually stimulating 

leisurely activities that concurrently served to develop essential 

hunting and pastoral skills.

Games of chance and skill were important to early childhood 

development, providing social outlets within and outside their 

community. Featuring 

wrestling, jumping and 

running; traditional African 

sport was steeped in 

religious ritual.

Along with colonialism 

came the introduction to 

Africa of western sports 

such as soccer, cricket, 

rugby and track and field. This emphasis on western sport 

continued to thrive with African independence and 

globalization, as seen in sporting events such as the Olympics 

and the World Cup. 

Leaders such as Nelson Mandela skillfully employed sport to 

promote a unified South African nation. Importing the 

predominantly “white” game of rugby, Mandela used it to fuse a 

racially divided country following his election in 1992. This 

event is the theme of the motion picture “Invictus,” exemplifying 

how sport can serve to create national identities and overcome 

ethnic division. His efforts 

have inspired many other 

African nations to follow 

suit.

Likewise, East African 

countries such as Kenya 

and Ethiopia have 

produced the world’s 

dominant male and 

female distance runners, 

and South Africa, Cameroon and Nigeria emerged as strong 

contenders in the 2010 World Cup. African nations are now 

competing in leagues such as the International Basketball 

Association (FIBA) World Championships, and there is also a 

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growing number of African basketball players on US college 

campuses and in the National Basketball Association (NBA). 

10. Sustenance and Health

Societies have different methods of transforming natural 

resources into food. These methods can shape residence 

patterns, family structures and economics. Theories of disease 

and healing practices exist in all cultures and serve as adaptive 

responses to disease and illness. 

Despite having only 11% of the global population, Africa is a 

victim of many of the world’s debilitating health disorders. 

According to the World 

Health Organization, 60% of 

the global HIV/AIDS cases 

and 90% of malarial 

diseases occur in Africa. 

These and other medical 

conditions are attributed 

primarily to viral infection 

and widespread poverty 

caused by extreme climatic 

conditions and civil unrest, coupled with inadequate 

preventative measures. While extensive drought generates 

widespread famine, civil disturbances generate millions of 

displaced persons. Likewise, with only 58% of the SubSaharan African population having access to safe drinking 

water, water-born bacterial diseases 

such as cholera and schistosomiasis

are common.

Many people in Africa lack access to 

western medicine, and as a result 

depend on traditional health 

practices to combat disease. In 

addition, some traditional beliefs run 

counter to western medical practice

and perhaps discourage individuals 

from utilizing those services even 

when they are available. This 

problem is further intensified by lack of federal regulatory 

healthcare management. 

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While modern healthcare procedures are more common in 

urban areas, many rural people rely on traditional practitioners 

who use a variety of plants and herbs to treat patients. 

Similarly, many families have their own secret remedies. While 

in some cases traditional medicine proves effective with fewer 

side effects than modern drugs, traditional practices do not 

adequately treat many of the more serious conditions.

On a positive note, western influence has stimulated some 

progress in combating Africa’s health crisis. More resources 

are devoted to achieving basic human security by assessing

disease symptoms early and with scientific accuracy. 

11. Economics and Resources

This domain refers to beliefs regarding appropriate ways for a 

society to produce, distribute, and consume goods and 

services. Traditionally having an agrarian-based economy, 

Africa today remains predominantly agricultural, featuring less 

industrialization than 

most other parts of the 

world. Post-colonial 

adversities such as 

civil war, disease, 

poverty, and unstable 

dictatorships posed 

unusual hardship on

several young African 

nations; however, 

Africa currently stands 

at the cross-roads of economic development with many nations 

becoming some of fastest growing regions in the world. 

Colonialism institutionalized the exploitation of Africa’s mineral 

resources, resulting in today’s oil industry dominating the 

economic market in several coastal regions. A surge in global 

oil prices; a growing African middle class; and reduction in civil 

wars, foreign aid, and inflation collectively promise a more 

positive outlook for the future.

Countries such as Botswana, Tunisia, Morocco, Egypt, and 

South Africa are economically the wealthiest on the continent, 

with regions such as East Africa showing signs of economic 

stability. Despite the economic upswing, much of sub-Saharan 

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Africa’s future economic prosperity is held hostage by 

devastating diseases such as AIDS, particularly in areas of 

southern Africa, and the growing effects of climate change and 

man-made environmental degradation throughout the 

subcontinent. 

12. Technology and Material

Societies use technology to transform their physical world, and 

culture heavily influences the development and use of 

technology. Africa lags far behind most of the world in 

manufacturing capacity and output. Even the more 

economically-developed nations such as South Africa are 

competitively weak when compared to non-African 

industrialized nations. During the 1970s and 1980s, Africa 

experienced some growth in raw exports although this increase 

did little to boost long-term manufacturing capacity. 

Today, Africa is experiencing an actual decline in 

manufacturing capacity due primarily to a lull in the global 

economy, along with other indigenous issues such as 

environmental stress, poor physical and organizational

infrastructure, and a 

shortage of skilled 

personnel. Likewise, 

African manufacturing 

capacity is no match 

against global powers 

such as China and 

significant Southeast 

Asian markets. 

International aid from 

both governmental and non-governmental organizations has 

helped African nations establish preliminary economic 

footholds. For example, many of them have dedicated 

industrial developmental zones to attract foreign investment 

and increase export-related manufacturing capacity, although 

Africa is far removed from having a significant role in the global 

marketplace in the foreseeable future. 

Now that we have introduced general concepts that

characterize African society at large, we will now focus on 

specific features of Gabonese society.

GENERAL

CULTURE 
HISTORY &

MYTH

History Overview

Gabon’s early history was defined first by the arrival of Bantuspeaking migrants and later by the appearance of European 

traders and explorers. Since attaining independence in 1960, 

the country’s history has been defined by the role of oil, timber, 

and mineral exports in sustaining long-term autocratic rule. 

Early Gabon

As there is no written record of 

events in Gabon prior to the 

arrival of Europeans in the 15th 

century, all accounts of Gabon’s 

early history are based on 

archaeological artifacts, oral 

tradition, and other forms of 

indirect evidence. Consequently, 

fairly little is known about the 

history of Gabon prior to the last 

few centuries.

Artifacts found near the present-day city of Lopé suggest that 

humans have inhabited what is now Gabon since at least 7000 

BC, although humans probably appeared in the region many 

thousands of years before. Other artifacts suggest that some 

inhabitants of Gabon had begun smelting iron by 4000 BC.

Pygmies: Of the ethnic groups that now live in Gabon, the 

Pygmies (see Political and Social Relations) were the earliest 

inhabitants of the region, having arrived no later than 1100 AD.

The Pygmies were nomadic, forest-dwelling hunter-gatherers 

who were forced out of their original home in central Africa by 

the advance of Bantu-speaking migrants (see Language and 

Communication). Unfortunately for the Pygmies, the Bantuspeakers followed them southwestward and began arriving in 

the Gabonese area around 1300 AD.

PART 2 – CULTURE SPECIFIC

1. HISTORY AND MYTH
HISTORY &

MYTH

Bantu-Speakers: Arriving mostly from the North over a period 

of several centuries, the Bantu-speakers gradually filtered into 

Gabon’s forests and dispersed into small, isolated villages, 

where they sustained themselves through hunting, fishing, and 

some subsistence farming. Apart from Bantu-speaking Loango, 

a kingdom that was based in present-day Republic of Congo 

but extended northward into what is now Gabon, the region 

had no centralized political structures before the colonial era.

Arrival of Europeans

Lopez Gonzalez, a 

Portuguese sailor who 

explored the Komo River 

estuary in 1474, was the first 

European to arrive in Gabon. 

He reportedly gave Gabon 

its name when he noted that 

the estuary looked like a 

gabão, or sailor’s cloak. 

Dutch, English, French, and 

Spanish sailors were the 

next to arrive, and by the mid-17th century, the Dutch had 

seized control of the region from the Portuguese. The Dutch

were interested in obtaining gold, ivory, and slaves for their 

sugar plantations in South America.

Slave Trade: Between the 16th and 19th centuries, millions of 

Africans were captured—mostly by African profiteers—and sold 

to European traders, who brought the captives to North and 

South America and sold them as slaves. In Gabon specifically, 

the Mpongwe and Orungu ethnic groups (see Political and 

Social Relations) became the slave trade racketeers, who used 

the slave enterprise to achieve an elevated social status that 

they maintain to this day.

Starting in the 18th century, most European powers abolished 

slavery, the slave trade, or both practices and began enforcing 

those bans far beyond their shores. Accordingly, the French 

Navy commenced anti-slavery patrols along Africa’s Atlantic 

Coast in the late 1820s. Despite the French’s emerging efforts 

to curtail Gabon’s slave trade, slaves continued were 

increasingly exported to Cuba, Brazil, and Sao Tome.
HISTORY &

MYTH

French Treaties: In 1839 Louis Edouard Bouët-Willaumez, a 

French Navy lieutenant, obtained land on the Gabon Estuary 

from King Rapontchombo of the Mpongwe in exchange for 

French protection and a small cache of manufactured goods, 

including tobacco, hats, and guns. The French signed similar 

agreements with other local rulers over the next few years.

Explorers: In the mid-1800s European explorers such as Paul 

Belloni du Chaillu, a French-American who undertook two 

separate expeditions in 1855 and 1863, began an initial survey 

of the Gabonese interior. His reports described seeing gorillas, 

meeting Pygmies, and dining with members of the Fang ethnic 

group (see Political and Social 

Relations)—events that du Chaillu likely 

was the first white man to experience.

Inspired by du Chaillu’s writings among 

other influences, French-Italian sailor 

Pierre Savorgnan de Brazza (pictured) 

explored the area on behalf of France 

in 1875. His first journey lasted 3 years 

and took him more than 300 mi into the 

Gabonese interior. His next expedition 

was more notable, however, as Henry Morton Stanley, an 

American explorer working for the Belgian government, was 

competing with Brazza to secure trading agreements with the 

people of the interior. Through little more than persuasion, 

Brazza extended French control from the Gabonese coast to 

the Congo River and established the legal basis for France’s 

colonial claims in the region. He also founded Brazzaville, the 

capital of the Republic of the Congo.

French Congo

In 1884 and 1885 the European powers met at the Berlin West 

Africa Conference to define which powers had rights in which 

parts of Africa. French claims in present-day Republic of the 

Congo and Gabon were recognized at the summit, and both 

territories became part of French Congo. However, the French 

had little interest in developing French Congo, so they granted 

large concessions to ivory and rubber companies. Although 

these companies profited little from their exploits, their harsh 

labor practices kindled hatred among the local population.
HISTORY &

MYTH

French Equatorial Africa

In 1910 the territories of French Congo 

were joined with other French colonial 

possessions to form French Equatorial 

Africa, a colonial federation consisting of 

Chad, Gabon, Middle Congo (Republic of 

the Congo), and Ubangi-Chari (Central 

African Republic). From the formation of 

French Equatorial Africa until the end of 

World War II, the French imposed a twotier social system in Gabon. Members of 

the top tier, which was composed mostly 

of wealthy Mpongwe traders and people 

of mixed European and African descent, were trained for highlevel government jobs. Those of the much larger lower tier 

(known as the indigénat) were subject to burdensome tax and 

labor regulations and had inferior legal and political status.

During World War II the Governor-General of French Equatorial 

Africa convinced the people of his federation to side with the 

Free French in opposing collaboration with Nazi Germany

instead of the Vichy French government, which collaborated 

with Nazi Germany after the fall of France in 1940. In 1946 the

postwar French government, which the Free French controlled, 

rewarded the federation’s loyalty by increasing the political 

rights of subjects and ending the indigénat system.

Preparations for Independence

The 1946 reforms were followed quickly by other measures. In 

1956 the French Parliament passed a law that provided for the 

creation of a National Assembly in Gabon and other French 

colonies. In 1958 a referendum to make Gabon an autonomous 

republic within the French community was held and approved. 

One year later Gabon adopted a constitution and established a 

provisional government in preparation for independence.

These changes inspired local political activity and rise of native 

politicians. The most prominent pre-independence politicians 

were Léon M'ba and Jean-Hilaire Aubame of the Fang ethnic 

group and Paul Gondjout of the Mpongwe ethnic group. M’ba 

and Aubame eventually formed an alliance and built a strong 

coalition of Mpongwe businessmen and Fang coastal elites.
HISTORY &

MYTH

Independence

On August 17, 1960, Gabon attained its independence from 

France as a parliamentary republic under the leadership of 

Prime Minister Léon M'ba, who became the first President of 

the Republic of Gabon on February 12, 1961. The new country 

continued a close association with France after independence. 

Gabon allowed France to continue using Gabon as a regional 

power base in exchange for technical assistance from French 

civil servants and security guarantees from the French military.

M’ba soon began the process of entrenching his own political 

power by undercutting his rivals and introducing strict controls 

on political speech. In 1964 he tried to dissolve the National 

Assembly and create a single-party state, prompting a group of 

Gabonese Army officers to stage a bloodless and successful 

coup d’état on February 18, 1964. However, the French military 

intervened and restored M’ba to power the very next day. 

The Bongo Era

M’ba became ill and died in 1967. Power 

passed to Vice President Albert-Bernard 

Bongo (pictured) who changed his name 

to El-Hadj Omar Bongo Ondimba after his 

adoption of Islam in 1973. Within a year of 

taking office, Bongo dissolved all political 

parties, founded the Gabonese 

Democratic Party (known by its French 

initials PDG), and declared Gabon a 

single-party state. Apart from consolidating 

his political power, Bongo’s motivation was 

to unite the people of Gabon around the government’s efforts 

to develop the country and to suppress the ethnic divisions that 

had sometimes complicated Gabonese politics in the past.

In 1975 Bongo was elected to the office he had assumed after 

M’ba’s death and reelected in 1979 and 1986. During this time, 

Gabon earned large amounts of money by exporting oil, timber, 

and minerals. This income allowed Bongo to buy stability by 

dispensing political patronage. It also allowed the government 

to announce pricey development projects like the Trans-Gabon 

Railway (see Technology and Material), although many such 

projects were never completed.
HISTORY &

MYTH

Political Unrest

Despite the relative political stability enabled by its export 

income, Gabon still experienced political unrest, usually due to 

Bongo’s authoritarian policies. For example, the Movement for 

National Renewal (known by its French initials MORENA), was 

formed in 1981 to protest government corruption, single-party 

politics, and economic inequality.

Political unrest intensified in the mid-1980s when a decline in 

oil prices made it harder for the government to pay interest on 

its debts, forcing it to adopt austere measures as part of an 

“internal adjustment” policy. The effect of these measures fell 

disproportionately on poor and middle-class Gabonese. At the 

same time, global media outlets chronicled the opulent lifestyle 

of the Gabonese elite, stoking unrest among the increasingly 

impoverished masses.

After riots broke out in Libreville and Port-Gentil in early 1990, 

Bongo convened a national “Conference on Democracy” in 

order to negotiate with opposition leaders. This conference led 

to the ratification in 1991 of a new constitution that restored 

multiparty politics and guaranteed civil liberties. Still, Bongo 

and the PDG remained in control. Allegedly with the help of 

rigged polls, Bongo was reelected again in 1993, 1998, and 

2005 despite continued dissent and economic dislocation.

Modern Gabon

In 2009 Bongo died of cardiac arrest at 

a clinic in Spain. With elections

scheduled for August of that year, Ali 

Bongo Ondimba (pictured), son of the 

late Bongo and the former Minister of 

National Defense and Foreign Affairs, 

was declared the winner with 42% of 

the vote. Although some opponents 

dismissed the result as a sham, it was 

validated by Gabon’s Constitutional Court after a 3-week 

review. Many Gabonese greeted the younger Bongo’s election 

with dismay. After 41 years under the rule of the elder Bongo, 

many had hoped for a change of direction. Nevertheless, other 

Gabonese accepted the younger Bongo as a competent 

“technocrat” who could be relied upon to reform the country.
HISTORY &

MYTH

Myth Overview

Due partly to the fact that it had no written form of indigenous 

languages until the 19th century, Gabon has a rich tradition of 

spoken myth and folklore. Although stories vary by ethnic 

group, they have similar characters and themes. For example, 

many Gabonese myths incorporate animal characters and 

convey moral lessons, while others are used to explain how the 

world originated (see below).

Fang Creation Myth

The Fang (see Political and Social Relations) used myth to 

explain the origin of the world. According to Fang tradition, 

there is a creator known as Nzame who embodies 3 different 

figures: Nzame, the transcendent God of the heavens; Mebere, 

the male aspect of creation; and Nkwa, the female aspect of 

creation. Of this triad, Nzame made the universe, including the 

Earth. When Nzame showed his creation 

to Mebere and Nkwa, they felt that the 

Earth needed its own ruler, so they 

appointed an elephant, a leopard, and a 

monkey to serve as a ruling council

(Photo: A Fang mask used by the ngil, a 

pre-20th century Fang society that worked 

to identify practitioners of witchcraft—see 

Religion and Spirituality).

Nzame liked the idea of a ruler but disliked 

the council, so the 3 figures created Fam, 

an immortal being after their own image, to 

rule over the Earth. Fam soon became 

arrogant and power-thirsty, so Nzame punished him by sending 

a storm that wiped out everything except Fam, who survived 

because he was immortal. Fam fled and hid after the storm, 

and Nzame replaced him with Sekume, a mortal who became 

the first ancestor of the Fang people. With the permission of 

Nzame, Sekume created a wife for himself from a tree, and the 

couple proceeded to have a large number of children.

Just as some US citizens do not believe that George 

Washington actually chopped down a cherry tree and then 

refused to lie, not all Fang believe that the events of the myth 

actually happened.
Official Name

Gabonese Republic

République Gabonaise

Political Borders

Equatorial Guinea: 217 mi

Cameroon: 185 mi

Republic of the Congo: 1,182 mi

Coastline: 550 mi

Capital

Libreville

Demographics

Gabon’s population of 1.6 million is growing at a rate of slightly 

less than 2% per year. With a population density of 18 persons 

per sq mi, Gabon is one of the world’s most sparsely populated 

countries. About 80% of the population lives in cities of which

50% reside in Libreville. The remainder of the population is 

dispersed across a large number of rural villages. With about

75% of its population under age 30, Gabon is a young country.

Flag

Gabon’s flag consists of 3 

equal-width horizontal bands 

of green, yellow, and blue. 

Green symbolizes Gabon’s 

rainforests and natural 

resources; yellow represents

the equator and the sun; 

while blue signifies the sea.

Geography

Gabon is located on the equator along Africa’s Atlantic Coast,

having a total area of 103,347 sq mi, which is slightly smaller 

than Colorado. It is bordered to the northwest by Equatorial 

Guinea, to the north by Cameroon, and to the east and south 

by the Republic of the Congo. The island country of São Tomé 

and Príncipe is located approximately 160 mi off the coast of 

Gabon in the Gulf of Guinea.

2. POLITICAL AND SOCIAL RELATIONS

POLITICAL & 

SOCIAL 

RELATIONS
About 4/5 of Gabon is covered by 

tropical rainforest, which in some

remote and mountainous parts of 

the country may be as old as 100 

million years. Grassy savanna 

dotted with shrubs and trees 

blankets the non-forested parts of 

Gabon, which lie mostly in the 

Southeast (Photo: A sign marking a 

road crossing of the Komo River, which begins in southwestern 

Equatorial Guinea and empties into the Gabon Estuary near 

Libreville).

Gabon has 3 topographical zones. First, there is a low-lying 

coastal plain that ranges from 20-120 mi in width. This plain is 

rocky and jagged in the North but sandy and smooth in the 

South. Second, there are inland plateaus in the North and East 

that range from 1,000-2,600 ft in elevation. Finally, there are 

two mountain ranges—the Crystal Mountains in the North and 

the Chaillu Mountains in the South—that rise in excess of 

3,000 ft. The latter range includes Mount Iboundji, which is the 

highest point in Gabon at 5,167 ft.

The Ogooué River flows between Gabon’s mountain ranges, 

dissecting the country as it winds along its 745-mi route from its 

source in western Republic of the Congo to the Atlantic coast

near Port-Gentil. For its final 100 mi, the Ogooué flows through 

a delta covered with lakes, marshes, and aquatic plants.

Climate

Gabon’s climate varies by region—the coast is less humid than 

the inlands, while the South is less rainy than the North. 

Generally, Gabon is hot and humid, with an average yearround temperature and humidity of 77-79°F and 80-85%

respectively. In addition, the country has an average annual 

rainfall of about 100 inches. There are 2 major seasons: a rainy 

season from February until May, and a dry season that begins 

in late May and lasts until September. There is a shorter, more 

intense rainy season in October and November, and a second 

dry season in December and January. Temperatures drop as 

low as 65°F during the dry seasons and rise as high as 93°F

during the rainy seasons.

POLITICAL & 

SOCIAL 

RELATIONS
Natural Hazards

While the completion of the Trans-Gabon Railway (see 

Technology and Material) in 1986 made it easier to access 

Gabon’s interior, it did so at the expense of old-growth forests.

Timber firms are logging increasingly, while poachers view rare 

animal species as a new source of wild meat called bushmeat

(see Sustenance and Health). This exploitation of the forest is 

linked to issues such as deforestation and reduced biodiversity.

Government

Gabon is a multiparty presidential republic that consists of 9 

provinces, which collectively subdivide into 36 préfectures and 

8 sous-préfectures. The country gained independence from 

France on August 17, 1960, adopting a constitution the 

following year. That constitution was revised in 1975, rewritten 

in 1991, and revised again in 1997 and 2003.

Executive Branch

The President—currently Ali Bongo

Ondimba (pictured)—is elected by 

direct popular vote to serve a 7-year 

term. There is no longer a legal limit on 

the number of terms that the President 

may serve. The President is chief-ofstate and is responsible for selecting a 

Prime Minister, who serves as head-ofgovernment and therefore is 

responsible for selecting a Council of 

Ministers (Cabinet) with the advice of 

the President and subject to the approval of the National 

Assembly (see below). The President is empowered to remove

Ministers, including the Prime Minister, and also has the power 

to delay legislation or dissolve the National Assembly.

Legislative Branch

Gabon’s legislature consists of a 120-seat National Assembly 

and, since 1997, a 102-seat Senate. Members of the National 

Assembly are elected to serve 5-year terms, while members of 

the Senate are elected to serve 6-year terms. The legislature is 

empowered to dissolve the Council of Ministers through a vote 

of no confidence, while the President of the Senate assumes 

power if the President dies or becomes incapacitated.

POLITICAL & 

SOCIAL 

RELATIONS
Judicial Branch

Gabon’s legal system is based mostly on French civil law. 

Undergoing an extensive overhaul with the 1991 constitution, 

the court system now consists of 3 types: lower courts, appeals 

courts, and supreme courts. Customary courts, which are

based on indigenous customs and overseen by local chiefs, no 

longer play a role in the formal legal system, although they still 

enjoy broad informal usage.

Political Climate

As has been the case since the late 1960s, the Bongo family 

and the Gabonese Democratic Party (PDG) control almost all 

aspects of Gabonese politics. Historically, this domination has 

depended upon oil and timber export revenues (see Economics 

and Resources), which have allowed the PDG to dispense 

political patronage and provide a

middle-class standard of living for 

some Gabonese (Pictured: The 

Presidential Standard of Gabon 

from 1960 until 1990—see History 

and Myth).

In recent years, those revenues

have shown signs of impending 

decline, while the Gabonese 

people have grown less satisfied 

with the seemingly open-ended 

tenure of the Bongo family. The primary complaint against 

Bongo and the PDG elite is that they use public resources for 

private financial gain. This complaint seems plausible: the elder 

Bongo was worth at least $2 billion when he died in 2009.

In light of these issues, President Bongo seems vulnerable to 

political challengers, especially since he was elected with only 

42% of the vote. The opposition remains fragmented into 3 

parties that lack effective leadership and seem unable to 

present a unified front. Moreover, Bongo retains a substantial 

degree of support. While many Gabonese see him as a despot, 

others point to his support of good governance, infrastructure 

improvement, and youth and female political representation as

evidence that he is a technocratic reformer. Consequently, the 

position of Bongo and the PDG seems safe for the time being.

POLITICAL & 

SOCIAL 

RELATIONS
Defense

The Gabonese Armed Forces (FAG—

Forces Armées Gabonaises) consists of 

4 services—Army, Navy, Air Force, and 

Gendarmerie—with a joint strength of 

6,700 personnel. Having few offensive 

capabilities, the FAG’s main role is to 

perform internal security functions and to 

maintain itself as a credible deterrent 

against external threats. In recent years 

the FAG has expanded its activities to 

include peacekeeping missions, such as 

the Mission for the Consolidation of Peace in Central African 

Republic (also known by the acronym MICOPAX).

In 2010 Gabon’s defense expenditures totaled $125 million or 

0.95% of GDP, which is small in both an absolute and relative 

sense—$125M would hardly purchase 5 F-16s, while 0.95% of 

GDP is just 2/3 the average for sub-Saharan Africa. 

Accordingly, the FAG typically does not undertake major 

hardware procurements. Instead, Gabonese defense spending 

focuses on basic needs such as uniforms and barracks.

Unlike some militaries that operate in its region, the FAG has a 

strong and historically successful commitment to civilian control 

over the military—apart from a brief, bloodless coup d’état in 

1964 (see History and Myth). Of note, senior ranks in the 

military are dominated by officers from the same Téké ethnic 

group (see “Ethnic Groups” below) as the Bongo family.

Service Branches: Consisting of about 3,200 personnel, the 

Army, which includes a 1,500-strong Presidential Guard, is the 

largest branch of the FAG. The Air Force is next with about 

1,000 personnel, followed by the Navy with just 500 personnel. 

Despite its small posture, the Navy appears poised to expand 

its role as pollution, illegal immigration, and illegal fishing 

continue to increase in Gabon’s territorial waters.

Gendarmerie: Although usually cited as a branch of the FAG, 

the Gendarmerie is technically a paramilitary force. Consisting 

of 2,000 personnel, the Gendarmerie has public safety and law 

enforcement roles during peacetime and contributes to national 

defense during wartime.

POLITICAL & 

SOCIAL 

RELATIONS
POLITICAL & 

SOCIAL 

RELATIONS
Security Issues

Gabon is free of major security issues. No significant non-state 

armed groups operate in Gabon, while political demonstrations 

rarely turn violent. There are a few recent exceptions. In 2009 

several individuals died in Port-Gentil after riots broke out in 

protest of election results. In August 2012 several people are 

suspected to have died during a rally in Libreville celebrating 

the return to Gabon of an opposition leader. Most recently and 

recurrently, student protests have occurred every spring for the 

past several years (see Learning and Knowledge).

Crime is Gabon’s most significant security issue. Petty crime is 

widespread, and violent crime, although still relatively rare, is 

increasing. Rape and armed robbery are most common in PortGentil and Libreville, particularly in restaurants, night clubs, and 

other popular attractions for foreign nationals.

Foreign Relations

Apart from a minor border dispute with 

Equatorial Guinea (described below), 

Gabon’s foreign relations are positive. 

Gabon focuses most closely on its ties 

with other French-speaking countries in 

Africa, other oil-producing countries on 

the Gulf of Guinea, and all countries 

that invest heavily in Gabon’s economy 

(Photo: Jean Ping, a half ChineseGabonese diplomat who served as the 

Foreign Minister of Gabon).

Neighboring Countries: Gabon maintains good relations with 

Cameroon and the Republic of the Congo, which all share 

several ethnic groups. Since 1973 Gabon’s relations with 

Equatorial Guinea are more complicated, as the two countries 

have had an unresolved maritime border dispute in oil-rich 

Corsico Bay.

Multilateral Relations: Gabon has played an important role in 

mediating disputes throughout central and French-speaking 

Africa, especially under the elder President Bongo. Gabon has 

helped negotiate peace accords in such countries as Angola, 

Burundi, Chad, the Central African Republic, the Democratic 

Republic of the Congo, and the Republic of the Congo.

POLITICAL & 

SOCIAL 

RELATIONS
In addition, Gabon is a member of multilateral organizations at 

multiple levels. At the regional level, for example, Gabon is a 

member of the Economic Community of Central African States 

(ECCAS), while at the continental level the country belongs to 

the African Union (AU). Internationally, Gabon is a member of 

the United Nations (UN), the World Bank, and the International

Monetary Fund (IMF), among others.

Gabon-France Relations: Since Gabon gained independence 

from France in 1960, it has maintained close ties with its former 

colonial ruler, especially in the military and commercial realms. 

Gabon is viewed widely as one of France’s primary “client 

states” in central Africa, a designation that bolsters Gabon’s 

influence in the region. The French military provides training to 

the FAG and maintains a force of about 700 troops in Libreville.

Gabon-US Relations: Gabon has a 

strong relationship with the US, as 

evidenced by 5 high-level visits 

between the two countries since 

1987. The US is a major importer of 

Gabonese oil and manganese, 

while Gabon acquires much of its 

machinery, aircraft, and 

construction equipment from the 

US. The US also provides Gabon 

with military training through the 

International Military Education and 

Training (IMET) program (Photo: Former President George W. 

Bush with Carlos Boungou, former Gabonese Ambassador to 

the US, at the White House in 2008).

Ethnic Groups

At a general level, there are two types of ethnic groups that live 

in Gabon: Bantu-speakers and Pygmies. Bantu-speakers live in 

all parts of the country and account for the vast majority of the 

population, while Pygmies are concentrated in isolated pockets 

of rainforest and number only a few thousand. While Bantuspeakers divide into more than 40 ethnic groups with distinct 

languages and customs, the division between the Bantuspeakers and the Pygmies cuts much deeper, as Pygmies are 

mostly isolated from mainstream Gabonese society.

POLITICAL & 

SOCIAL 

RELATIONS
Bantu-speakers

Of the 40 or so Bantu-speaking ethnic groups, most Gabonese 

belong to one of the 8 most populous ethnic groups: Eshira, 

Fang, Kele, Kota, Myene (includes Mpongwe and Orungu subgroups), Nzebi, Punu, and Téké (Note: The prefix ba- means 

“people of” in Bantu languages and is sometimes appended to 

the names of Bantu-speaking ethnic groups. Consequently, the 

Téké, for example, are sometimes called the “Batéké”).

Gabon’s Bantu-speaking ethnic groups share many similarities: 

they use the same farming techniques, eat the same diet, and 

have a similar standard of living. Consequently, ethnic divisions 

are not as distinct in Gabon as in many other African countries. 

Ethnic conflict is rare, and interethnic marriage is common. 

Still, each group has a distinct personality and sometimes even 

unique ceremonial occasions and practices.

Constituting about 1/3 of Gabon’s population, the Fang are the 

country’s largest ethnic group and live mostly in the Northeast. 

The Téké—the ethnic group of the Bongo family—and the 

Nzebi dominate the Southeast, while the Punu and Eshira live 

in the Southwest. These latter 4 ethnic groups jointly comprise

a share of the population roughly equal 

to that of the Fang. The Kele, who live 

near Port-Gentil, and the Myene, who 

live in central Gabon, account for most 

of the remainder. The Kota live mostly 

in the Northeast.

Pygmies

Pygmies are thought to have been 

Gabon’s first inhabitants (see History 

and Myth), where most of them still live 

as hunter-gatherers in the country’s 

northeastern forests. Due to their 

isolation and small population size, 

Pygmies are poorly integrated into modern Gabon where the 

Bantu-speaking majority often marginalizes them (see 

Language and Communication). In addition to suffering 

discrimination, many Pygmies live in severe poverty and lack 

access to basic services such as education and healthcare 

(Photo: A group of Baka Pygmy dancers in eastern Cameroon).

POLITICAL & 

SOCIAL 

RELATIONS
Other Groups

In addition to indigenous Pygmies and Bantu-speakers, Gabon 

has significant expatriate communities from France and various 

African countries. The French community is thought to consist 

of 5,000-10,000 expatriates who work primarily in the export 

industry. The African expatriate community is much larger—

estimates range from 100,000-200,000—consisting mainly of 

people from Benin, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Mali, São 

Tomé and Príncipe, and Senegal. Most African expatriates 

work as merchants, manual laborers, or in services.

Refugees: Gabon has a small refugee population that lives 

mainly in urban areas. Many of those refugees are Congolese 

who fled to Gabon in the late 1990s. In mid-2011 the status of 

9,500 refugees expired. Consequently, Gabon worked with the 

UN and the Republic of the Congo to help them repatriate, 

remain in Gabon, or resettle in another country. Although most 

of the refugees chose to remain in Gabon, about 700 chose to 

repatriate to the Republic of the Congo.

Social Relations

Like many other aspects of 

Gabon, the country’s social 

relations have been shaped 

by natural resource income. 

Although that income has 

transformed Gabon into a 

middle-income country on 

par with Malaysia, Mexico, 

and Turkey in per capita 

GDP, it also has enabled the emergence of stark social and 

economic disparities in Gabonese society. In recent years 

Gabon has become a bipolar economy, in which there is a 

small, wealthy elite and a large underclass that struggles 

survive—although not to the same degree as many Africans.

Nowhere are these disparities more apparent than in Libreville, 

the country’s classy, modern capital, where shantytowns full of 

makeshift huts and migrant laborers stand in the shadow of 

glitzy apartment buildings. Whereas the elite drive luxury cars 

and shop in supermarkets stocked with imported food, the far 

more numerous poor are left to deal with painfully high prices.

POLITICAL & 

SOCIAL 

RELATIONS
Outside the capital, the situation is not much better than in the 

shantytowns. Although most villagers in Gabon have at least 

some familiarity with farming techniques, the government has 

invested little in agriculture and instead has funded industrial 

infrastructure. Consequently, lack of employment in rural areas

has forced Gabon to import most of its food supply. In addition, 

many rural Gabonese have little access to education and 

healthcare because the government has failed to extend many 

public services into rural areas.

These economic disparities are linked to social inequities. For 

example, the educated elites speak comparatively unaccented 

Parisian French—a mark of distinction—while the remainder of 

the population speaks a version of French heavily influenced 

by indigenous tongues (see Language and Communication). 

Similarly, Gabon’s economic disparities have contributed to a

status-conscious attitude in society. For example, bureaucrats 

who have very little actual power may nonetheless treat those 

who have no power with scorn and condescension.

Visits

Personal interaction with friends and loved ones is 

the main source of cohesion in Gabonese society. 

In urban areas, Gabonese usually confine their 

visits to evenings and weekends, planning those 

visits ahead of time due to their busier schedules. In 

rural areas, by contrast, visits usually are unplanned 

and can occur at any time of day, although the time

after Sunday church services is most popular.

Hospitality is an important aspect of visits in Gabon. 

Hosts typically offer their guests a drink and also 

food if the visit occurs during a mealtime. Guests 

are expected to at least sample the food and drink 

to demonstrate their appreciation for their host’s 

hospitality. Although guests do not have to bring 

gifts or even arrive on time, they typically are 

expected to return the invitation at a later date. 

POLITICAL & 

SOCIAL 

RELATIONS
Overview

Most Gabonese are Christian, with estimates ranging from 55%

to 75% of the population. Muslims constitute an estimated 5-

10% of the population. Another 5-10% of Gabonese practice 

only traditional religion, while many others combine traditional 

beliefs and practices with Christianity and Islam. About 5% of 

the population expresses no religious preference.

Gabon’s constitution and other laws protect religious freedom, 

while the government recognizes Christianity, Islam, and Bwiti

(see “Bwiti” below) as official religions. The elder President 

Bongo’s conversion to Islam in 1973 (see History and Myth) 

seems to have done little to encourage the faith among native 

Gabonese, as most Muslims in Gabon today are immigrants 

from other African countries.

Traditional Beliefs

Before missionaries introduced Christianity in the 19th century, 

most Gabonese practiced animism, the belief that the spirit of 

life or consciousness resides in all objects, both animate and 

inanimate. According to animism, all natural objects—for 

example, trees and animals—are sacred, a conviction which 

establishes a close connection between animists and their 

environment. Most animists also believe that the spirits of their 

ancestors participate in daily life by 

guiding or obstructing human 

behavior.

Each ethnic group traditionally had 

rituals to promote healing, cast out 

evil spirits, and mark birth, death, 

and adulthood. Some ethnic groups 

still have such rituals, many of 

which involve communication with 

spirits of ancestors to whom people 

made offerings of food and wine. Rituals also usually involved 

music making, drumming, singing, and dancing. Many 

Gabonese carved elaborate masks that were worn during 

funerals or other rituals (Photo: A Fang mask).

3. RELIGION AND SPIRITUALITY

RELIGION & 

SPIRITUALITY
Some ethnic groups carved bieri

boxes (pictured) as repositories

for the remains of ancestors which

they consulted before hunting or 

making war. Other ethnic groups 

supported religious societies that 

focused on one aspect of spiritual 

beliefs, such as identifying 

sorcerers and practitioners of 

witchcraft or receiving healing 

instructions from the spirit world.

Christianity

Introduction of Christianity

Although Roman Catholicism arrived with the Portuguese in the 

15th century (see History and Myth), there were no organized 

missionary efforts before the 19th century. Many missionaries

of that era, both Protestant and Catholic, were inspired by 

humanitarian concerns. Accordingly, they protested slavery

and worked to transliterate indigenous languages into the Latin 

alphabet, making education available to some Gabonese.

Notwithstanding, many of the same missionaries considered

indigenous cultures as uncivilized, believing it was their 

Christian duty to share Western civilization with the Gabonese. 

Dismissive of indigenous practices and beliefs, most 

missionaries encouraged their converts to adopt Western-style 

gender roles, family structures, housing, clothing, patterns of 

work, and agricultural practices.

The first missionaries to arrive in Gabon were American 

Protestants from Boston. In 1842 they established a mission 

called Baraka in the lands of King Glass—the center of British, 

American, and German commerce. Later, the city of Libreville 

grew up around Baraka and neighboring settlements.

This action spurred the French government to establish a fort 

nearby to protect its commercial interests. In 1844 it brought in 

Catholic missionaries to promote both Catholicism and French 

cultural influence among the population. Although progress 

was slow for several decades due to death and illness in their 

ranks, the French missionaries doggedly expanded their 

RELIGION & 

SPIRITUALITY
presence through the late 19th century. In 

1899 the first Gabonese was ordained as 

a Catholic priest, and by 1900, there were 

about 15,000 Roman Catholics in Gabon 

(Photo: A Fang convert in the early 20th

century). 

The French and American missionaries 

generally saw each other as competitors 

for Gabonese souls, while the competition 

expanded into arenas other than religion. 

At Baraka, American missionaries opened

the first Western-style school in Equatorial 

Africa (see Learning and Knowledge). In 1883 the French 

administration closed the American schools, which had been 

teaching in English and local languages, ordering that they 

remain closed unless they used French-speaking teachers from

Europe.

As a result, the Americans largely transferred their work to 

French Protestants. The network of churches that emerged 

from this outreach, primarily in the northern part of the country, 

merged as the independent Evangelical Church of Gabon in 

1961. In the South the Protestant churches that formed under 

the guidance of other missionaries combined to form the

Evangelical Church of South Gabon in 1959.

Local Response: Gabonese responded to the activities of 

Christian missionaries in various ways. Some young Gabonese 

converted quickly to Christianity, taking advantage of the 

access that some missionaries could offer to marriage partners, 

Western-style education, and economic opportunities. Other 

Gabonese accepted some aspects of Christianity but combined 

them with traditional beliefs and practices.

For example, feeling the pressures imposed by colonial society 

in the early 20th century, a group of Fang founded the Bwiti

movement. They combined aspects of their own ancient 

ancestor rites with certain Catholic beliefs and the traditional 

initiation ceremonies of the Babongo and Mitsogo (Pygmy) 

people. A revitalization movement that emphasized tradition, 

Bwiti provided members with a connection to the past while 

reassuring them of a place in the future. Because Bwiti 

RELIGION & 

SPIRITUALITY
members were persecuted by both colonial and Catholic 

authorities, the movement also served to unite the Fang 

politically. By the mid-20th century, the Bwiti movement was 

active and well established in many parts of present-day 

Gabon (see Religion Today, Indigenous beliefs below). Of 

note, the country’s first President 

Léon M’ba was an initiate of the 

Bwiti movement (Photo: A 

Gabonese family in the early 

20th century).

Religion Today

Christianity

Today there are approximately

twice as many Roman Catholics as Protestants in Gabon. 

Attending church is a popular social occasion for Gabonese

Christians, especially women and girls. African elements such 

as music and dance infuse both Catholic and Protestant

services, which are often held in indigenous languages (see 

Language and Communication).

While some bishops are Gabonese, the Catholic Church still 

relies heavily on foreign clergy, in particular the French Holy 

Ghost Fathers. By contrast, Gabon’s largest Protestant church,

the Evangelical Church of Gabon, has been able to staff its 

churches primarily with Gabonese pastors.

Other Christian churches include the Evangelical Church of 

South Gabon, located primarily in the South, the Christian 

Alliance Church, based in the Southwest and in coastal cities, 

and the Evangelical Pentecostal Church (Assembly of God) 

and Seventh-Day Adventist Church, both found in the Gabon 

River estuary and far northern regions.

Islam

Most Gabonese Muslims are immigrants from other African 

countries (see Political and Social Relations). As of early 2013, 

the Grand Imam of Gabon—Ismael Oceni Ossa—is also the 

Chairman of the Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs of Gabon, 

although the positions are not always held by the same person.

The Council and all its affiliated organizations are forbidden by 

charter from commenting on or participating in any political 

RELIGION & 

SPIRITUALITY
activities. The Council and President Bongo—himself a past 

Chairman—recently emphasized this stance.

Indigenous Religion

For many Gabonese, even those who identify as Christian or 

Muslim, a traditional worldview infuses daily life. For some, this 

fusion is formalized in membership in a syncretic religious 

movement such as the Bwiti movement. 

Bwiti: Today, the Bwiti movement, known as Eglise de Banzie

or the Church of the Initiates, has 2-3 million followers in Africa 

and 60,000-100,000 in Gabon. The central ritual of the church 

is a multiple-day initiation rite that all members must undergo. 

The goal of the initiation rite is to achieve “one-heartedness” or 

a sense of community with God, ancestors, and other church 

members. Other shorter rituals are held each week, while the 

most important ceremonies are held on Christmas and Easter. 

A ritual specialist called an n’ganga leads Bwiti ceremonies in 

specially designed wooden temples. Participants typically dress 

in distinctive costumes and decorate their faces or bodies with 

white clay. Bwiti rituals constitute a mix of playing instruments, 

dancing, singing, and consuming iboga, the bark of a root that 

causes hallucinations (see Sustenance and Health). Through 

the use of iboga, church members enter the spirit world and 

seek the advice of ancestors in order to enhance their selfknowledge and connection to God. In some Bwiti groups, 

communication with the ancestors focuses on identifying the

causes and possible cures for an illness.

Ritual Killings

Gabon’s Association to Fight Ritual Crimes identified 

62 cases of so-called ritual killings in 2010 in which the 

limbs or genitals primarily of children were amputated. 

It is widely believed that men, often politicians, seeking 

power and good fortune perform these killings to use 

the body parts in rituals. Although officials in Gabon’s 

government have condemned the killings vigorously, 

there has been little action in the way of public 

investigation or prosecution for ritual killings.

RELIGION & 

SPIRITUALITY
Overview

The family is the basic unit of Gabonese society. From birth to 

death, family relationships constitute one of the most important 

aspects of daily life. Gabonese are loyal to their families and 

will not hesitate to provide food, lodging, or financial support to 

family members in need, even for a prolonged period of time.

Family Structure

Although men head most Gabonese 

households, Gabonese women often 

have strong opinions about family 

matters and play an important role in 

decisionmaking. Historically, men have 

been responsible for hunting, handling 

business transactions, and building the 

family home, while women prepare 

food, raise children, and perform other 

domestic tasks. Still, raising children 

traditionally has been shared among

the entire family, including aunts, uncles, and older siblings.

Clans: Clans, which are groups of people linked by a common 

ancestor, are the largest divisions within Gabon’s ethnic groups 

(see Political and Social Relations), functioning as an extension 

of family relationships. Members of the same clan traditionally 

have lived in close proximity to each other. Different clans have 

tended to alternate between periods of alliance and conflict 

with each other.

Historically, the clans of southern Gabon have been matrilineal, 

meaning they trace descent through the mother’s line, while the 

clans of northern Gabon have been patrilineal, tracing their 

descent through the father’s line. Today, most clans are 

patrilineal due to the combined effects of urbanization and 

migration and the accompanying blending of cultures. As 

members of the same clan are considered relatives, Gabonese 

only date and marry people from outside their clans (a practice 

known as “clan exogamy”).

4. FAMILY AND KINSHIP

KINSHIP

FAMILY &
Polygyny: The practice of a man having multiple wives at the 

same time, polygyny is both legal and acceptable in Gabon.

Most men cannot afford to support multiple wives, as doing so 

means paying bridewealth (see “Bridewealth” below) and 

buying a home for each wife. Consequently, men more 

commonly marry just one woman while maintaining mistresses 

as secondary partners.

Children: To offset a historically small population (see Political 

and Social Relations), childbearing is encouraged in Gabonese 

society where children are considered a symbol of status and 

wealth. Marriages are not considered final until the woman has 

borne at least one child, and women commonly bear children 

before marriage in order to prove their fertility.

Residence

Since housing is limited and most 

family members live close to each 

other in Gabon, residences tend to 

be large enough to accommodate 

a number of people. In a typical 

Gabonese home, there are 

separate gathering areas for men 

and women. The wife (or each wife

if the home is polygynous) has a 

cuisine, which consists of a 

kitchen and several benches for 

visiting and sleeping. Men socialize in the corps de gard, an 

outdoor courtyard with a fireplace. With little private space, 

several children may share a single bed.

The construction of Gabonese homes differs between rural and 

urban areas. In rural areas, extended families usually reside in 

compounds composed of several semi-permanent structures, 

which have roofs made of palm fronds and walls made of brick, 

bamboo, or wattle and daub (woven strips of wood bonded with 

clay or mud). More luxurious rural homes may have electricity, 

plumbing, or walls made from cinder blocks.

In urban areas, even modest residences usually are built from 

cinder blocks and have roofs made of corrugated iron. Many 

urban homes also have appliances such as radios, TVs, and 

satellite dishes (see Technology and Material).

KINSHIP

FAMILY &
Due to urbanization, housing shortages have become a major 

issue in Gabon in recent years. With housing development a 

priority while campaigning for the Presidency in 2009, 

President Ali Bongo Ondimba has committed to building 5,000 

new housing units annually (see Political and Social Relations).

While Bongo’s intent was to bring Gabon closer to ending 

homelessness, many of those homes have yet to be built due 

to corruption, land use issues, and 

administrative constraints.

Rites of Passage

Gabonese observe certain ceremonies 

to mark the various stages of life.

Birth and Infancy: Due to the high risk 

of miscarriage, families do not usually 

announce the arrival of a child until it is 

born and confirmed healthy. Upon 

confirmation, they typically hold a 

celebration at which the mother and child receive gifts, and the 

child is given a name—usually that of a relative or ancestor.

Children typically remain close to their mothers during their

early years of life. During the day, they are strapped to their 

mother’s back with a strip of cloth so that the mother’s hands 

remain free to perform other tasks. At night, children usually 

sleep next to their mother in the same bed (Photo: Bakoya 

Pygmy child, courtesy of UN News & Media/Gill Fickling).

Circumcision: Some boys participate in circumcision rituals

headed by clan elders. The boys are dressed in colorful skirts 

and escorted to the ceremonial location where the procedure is 

performed. Afterwards, the boys receive gifts and money at a 

special celebration. Unlike other parts of Africa where female 

circumcision is practiced, Gabonese girls rarely are 

circumcised (see Sex and Gender).

Dating and Courtship

Dating is most common in Gabon among the educated, urban 

elite. Young people attend movies, restaurants, and dance 

clubs where they choose their own partners. In rural areas, a 

“date” might entail a boy visiting a girl’s home while her parents 

are present. It is customary in rural areas for family members to 

arrange matches.

KINSHIP

FAMILY &
Marriage

Gabonese traditionally consider marriage the union not just of 

two people but also of two families, and nearly everyone in 

Gabon is married upon reaching adulthood. Due to the high 

cost of bridewealth (see below), many modern couples elect 

not to legally wed and instead live together in the equivalent of 

a common law marriage. Since a man’s status traditionally was 

linked to the number of dependents he had—including wives, 

children, in-laws, servants, and cattle—Gabonese men often 

have children with multiple partners (see “Polygyny” above).

Bridewealth: The groom’s family traditionally gives the bride’s 

family “bridewealth,” consisting of money or gifts to signify the 

groom’s commitment and compensate for the loss of the 

bride’s labor. In most cases, bridewealth is paid before 

marriage. In a minority of ethnic groups

such as the Fang, bridewealth only needs 

to be paid before the birth of the first child. 

In all ethnic groups, a widow traditionally 

marries her brother-in-law, since the family 

of her deceased spouse already has paid 

bridewealth (Photo: Gabonese woman with 

a basket of cassava).

Death

Although burial traditions vary, funerals are 

significant for all Gabonese. Traditionally,

the deceased is kept in the family home following death, where 

friends and family gather to grieve and pray over the body. Due 

to Gabon’s intense heat and humidity (see Political and Social 

Relations), remains are buried within 1-2 days of death, usually 

near the ancestors of the deceased. At the burial, friends and 

family tell stories about the deceased and may stay with the 

family for a week or more. 

A period of mourning then begins, during which women who 

had been close to the deceased wear old, tattered clothing to 

signify their grief. In some communities, additional mourning 

rituals occur 30 days after the funeral. After several months or 

sometimes up to 1 year, Gabonese observe a ceremony called 

retrait de deuil (“withdrawal of mourning”), a happy celebration 

that involves feasting, music, and dancing.

KINSHIP

FAMILY &
Overview

Although Gabonese society remains male-dominated, Gabon 

has made significant progress toward gender equality in law 

and politics. The country also is relatively free of problematic 

practices that occur in some parts of Africa, such as female 

circumcision and discrimination against homosexuals.

Gender Roles and Work

In traditional Gabonese households, 

men and women were responsible for 

distinct tasks. Men hunted, fished, 

sold cash crops, handled family 

finances, and built a family home, 

while women grew crops for the 

family food supply, prepared meals, 

took care of children, and performed 

other household tasks. In some rural 

areas of Gabon, labor is still divided in 

a similar way between the sexes, a 

situation that is reinforced by the fact 

that many rural women lack education 

and job skills necessary to find jobs 

outside the home.

Contemporary women now comprise about 56% of Gabon’s

labor force, primarily in the services sector. Some women also 

serve in the military (see Economics and Resources). Men still 

dominate managerial and decision-making roles. Although the 

law requires that both genders be paid equally for similar work, 

women typically earn lower wages than men. In addition, many 

Gabonese employers prefer to hire men, who are perceived as 

more able than women to handle strenuous labor. Similarly, 

women are barred from night work and mining jobs. 

Human Trafficking: Due to its relative wealth and prosperity, 

Gabon is a common destination for human trafficking victims. 

Most girls and women who are trafficked to Gabon are sexually 

exploited or used as domestic servants. Although prostitution is 

illegal, there are no reliable statistics regarding its prevalence.

5. SEX AND GENDER

SEX &

GENDER
Gender and Politics

Although traditional conceptions of 

gender continue to limit the role of 

Gabonese women in politics, they 

are entitled legally to take part in 

political affairs on an equal basis 

with men. Consequently, there 

have been female members in all 

branches of Gabon’s government. 

In the legislative branch, women 

account for 15% of the National 

Assembly and 18% of the Senate. These levels are similar to 

those in the US Congress, in which 18% of legislators are 

female (Photo: Former First Lady Laura Bush meeting Former 

First Lady Edith Lucie Bongo Ondimba of Gabon in 2004).

In the executive and judicial branches, women have served in a 

range of senior positions, including Minister of Justice, Minister 

of Family and Social Affairs, and President of the Constitutional 

Court. Outside the government, there are many female activist 

organizations that work for social justice and equality. 

Gender and the Law

Although Gabon has enacted several laws to protect the rights 

of women in recent years, many of those laws are ambiguous, 

inconsistently enforced, or overridden by traditional attitudes. 

For example, while a single woman may own property and 

legally retain those rights in marriage if specified in the 

marriage contract, her land often is treated as if it belongs to 

her husband. Similarly, women as with men may obtain loans, 

although some banks require women to obtain the consent of 

their husband. Finally, while men are entitled to divorce 

adulterous wives, women do not have a corresponding right.

Gender Based Violence (GBV)

Rape and other forms of GBV are criminal offenses in Gabon 

and can result in penalties of 5-15 years imprisonment and up 

to $40,000 in fines. Many cases are not prosecuted, however, 

because the victims are too ashamed to report their attackers 

or seek medical treatment. For the same reason, there are no 

reliable statistics on the occurrence of rape and GBV in Gabon, 

although both crimes are believed to be widespread.

SEX &

GENDER
Droit de Seigneur 

Some Gabonese clans traditionally practiced droit de 

seigneur (“the right of the lord”), a custom in which 

clan leaders had the traditional right to assume control 

of all females’ virginity in the area under their control. 

This practice usually led to transmission of sexual 

infections, which in turn resulted in health conditions 

linked to infertility, such as pelvic inflammatory disease 

and blockage of the fallopian tubes. This practice may 

be one reason why even today about 32% of 

Gabonese women suffer from infertility.

Female Genital Mutilation (FGM)

FGM is the deliberate modification of the female sex organs in 

order to reduce sexual desire and promote virginity. FGM is not 

widely practiced in Gabon, and while illegal there, incidents do 

occur usually among African expatriates residing in Gabon.

Sex and Procreation

Gabonese generally have a casual attitude toward sexual 

relations. Both genders typically start having sex at an early 

age and with multiple partners before marriage (see Family and 

Kinship). A 2005 study indicates that 78% of males and 70% of 

females age 15-19 had had sex already, even though only 2% 

of males and 18% of females were married at that age.

Because of Gabon’s sparse population (see Political and Social 

Relations), the government tries to encourage large families. 

Contraceptives, for example, were illegal until 2009, and many 

women still have limited access to information about family 

planning. Only about 33% of women use contraceptives, of 

which 88% use only traditional methods. 

Homosexuality

Although homosexuality is legal in Gabon, outward displays of 

homosexual affection are frowned upon. Consequently, many 

homosexuals in Gabon hide their orientation and instead marry 

and have families as heterosexuals. In contrast to the ages of 

consent for heterosexuals, which are 15 for women and 18 for 

men, the age of consent for homosexuals is 21.

SEX &

GENDER
Language Overview

As with ethnic groups, there are more than 40 languages 

spoken in Gabon, and nearly all are indigenous Bantu or 

Pygmy vernaculars belonging to the Niger-Congo language 

family. Because of the notable differences in these many 

dialects, French—Gabon’s former colonial language—serves 

as a lingua franca that allows Gabonese of different ethnicities 

to communicate. Still, most rural Gabonese live in 

homogeneous ethnic enclaves and therefore use local 

languages for commerce and daily life.

Fang

Around 30% of Gabon’s population 

speaks Fang, which is the country’s 

most common indigenous language. 

Most Fang-speakers are members of 

the Fang ethnic group (see Political 

and Social Relations) primarily 

concentrated in northern Gabon, 

southern Cameroon, and Equatorial 

Guinea. Like Gabon’s other 

indigenous languages, Fang belongs 

to the Niger-Congo family, although

there is no consensus among scholars 

whether Fang is a Bantu language 

(see below). Despite its appeal, many

inhabitants contend that Fang is not spoken widely enough in 

public life (Photo: Fang Christians in 1912).

Bantu Languages

Although Fang is the country’s most widely spoken indigenous 

language, most of Gabon’s indigenous languages are Bantu 

languages. Bantu languages are spoken throughout most of 

sub-Saharan Africa and are characterized by certain consonant 

groupings, such as “nz” (as in Nzabi) and “mb” (as in Mbete), 

and by open, round vowel pairs, as in the phrase antsia ama.

There was no written form of Gabon’s Bantu languages until 

the 19th century, when missionaries began transcribing them to 

facilitate religious education (see Learning and Knowledge).

6. LANGUAGE AND COMMUNICATION

COMMUNICATION

LANGUAGE &
Scholars classify the 40 Bantu languages spoken in Gabon into 

10 groups, although both those groups and the languages that 

constitute them have changed over time due to war, migration, 

and other social forces. Some examples of the groups include

the Eshira, Kele, Kota, Myéné, Mbédé, and Nzabi.

Pygmy Languages

Gabonese Pygmies (see Political and Social Relations)—

including the Babongo, the Baka, and the Bakoya—mostly 

speak Bantu languages of neighboring ethnic groups. Most 

Bakoya, for example, speak Koya, a dialect of the Bantu 

language Ngom, although some also speak French or other 

Bantu languages, such as Kwele and Kota.

The primary non-Bantu tongue spoken by Gabon’s Pygmies is 

Baka, the language of a group of the same name that inhabits 

parts of Gabon, Cameroon, the Republic of the Congo, and the 

Central African Republic. Although Baka belongs to the NigerCongo language family, it belongs to the Ubangi rather than the 

Bantu branch. Despite the existence of a Baka language, many 

Baka now speak Fang, which is more popular and therefore 

more effective for communicating with other ethnic groups.

French

French is Gabon’s primary language of 

business, education, government, and 

media. Most Gabonese speak at least 

some French in addition to their 

indigenous language. French was 

introduced to Gabon in 1839, when 

French traders began negotiating 

treaties with local chiefs (see History 

and Myth). Although French was 

named the language of instruction in 1883 (see Learning and 

Knowledge), it was taught only to a small minority of Gabon’s 

indigenous population until after World War II.

Since no ethnic group formed a majority when Gabon attained 

independence in 1960, French became the official language. 

Many Gabonese now speak the language fluently, but some 

older, rural Gabonese still speak “Moussa French,” a variant 

that incorporates the vocabulary and rhythm of local tongues. 

Most Moussa French speakers never studied French formally.

COMMUNICATION

LANGUAGE &
Communication Overview

Communicating effectively in Gabon requires not just the ability 

to speak French, Fang, or one of the other local languages, but 

also the ability to interact effectively using those languages. 

This notion of competence includes paralanguage (speech, 

volume, rate, intonation), nonverbal communication (personal 

space, touch, gestures), and interaction management 

(conversation initiation, turn-taking, and termination). When 

used properly, these forms of communication ensure that 

statements are interpreted as the speaker intends.

Communication Style

Although Gabonese generally are friendly and outgoing, they 

may seem reserved initially due to their view that speaking too 

much with a stranger is impolite in some circumstances. 

Consequently, a Gabonese host may wait before starting a 

conversation with unfamiliar guests. Nevertheless, friendships 

form quickly in Gabon, especially 

between people who meet through 

a family member.

Gabonese are viewed by some 

people—even other Africans in the 

region—as aggressive and direct. 

Indeed, many indigenous 

languages do not have words for 

“please” and “thank you.” These 

words are omitted not because Gabonese people are 

ungrateful, but rather because helping friends and relatives is 

considered an obligation rather than a courtesy. In lieu of 

saying “thank you,” Gabonese usually return favors with an 

equivalent favor at a later date.

Greetings

Gabonese typically shake hands and smile when greeting 

someone, even if they already have greeted the same person 

earlier in the day. Some women exchange greetings by 

grasping forearms, while other women offer bisous (Frenchstyle cheek kisses) or touch cheeks and make a kissing noise. 

Men have a somewhat similar greeting custom in which they 

touch heads temple-to-temple. Men also sometimes hold 

hands for entire conversations.

COMMUNICATION

LANGUAGE &
Verbal Greetings: French greetings such as Bonjour (Good 

day) and Comment allez-vous? (How are you?) are acceptable 

in most contexts. The greetings M’bolo (1 person) and M’bolani

(multiple people)—originally from the coastal Myene ethnic 

group—also are used widely by Gabonese of all ethnic groups.

Forms of Address

Gabonese usually address elders as Mama or Papa followed 

by their first name. Similarly, peers often are addressed as mon

frère (my brother) or ma soeur (my 

sister) followed by their first name. In 

places of work and other formal 

contexts, the titles Monsieur (Mr.) and

Madame (Mrs.) are appropriate.

Gestures

Like most people around the world, 

Gabonese use gestures to emphasize or 

substitute for spoken words. The 

“thumbs up” sign, for example, means 

“good” or “okay,” just as it does in the 

US. However, other gestures may be unfamiliar to foreign 

nationals. Instead of pointing, for example, Gabonese pucker 

their lips and then point them in the appropriate direction. 

Similarly, instead of simply holding an arm up, Gabonese hail 

taxis by making a hissing noise and stretching out an arm with 

the index finger pointed toward the ground.

Gabonese also use several other gestures. To indicate a large 

quantity, one may hit a closed left fist lightly against the right 

palm. To confirm that something is true, one may place the 

right thumbnail behind the front teeth and then snap the 

thumbnail forward. To show enthusiasm, one may quickly 

shake the wrist up and down while keeping the fingers close 

together and hitting them against the inside of the palm. Finally, 

to beckon someone, one may hold out a flat hand with the palm 

down and then wave the fingers toward oneself in unison.

Language Training Resources

Please view the Air Force Culture and Language Center 

website at http://culture.af.mil/resources/index.aspx for 

language training resources.

COMMUNICATION

LANGUAGE &
Useful Translations

Note: When interacting with non-English-speaking Gabonese, 

foreign nationals should speak French or Fang if certain that 

the Gabonese speaks Fang.

English French Fang

Hello Bonjour M’bolo/M’bolani

Goodbye Au revoir Mengakeyang

How are you? Comment allezvous? Y’o num vah?

I am fine Bien M’a num vah

What is your name? Comment vous 

appelez vous? One ewola ya?

My name is ___ Je m’appelle ___ Mene ewola naha 

___

I am pleased to 

meet you Enchanté Akibah ne meyemwoah

Yes Oui Ahaa

No Non Kaha / Moamo

Please S’il vous plaît Engungo

Thank you Merci Akiba

You are welcome De rien Asedjam

I’m sorry Désolé/Excusezmoi Djuima

What did you say? Qu’est-ce que vous 

disez? Wa dzon ah dzeh?

Repeat (it) Répétez Beryabaale

I do not speak 

Fang/French

Je ne parle pas 

Fang/français

Ma kobe ki 

Fang/French

Who? Qui? Zaha?

What? Quoi? Djé?

When? Quand? Odén?

Where? Où? Vé?

Why? Pourquoi? Amudjé?

Help! Au secours! Maayi Nvoraaan!

Right À droite Méyohom

Left À gauche Méyaha

Straight ahead Droit Téhetele

Stop! Arrêtez! Tébeye!

COMMUNICATION

LANGUAGE &
Literacy

• Total population over age 15 who can read and write: 88%

• Male: 92%

• Female: 85% (2010 estimate)

Traditional Education

Gabon’s early inhabitants used a variety of methods for 

transmitting knowledge. Education was typically informal and 

delivered orally from elders to younger members of society. 

Subject matter included practical skills, such as agriculture and 

hunting, as well as morals and values. Some clans also used 

stories involving animals to teach moral principles. 

Gabonese also used traditional methods to transfer knowledge 

between groups. For example, Baka Pygmies taught the Fang 

how to hunt and cultivate honey after the Fang arrived from the 

North in the 19th century (see History and Myth).

Mvets: The Fang are well known for mvets—poems that detail 

journeys of mythical heroes battling with imaginary creatures 

and the forces of nature. Mvets usually included genealogical, 

historical, cultural, and moral lessons. Although some mvets 

once were guarded closely and restricted to initiated members 

of a given clan, an increasing number have been recorded in 

recent years in an effort to preserve vanishing oral traditions.

Introduction of Formal Education

The first formal, Western-style schools 

established in Gabon were created by 

two Protestant American missionaries

in the mid-19th century (see Religion 

and Spirituality). The stated goal of 

these missionaries was to spread 

Christianity and to train an African lay 

ministry (Photo: Raponda Walker, the 

first Catholic priest of Gabonese 

descent). In pursuit of this goal, the 

missionaries wrote grammar books and hymnals in the local 

language (see Language and Communication).

7. LEARNING AND KNOWLEDGE

KNOWLEDGE

LEARNING &
It was not long before the American 

Protestants were joined by French 

Catholics. In 1844 Frère Jean Rémi 

Bessieux, a French Catholic priest, 

established the Congregation of the 

Holy Ghost Spiritans, which was the 

colony’s first boys’ school (Pictured: 

The Congregation’s crest). In the 

same year, the Brothers of SaintGabriel established École Montfort, 

a boys’ school now well known for 

educating many Gabonese politicians. In 1849 the Immaculate 

Conception Sisters of Castres founded a girls’ school.

French administrators (see History and Myth) provided money 

to the mission schools but did not regulate what they taught 

until 1883, when French was declared the sole language of 

instruction. In 1905 political movements in Europe led France 

to mandate the separation of church and state in both France 

and French colonies. While the mission schools lost funding

that year, France later opened public schools in 1907.

Enrollment was low until the years following World War II, when 

the colony began to receive more aid from France. Enrollments 

in primary school soared from 9,000 in 1945 to 50,000 in 1959, 

although many pupils only remained in school for a few years.

Education after Independence

When Gabon attained independence in 1960, few Gabonese 

had the educational background to become teachers or 

government officials. While the government established 

programs to train the required staff, Gabon’s education system 

remained dependent upon French aid for many years.

Modern Education System

Primary: Primary education is compulsory in Gabon. It starts at 

age 6, lastingfor 6 years. Although French is the language of 

instruction, students who are not familiar with French have a

year to learn the language. Upon completion of primary school, 

students receive the certificat d’etudes (certificate of studies) 

and sit for the concours d’entrée en sixième, an exam that

determines their placement in secondary school.

KNOWLEDGE

LEARNING &
Secondary: Secondary education in 

Gabon consists of 2 levels. Collège, 

the lower level, is similar to middle 

school in the US. It extends for 4 years 

and is compulsory. Similar to high 

school in the US, Lycée is not 

mandatory and continues for 3 years. 

Students at the upper level choose 

between 3 courses of study: general, 

vocational, and technical. General 

studies prepare students for le 

baccalaureat, an exam used for 

university admissions. Only 30-40% of students who take “le 

bac” pass the exam. In addition to the standard lycées, there 

are specialized lycées that prepare students for work in the oil 

and mining industries.

Post-Secondary: The National University of Gabon, now the 

Université Omar Bongo (UOB), was established in 1970. UOB

initially had a wide range of faculties, including arts, economics, 

engineering, health sciences, law, science, and technology, 

although many of them seceded to form independent 

universities. The technology faculty, for example, founded the 

University of Science and Technology in Masuku in 1986, while 

the health sciences faculty founded the University of Health 

Sciences in 2002. Despite these departures, UOB in 2011 had 

15,000 students, 350 faculty, and 16 Master’s programs.

In addition to universities, there are a range of professional and 

technical schools. The Ecole Normale Supérieure, for example, 

is devoted to teacher training, while the Institut National des 

Sciences de Gestion offers training in business administration. 

There also are schools linked to Gabon’s main industries (see 

Economics and Resources). For example, the Ecole Nationale 

d’Etudes Forestières á Cap Estérias trains students in forestry.

Although the government still offers funding for study abroad, it 

also has established partnerships to develop higher education 

in Gabon. For example, the Franco-American Management 

Academy and other universities in Europe and the US have 

partnered with institutions in Gabon to offer advanced degrees 

in biology, environmental studies, forestry, and management.

KNOWLEDGE

LEARNING &
Student Activism

Gabonese students have protested for higher quality 

education at many different times in the past. In 1990, 

for example, student demonstrations against the lack 

of computer equipment in schools led to the deaths of 

5 students. More recently, 2 universities in Libreville, 

including UOB, have been rocked by periodic student 

protests since early 2012. The protests originally 

focused on unpaid scholarships and later expanded to 

include grievances about inadequate air-conditioning, 

electricity, Internet access, and libraries. In the spring 

of 2013, Gabonese police used tear gas to disperse 

student protestors after some students began setting 

fire to tires and barricading streets.

Challenges to the Education System

Despite improvements since independence, Gabon’s public

education system still faces several challenges. For example, 

although enrollment now stands at 94%—with equal male and 

female representation—the dropout rate from primary school is 

about 44%. Of those who complete primary school, about 30% 

do not finish secondary school. Even those who stick with their 

education often require more time than normal to complete

their degrees—about 25% of secondary students and 75% of 

university students.

Investment in education remains low, especially in primary and 

secondary education. Gabon spends the equivalent of 3.9% of 

GDP on education, which is below average both regionally and 

globally. Class sizes range from 40-60 students, and resources 

are scarce in many parts of Gabon. Also, lack of housing near 

schools impacts teacher absenteeism at a rate of about 40%.

Private Schools

Since many public schools in Gabon tend to offer low-quality 

education, some Gabonese parents prefer to send their 

children to private schools. While private education in the 

country traditionally has been offered by religious institutions, 

several secular private schools have opened in recent years.

KNOWLEDGE

LEARNING &
Concept of Time

Like many Africans, Gabonese have a relaxed attitude toward 

time and prefer to focus less on the clock than on the people 

around them. In urban areas, many Gabonese have adopted a 

more Western-style view of time as a finite resource.

Time and Work

A typical workweek in Gabon extends

from Monday through Friday, with 

business hours of 7:30am-6:00pm.

Those hours include a 2-hour break 

during the hottest part of the day, which 

occurs around 1:00pm-3:00pm. Banks 

have a slightly different schedule, as 

they tend to close at 4:30pm on 

weekdays and open for a half day on 

Saturdays. In 2010 Gabon created a 

“continued working day” policy for all 

government workers. Under this policy, 

the day ends 3 hours earlier at 3:00pm, 

while lunch is curtailed from the traditional 2 hours to 30 

minutes. Gabon observes West Africa Time (WAT), which is 1 

hour ahead of Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) and 6 hours 

ahead of Eastern Standard Time (EST).

Punctuality

Times, dates, and appointments are not as important to most 

Gabonese as they are to Westerners, although there are some 

exceptions among urbanites and business people. Even when 

friends and relatives make appointments with each other, they 

generally are not tied to a specific date or timeFor example, 

people often are delayed in Gabon due to poor road conditions.

Holidays

Although most Gabonese are Christian, Gabon also observes 

Islamic holidays (see Religion and Spirituality). Businesses and 

government offices usually are closed on both religious and 

secular holidays (see “Public Holidays”). Formal sector workers 

in Gabon typically receive 2 days of paid leave per month.

8. TIME AND SPACE

SPACE

TIME &
Lunar Islamic Calendar

Muslims in Gabon use the Islamic calendar to calculate when 

Islamic holidays should be celebrated. Since that calendar is 

based on the phases of the moon, specific dates fall 11 days 

earlier each year from the perspective of the Western calendar. 

There are 12 months in the Islamic calendar, all of which have 

30 days or fewer. Days begin at sunset on what Westerners 

would consider the previous day.

Personal Space

Accustomed to living communally, most Gabonese are 

comfortable with limited personal space. Nonetheless, they 

typically respect the personal space of new acquaintances,

maintaining a comfortable distance when they are greeting 

someone new (see Language and Communication). Gabonese 

are especially careful to maintain a courteous separation from 

people of the opposite gender, although these attitudes are 

somewhat more relaxed among youth living in urban areas.

Public Holidays

• Jan 1: Jour de l’An (New Year’s Day)

• Mar 12: Day of Renewal

• Mar – Apr (variable): Pâcques (Easter)

• May 1: Fête du Travail (Labor Day)

• May – Jun (variable): Ascension

• May – Jun (variable): Pentecost Monday

• Aug 15: Assumption

• Aug 17: Fête Nationale (Independence Day)

• Nov 1: Toussaint (All Saints’ Day)

• Dec 25: Nöel (Christmas Day)

Islamic Holidays (see “Lunar Islamic Calendar”)

• Mawlid: Birthday of the Prophet Muhammad

• Ramadan: Holy Month of Fasting

• Eid al-Fitr: End of Ramadan

• Eid al-Adha: The Festival of the Sacrifice

SPACE

TIME &
Touch

Gabonese commonly exchange 

handshakes or bisous (Frenchstyle cheek kisses) when greeting

each other (see Language and 

Communication). Although people 

of the same gender tend to be 

comfortable with casual touching 

during conversation, members of 

opposite genders may avoid personal contact in public. Some 

women, especially those from older generations, may be 

uncomfortable shaking hands with a man. Male foreign 

nationals are advised to allow a Gabonese woman to decide 

whether or not to advance a handshake. It is disrespectful in 

Gabon to touch someone on the head (US sailor plays game 

with a Gabonese elementary school student).

Eye Contact

Gabonese are comfortable making and maintaining eye contact 

during conversation. In some cases, Gabonese stare intently at 

things that interest them and seem overly aggressive in doing 

so. This behavior indicates curiosity, not aggression.

Left Hand Taboo

Like people from many cultures in Africa, Asia, and the Middle 

East, Gabonese use the left hand primarily for personal 

hygiene and therefore consider it unclean. Consequently, they 

use the right hand when eating, gesturing, accepting items, or 

greeting another person. Foreign nationals are advised to 

comply with this tradition in order to avoid offense.

Photographs

Foreign nationals are advised to obtain 

permission before taking pictures of people 

in Gabon unless they are congregated in a 

large group (e.g. in a marketplace). Be 

advised that Gabonese may expect 

compensation in exchange for appearing in 

photographs. Finally, foreign nationals 

should note that taking pictures of military 

installations, government buildings, the 

Presidential Palace, or airports is illegal.

SPACE

TIME &
Overview

Due to the strong influence of French colonialism and the large 

variety of ethnic groups in Gabon, the country is home to many 

different customs related to dress, recreation, music, and the 

arts. Some of those customs originated in religious beliefs,

while more recently Western influences have had an impact.

Dress and Appearance

Traditional: In the traditional 

culture of some ethnic groups 

in Gabon, clothing and body 

adornments indicated wealth, 

status, and life experiences. 

Consequently, some people 

historically wore elaborate 

clothing, even though most 

Gabonese limited the amount 

of clothing they wore due to the 

country’s hot and humid 

climate (Photo: Gabonese singers and dancers in traditional 

dress).

The Baka pygmies, for example, historically wore simple loin 

cloths made from tree vines, which they embellished with

stones, beans, and charcoal designs. Similarly, men of the 

Fang ethnic group historically wore waistcloths made of animal 

skins, although they also adorned themselves with leopardtooth necklaces, body tattoos, and artful designs composed of 

scars. Some Fang men even sharpened their teeth in order to 

appear fiercer and braver.

Modern: Most Gabonese value a neat and clean appearance.

Even individuals who rely upon donated, second-hand clothing 

generally strive to keep their garments presentable. Gabonese 

typically reserve their finest clothing for photographs or special 

events. Although most people in Gabon wear Western styles, 

their garments often are made from traditional African fabrics 

and incorporate indigenous designs.

9. AESTHETICS AND RECREATION

AESTHETICS &

RECREATION
Men: In formal and business contexts, Gabonese men typically 

wear standard, Western-style work clothes, including trousers, 

collared shirts, and leather shoes. Jackets usually are shunned 

because of the heat. In casual contexts, men tend to wear

Western-style shirts made from traditional African textiles. 

Muslim men also sometimes wear a boubou—a loose, longsleeved cotton tunic that falls mid-calf level and worn over 

trousers. Most Gabonese men wear their hair neat and closely 

cropped, although men in rural areas often grow beards.

Women: Most Gabonese women wear fitted dresses or t-shirts 

with jeans. Some women of middle-age or older also may wear 

a pagne—a long-wraparound skirt made with brightly colored 

material—over a matching fitted dress or with a matching head 

cloth and blouse. Many women braid their hair elaborately,

twisting decorative beads into the design.

Recreation and Sports

Although visiting friends and relatives (see Political and Social 

Relations) is probably Gabon’s most popular form of recreation, 

many Gabonese also watch TV (see Technology and Material) 

or play sports and games. For example, the Fang play songo, 

a form of mancala in which players move pebbles or seeds 

between pits on a wooden board. Children play games such as 

checkers, jump-rope, and tag. Since many Gabonese children 

lack the equipment needed for some sports and games, they 

often improvise using recycled 

materials.

Soccer: Soccer—known throughout 

Africa as “football”—is Gabon’s most 

popular sport. Founded in 1962, 

Gabon’s national team is known 

popularly as the Azingo Nationale

or Les Panthères (The Panthers). 

Although Les Panthères have yet to 

qualify for the World Cup, they have 

made 5 appearances in the Africa Cup of Nations, co-hosting

the same tournament with Equatorial Guinea in 2012. Gabon 

also is home to 60 private football clubs, including Libreville’s 

FC Missile (pictured above in a 2008 match against the US 

Navy Region Europe team).

AESTHETICS &

RECREATION
Other Sports: Other sports with a following in Gabon include 

basketball, volleyball, hiking, and cycling. Since 2006 Gabon 

has hosted the Tropicale Amissa Bongo, an 8-day cycling race 

that constitutes a part of the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) 

Africa Tour and attracts cyclists from around the world.

Olympics: Gabonese athletes have participated in the 

Summer Olympics 8 times since 1972, competing in events 

such as boxing, judo, and track and field. Anthony Obame won 

Gabon’s first medal, a silver in heavyweight taekwondo, at the 

2012 Olympics in London.

Music

Famous for its complexity and rhythmic qualities, the traditional 

music of Gabon is characterized by drums, harps, flutes, and 

xylophones along with accompanying vocals. The Bakele, for 

example, traditionally used an 8-stringed harp, while the Fang 

used the mvet, a stringed instrument that accompanied epic 

stories of the same name (see Learning and Knowledge and 

“Folklore” below). By contrast, Baka Pygmy music is known for 

vocals that resemble yodeling.

Modern: In addition to traditional 

music, Gabonese enjoy modern 

genres ranging from rap and hiphop to reggae and soukous, an 

African version of the rumba that 

originated in the Congo. Several 

Gabonese artists have received 

global attention in recent years. For 

example, Pierre Akendengué 

(pictured) is known widely for his 

socially conscious songs, which blend popular music with 

African rhythms. His most famous piece—“Lambaréné”—was a 

tribute to Dr. Albert Schweitzer (see Sustenance and Health).

Another notable Gabonese musician is Patience Dabany, the 

first wife of the elder Bongo and the mother of Gabon’s current 

President. After her divorce in 1988, Dabany produced several 

solo albums and sang lead for a group known as Kounabeli. 

Other well-known Gabonese musicians include singers Oliver 

N’Goma and Didier Ontchanga, guitarists La Rose Mbadou and 

Sylvain Avara, and rapper Lord Ekomy Ndong.

AESTHETICS &

RECREATION
Theater

Although the French introduced European-style theater to 

Gabon during the colonial era, indigenous Gabonese so far 

have produced little theatrical works. The most famous 

Gabonese playwright was Vincent de Paul Nyonda, who began 

writing plays after leaving his job as government official. His 

best known work is Le Mort de Guykafi (The Death of Guykafi), 

a critique of colonialism wrapped in a dramatized legend.

Cinema

Due partly to the elder Bongo’s advocacy (see History and 

Myth), cinema has been successful in Gabon. The country’s 

first cinema actor was Philippe Maury, who produced and wrote

such films as La Cage, which was featured at the 1963 Cannes 

Film Festival. Gabon appeared again at Cannes in 2011, when 

the event included a film about a rapper who finds inspiration in 

Libreville. US and other foreign films are popular in Gabon, 

while today DVD players can be found even in remote villages.

Festivals

In addition to public holidays (see Time and Space), 

the people of Gabon celebrate several festivals that 

draw participants from all over Europe and Africa. In 

addition to local festivals held throughout the year in 

all regions of Gabon, the country is home to the 

following music festivals:

• Festival Gabao: This 3-day festival occurs

each February in Libreville and showcases hiphop talent from all around Africa.

• Festival Akni-a-Loubou: This festival, which is 

held for 2 weeks each May, offers instructional 

workshops for aspiring dancers.

• Les Nuits Atypiques: Typically held during the 

last week of August, this festival highlights the 

music of Gabon’s Nyanga region.

AESTHETICS &

RECREATION
Folklore

Most Gabonese ethnic groups have a rich tradition of folklore.

Troubadors—professional storytellers—traditionally have used 

stories, riddles, and poetry to preserve the histories and fables 

of their people. The Fang, for example, are famous for the 

mvet, a form of epic poetry that chronicles battles between 

Oku (mortals) and Engong (immortals). Although historically 

the mvet was a closely guarded art form, a notable troubador

recently published some mvets in order to help preserve them.

Literature

The earliest known example of published Gabonese literature 

is Contes Gabonais (Gabonese Stories), a collection of stories 

from various ethnic groups which André Raponda-Walker, the 

first Catholic priest of Gabonese descent, compiled in 1953. 

Similar publications followed in the 1970s after the Ministry of 

Culture was established in 1976.

In the 1980s Gabonese authors began to address social 

issues. Angèle Ntyungwetondo Rawiri, for example, addressed 

sorcery and modern womanhood in her novel Elonga (1980), 

while Laurent Owondo—Gabon’s most famous author—dealt 

with social change and identity in Au but du silence (At the End 

of Silence) (1985). Other well-known Gabonese writers include 

Quentin Ben Mongaryas and Maurice Okoumba-Nkoghe.

Arts and Crafts

Gabonese arts and crafts traditionally have 

been made for religious purposes. Several 

Gabonese ethnic groups historically have 

created elaborate wooden masks (pictured),

originally used to provide spiritual protection 

to deceased ancestors but now are used 

mostly for decoration. In modern times, 

Gabonese artisans make a variety of arts 

and crafts including baskets, ceramics, mats, 

and cloth made from the fronds of the raffia

palm. Libreville’s Mon-Bouet Market is 

famous for its selection of indigenous arts 

and crafts. Libreville also is home to the National Museum of 

Gabon, the International Center for Bantu Civilizations, and the 

Museum of Arts and Traditions.

AESTHETICS &

RECREATION
Sustenance Overview

Gabon’s flavorfully spicy cuisine is the result of both cultural 

influences from the country’s colonial past and the selection of 

ingredients available in its tropical climate. Since only a small 

portion of Gabon’s land is cultivable (see Economics and 

Resources), the country imports about 80% of its food supply.

Dining Customs

Urban Gabonese eat mostly with utensils and use their hands 

only for certain foods, while rural Gabonese typically eat all 

foods with the right hand or a spoon. Village-dwellers also eat 

most meals from a single communal bowl or platter, although 

guests—and sometimes fathers—have their own bowls. In 

some Gabonese families, men and older boys eat indoors 

while women and children eat outdoors or in the cuisine

(kitchen area—see Family and Kinship).

Traditional Diet

The early inhabitants of Gabon 

ate a varied diet of wild foods 

drawn from both the land and 

the sea. The Mpongwe and the 

Séké, for example, caught and 

sold sardines, while the Baka 

Pygmies preferred fish from the 

deep sea. Although animal 

husbandry historically has not 

been common in Gabon, many ethnic groups once hunted 

large animals, including antelopes, chimpanzees, crocodiles, 

and gorillas. As Bantu-speaking groups arrived in Gabon, they 

imported with them the tradition of eating cassava or manioc, a 

starchy tuber that is easy to plant and cultivate.

Since wild fruit is abundant in Gabon, the country’s inhabitants 

historically have eaten both common fruits, such as plantains 

and bananas, and more exotic fruits, such as atanga—a small, 

egg-shaped fruit with a salty flavor—and mvut—a round, deep 

red fruit with a sour center. Bantu-speaking groups eventually 

imported papaya and citrus fruits to add to their variety.

10. SUSTENANCE AND HEALTH

SUSTENANCE

& HEALTH
Modern Diet

Especially in urban areas, the modern Gabonese diet reflects 

extensive French influence (see History and Myth). 

Accordingly, vendors sell baguettes on many street corners, 

and omelets are popular. In rural 

parts of Gabon, traditional foods 

are still more common. In those 

areas, staple crops such as corn, 

rice, yams, sweet potatoes, 

sugarcane, and cassava (pictured) 

still constitute the core of the diet. 

In many cases, cassava and other 

root vegetables are made into fufu, a porridge or dough that 

often is served with stew. As fufu is bland, berbere—a spice 

made from chilies—is sometimes added for flavor.

Breakfast usually consists of fufu along with coffee or tea and 

leftovers from the previous meal. Families commonly gather in 

the afternoon to consume the largest meal of the day, 

consisting of dishes such as coupé-coupé (smoked meat on a 

baguette). Dinner may consist of stews or soups such as 

nyembwé, which is made with palm oil, pine nuts, and chicken.

Fruit remains a popular snack in Gabon, especially plantains 

and bananas, the skin fiber of which historically were used also 

to make ropes and medicines. Other popular fruits and 

vegetables include avocadoes, tomatoes, eggplant, mangoes, 

papayas, coconuts, and pineapples.

Meat: Bushmeat—a catch-all term that refers to a range of wild 

game, including antelope, monkey, porcupine, and snake—is 

common in rural Gabon and is considered a delicacy in urban 

areas. While hunting is regulated to preserve endangered 

species, illegal hunting is common. Other sources of protein 

include chicken and seafood, especially fish and crab.

Beverages

Water is the most important beverage, although soft drinks 

such as Coca-Cola and alcoholic beverages also are popular.

The alcoholic drink of choice for many Gabonese is Régab, a 

beer that is brewed in Gabon and is regarded by many as one 

of Africa’s finest. Another local beer known as Castel also has 

its followers, as does palm wine.

SUSTENANCE

& HEALTH
Health Overview

Although Gabon has improved the health of its population

significantly in recent years, statistical indicators suggest that

basic healthcare remains inadequate. Maternal mortality, for 

example, has remained at 230 deaths per 100,000 live births—

almost 11 times the US rate—while infant mortality is among 

the highest in the world at 49 deaths per 100,000 live births. 

Urbanization has expanded access to medical facilities, 

although it also has led to poor sanitation and facilitated the 

spread of communicable diseases.

Albert Schweitzer

Albert Schweitzer was a lecturer, philosopher, and 

musician born in 1875 in the Alsace region of 

France, which was then part of Germany. At some 

point in his mid-30s, Schweitzer decided to become 

a medical missionary and enrolled at the University 

of Strasbourg to study medicine. In 1913, at the age 

of 38, he moved with his family to what is now the 

city of Lambaréné, Gabon, and opened a hospital.

The hospital was controversial. Schweitzer allowed 

families to stay with patients and prepare food in the 

hospital – a practice considered unsanitary. 

Moreover, while some hailed Schweitzer for his 

compassion, others accused him of racism. Despite 

this criticism, the hospital treated more than 150,000 

patients under Schweitzer, who was awarded the 

Nobel Peace Prize posthumously in 1978.

The hospital that Schweitzer founded still serves the 

people of Gabon, while the US National Institutes of 

Health recognizes it as one of Africa’s best malaria 

research centers. Among other services, the Albert 

Schweitzer Hospital offers primary care and surgery 

to more than 30,000 patients annually. The hospital 

chose an African director for the first time in 2012.

SUSTENANCE

& HEALTH
Traditional Medicine

Traditional medicine comprises knowledge, skills, and practices 

that are used to pursue holistic health as derived from the 

beliefs, theories, and experiences of indigenous populations. In 

Gabon, healthcare in many ethnic groups historically has been 

the responsibility of traditional healers. The Fang, for example, 

relied on healers who had an extensive knowledge of herbs 

and offered both physical and spiritual treatment.

According to the World Health Organization, the government of 

Gabon officially recognizes traditional medicine, maintaining an 

inventory of the traditional medications used in the country. 

Nevertheless, the government does not regulate, license, or 

offer official guidance about traditional medical practices.

Iboga: Traditional healers widely use

the root Tabernanthe iboga, also known 

simply as iboga (pictured), to treat 

certain ailments. Patents consume the 

root bark by chewing it, smoking it in 

pipes, or crushing it into powder. 

Gabonese believe that iboga can cure 

alcoholism and other addictions without 

creating a dependency. In recent years, 

a growing number of Western tourists 

have visited Gabon in hopes of using 

iboga for this purpose. As both a 

hallucinogen and a stimulant, iboga has 

a potent effect on body and mind. 

Consequently, some Gabonese use iboga as part of rituals 

(see Religion and Spirituality) in which they try to communicate 

with deceased ancestors and learn of cures for their ailments. 

Despite its perceived benefits, iboga causes insomnia and can 

be fatal if taken in large quantities.

Modern Healthcare System

Gabon’s healthcare system is one of the most highly developed 

in the region. Medical care is provided mostly through public 

facilities, and even private facilities often function as if they 

were public. Yet, facilities are limited outside Libreville, while 

many Gabonese cannot afford healthcare. In addition, many 

hospitals need repairs or lack reliable utilities.

SUSTENANCE

& HEALTH
Insurance: In 2007 the Gabonese government established a 

national health insurance plan that was among the first of its 

kind in Africa. The plan provides for benefits to be implemented 

in stages, whereby rural farmers, the unemployed, and the selfemployed are the first recipients. Once the plan comes into full 

effect, the system will be funded through co-pays, sales taxes, 

and employee contributions to health plans.

Health Challenges

Malaria: About 8.2% of the population 

is infected with malaria, which is the 

leading cause of death in children under 

age 5. Malaria’s spread is often 

attributed to the country’s poor sewage 

disposal systems, which are a breeding 

ground for malaria-carrying mosquitos.

Tuberculosis (TB): Although Gabon’s 

TB infection rate historically has been 

high, it has declined since 2004. Still, in 

2011 about 450 per 100,000 Gabonese were infected with 

TB—nearly twice the rate for sub-Saharan Africa as a whole.

Ebola Virus: Ebola virus—a disease that typically spreads to 

humans when they eat or prepare infected chimpanzee meat—

is a major concern in Gabon due to the continued popularity of 

bushmeat (see above). The disease causes hemorrhaging and 

fever and in many cases is fatal.

HIV/AIDS: Due to certain cultural factors (see Sex and Gender) 

and a lack of public awareness, the prevalence of HIV/AIDS 

has risen steadily since the 1990s. As of 2009 approximately 

5.2% of Gabonese adults age 15-49 were infected with HIV—

the 13th highest rate in the world and slightly higher than the 

average for sub-Saharan Africa. About 60% of HIV-infected 

people in Gabon are women age 15-29.

Gabon has worked with several non-profit groups to counter

the epidemic by distributing condoms and expanding education 

about HIV/AIDS. In 2012 Gabonese First Lady Sylvia Bongo 

Ondimba launched a campaign known as “CAN without AIDS,” 

which uses sports to teach young Gabonese about HIV/AIDS.

SUSTENANCE

& HEALTH
Overview

Due primarily to its vast petroleum reserves, Gabon is one of 

the wealthiest countries in Africa, with a per capita GDP in 

2011 of about $11,100—the 3rd highest in Africa and almost 8 

times the average for sub-Saharan Africa as a whole. However, 

the country’s wealth is distributed unequally: the richest 1/5 of 

the population receives about 90% of Gabon’s income, while 

most other individuals live in poverty.

There also is a sharp economic distinction between urban and 

rural Gabon. Since employment is rarely available in rural 

areas, village dwellers on average are poorer than city 

dwellers. For the most part, rural inhabitants meet their basic 

needs through a blend of subsistence farming and 

contributions from family members employed in cities. Despite 

these conditions, village dwellers often have a higher quality of 

life than the urban poor, as they typically are able to provide for

their own needs directly and 

therefore have less need for 

money (Photo: Port-Gentil).

Apart from inequality and 

poverty, Gabon’s economy 

faces a number of challenges. 

For example, Gabon relies 

heavily upon foreign workers, 

as the domestic labor force is neither technically skilled in the 

oil industry nor large enough to meet the needs of the retail and 

transportation industries. In addition, the economy suffered for 

many years from the government’s poor fiscal management. 

That is, in order to finance a massive civil service and large, 

poorly managed, state-owned firms, the government 

accumulated vast debts against volatile oil revenues.

Gabon’s greatest economic woe is an impending decline in oil 

revenues. Gabon’s oil production peaked in 1997, and by some 

estimates, the country’s reserves will be depleted by 2025. This 

trend is problematic because the government so far has done 

little to prepare the country for an economic future without oil. 

11. ECONOMICS AND RESOURCES

ECONOMICS & 

RESOURCES
Industry

Industrial activities, including oil extraction, manufacturing, and 

mining, accounted for 54% of GDP and 15% of employment in 

Gabon in 2012.

Oil: The dominant industrial activity in Gabon is oil extraction, 

which accounted for more than 3/4 of export earnings in 2012. 

Since Gabon’s oil production began in 1956, its market has 

expanded to become Africa’s 9th largest oil producer. About 

1/2 of Gabon’s oil comes from offshore oilfields, of which the 

most productive are located off the coast of Port-Gentil. The 

most productive land-based 

oilfields are Gamba and Rabi 

Kounga, which are located in 

southwestern Gabon.

In contrast to some African oilproducing countries, Gabon 

not only extracts crude oil but 

also processes it into 

petroleum products. The 

country’s only oil refinery is Société Gabonaise de Raffinage

(SOGARA), sited slightly north of downtown Port-Gentil. 

SOGARA and the businesses that support its operations—such 

as metalworking facilities and a shipyard—account for the bulk 

of non-extractive industrial activities in Gabon.

Mining: Gabon is one of the world’s largest manganese 

suppliers, along with a significant quantity of uranium. In 

addition, Gabon has deposits of gold, diamonds, iron ore, and 

phosphates, although large investments probably would be 

required to exploit those deposits commercially. Much of the 

country’s mineral extraction occurs at Moanda, which is located 

about 25 mi west of Franceville in southeastern Gabon. 

Manufacturing: As noted above, most manufacturing activities 

in Gabon are linked to SOGARA’s petroleum processing,

although some factories process other raw materials such as 

lumber, sugar, and palm oil. Other industries create finished 

goods such as cement, cigarettes, beer, electronics, and 

textiles. Historically, state-owned firms staffed with family 

members of government officials controlled many of Gabon’s 

manufacturing outfits, although often unprofitably.

ECONOMICS & 

RESOURCES
Agriculture

The agriculture sector, which includes farming, herding, fishing, 

and forestry, accounted for just 4% of GDP in 2012, although it 

employed 60% of Gabon’s population. The largest component 

by far of the agricultural sector is forestry. The forests of Gabon 

contain around 400 tree species of which about 100 have 

industrial applications. Gabon is best known for producing such 

hardwoods as mahogany, ebony, and okoumé (native to 

equatorial West Africa and is Gabon’s primary timber species).

The rest of the agriculture sector is small. Since thick forests 

cover most of Gabon, less than 1% of the country’s territory is 

under permanent cultivation. The most popular staple crops are 

cassava, plantains, and yams, while the most important cash 

crops are coffee, cocoa, palm trees, sugarcane, and rubber. 

Large-scale livestock herding is uncommon, although 

Gabonese raise small numbers of pigs, goats, sheep, and 

chickens. Despite its long coastline, Gabon’s fishing industry is 

small and relies on traditional methods for 2/3 of its catch.

Services

The services sector, which consists mainly of government jobs 

and retail trade, accounted for about 42% of GDP and 25% of 

employment in 2012. The government is the largest employer 

in Gabon, typically paying higher-than-average salaries. While 

expatriates from Asia and the Middle East manage many of the 

country’s mid-size retail outlets, immigrants from countries in 

West Africa often operate small 

market stalls.

Tourism: Due to its densely 

forested geography and lack of 

infrastructure, Gabon hosts 

relatively few tourists despite its 

many attractions. The most 

notable ones include the 

beaches of the Atlantic Coast, 

the scenic Ogooué River, the Crystal Mountains, and about 

80% of the chimpanzees and gorillas in Africa. The tourism 

industry nevertheless may be poised to grow as a result of the 

elder President Bongo’s decision in 2002 to convert 10% of the 

country’s territory into wildlife preserves.

ECONOMICS & 

RESOURCES
Currency

Gabon’s official currency is the 

Central African CFA Franc, which 

consists of 100 centimes. It is 

issued in 5 banknotes (500, 1,000, 

2,000, 5,000, 10,000 CFA) and 8 

coins (1, 2, 5, 10, 25, 50, 100, 500

CFA) (Photo: Part of a CFA note

from 1978). Since the value of the 

CFA Franc is fixed to that of the

Euro at €1=656 CFA, $1 equals 

about 500 CFA.

Foreign Trade

Gabon’s exports, which totaled $10.8 billion in 2011, consisted 

mostly of oil, timber, manganese, and uranium sold to the US 

(42%), Australia (9%), Malaysia (9%), Japan (6%), China (5%), 

and Spain (5%). Imports, which amounted to slightly less than 

$3.2 billion in 2011, consisted mainly of machinery, equipment, 

food, and building materials sourced from France (33%), China 

(8%), the US (6%), Belgium (6%), and Cameroon (4%).

China: Since the early 2000s, Chinese firms and the Chinese 

government have expanded their presence in Gabon. Chinese 

firms (many of which are owned by their government) have 

undertaken ventures in such industries as construction, mining, 

petroleum, and timber, while the Chinese government has 

initiated a wide range development projects. Due to this 

increased involvement, Chinese often have a more visible 

presence in Gabon than Europeans, especially in rural areas.

Foreign Aid

In 2011 Gabon received approximately $56.8 million of official 

development assistance (ODA) from single-country donors. 

The most generous by far was France, which contributed 

nearly 4/5 (78%) of the total. Other significant donors included 

Japan (8% of the total), Germany (5%), the US (3%), Canada 

(3%), and Korea (3%). In the same year, Gabon received about 

$22.5 million in ODA from multilateral organizations, of which 

almost all (78%) came from the European Union and related 

agencies. The remainder came largely from the United Nations 

and the African Development Bank.

ECONOMICS & 

RESOURCES
Overview

Gabon relies on infrastructure, such as airports and airplanes, 

and technologies, such as mobile phones, to help citizens 

bypass the challenges presented by the country’s forested and 

mountainous geography and unusually rainy climate.

Transportation

Private forms of transportation, such 

as cars, motorcycles, and bicycles, 

are rare in Gabon. Similarly, there is 

limited public transit. Consequently, 

most Gabonese make short journeys 

on foot. For longer journeys, various 

types of taxis are the most popular 

choice. For traveling around town, 

standard taxis are the most popular, 

although prices have risen in recent 

years. For intercity travel, bush taxis, 

or taxis brousse, are most common. 

Most taxis brousse are minibuses, 4WDs, or cars that tend to 

be ramshackle and overly crowded.

In heavily watered parts of Gabon, pirogues—dug-out wooden 

canoes—historically have been one of the most common 

transport means. Although traditionally propelled by a pagaye, 

or pole, many modern pirogues are powered by gas engines. 

Gabonese also sometimes travel by ferry. For example, one 

route on the Ogooué River links Port-Gentil and Lambaréné.

Roadways: Gabon has 6,700 mi of roadways, of which only

about 580 mi (8.7%) are paved. Most roads outside main cities 

are unpaved, which frequently become impassable during the 

rainy seasons. Notably, Port-Gentil—the country’s 2nd largest 

city—is not integrated into Gabon’s road network at all and 

must rely on air and sea links. Although car ownership remains 

relatively low in Gabon, it has expanded more rapidly than the 

road network in recent years. Consequently, traffic jams are 

common in the morning and late afternoon, especially in 

Libreville.

12. TECHNOLOGY AND MATERIAL

TECHNOLOGY

& MATERIAL
Railways: Gabon has 403 mi of railways, all of which form part 

of the Transgabonais (Trans-Gabon Railway). Financed by oil 

revenues and built by the state between 1974 and 1986, the 

Transgabonais carries both passengers and freight between 

Libreville in the Northwest and Franceville in the Southeast.

Although delays are fairly common, the Transgabonais plays 

an important role in linking the capital with rural areas. Since 

the line was privatized in 1999, many people have proposed its 

extension to Brazzaville, Republic of the Congo.

Airways: Gabon relies upon airways as a primary mode of 

transport. The country has 45 airports and airstrips, of which 14 

have paved runways. The primary transit hub is Libreville Leon 

M’ba International Airport. There also are international airports 

at Franceville and Port-Gentil. In addition to the national airline, 

Air Gabon, the country is served by various privately run 

carriers.

Waterways and Ports: 

Although Gabon has 

extensive inland waterways, 

only about 1,000 mi of them 

are navigable due to the 

presence of falls and rapids. 

The country’s largest river, 

the Ogooué, accounts for about 1/5 (190 mi) of Gabon’s 

navigable waterways, which mostly are limited to the 100 mi of 

each river that are nearest to the Atlantic Ocean. Gabon has 3 

main ports. Port-Gentil is the primary port for mining equipment 

imports and oil exports. Owendo, opened in 1974 just south of 

Libreville, mainly handles timber exports. Mayumba, a small 

port located along the southwestern coast of Gabon, also 

handles timber exports.

Energy

Gabon derives most of its energy from oil and biomass (organic 

material such as wood), although hydropower from river dams 

accounts for about 9% of the country’s energy mix. Only 36% 

of Gabonese have access to electricity, which is limited mostly 

to urban areas. With China’s help, Gabon is working to double 

its electrical transmission lines, although those plans mostly 

concern installations in the vicinity of Libreville.

TECHNOLOGY

& MATERIAL
Media

While Gabon’s constitution guarantees freedom of speech and 

press, the government sometimes violates those rights. Instead 

of imposing obvious press restrictions, the government 

reportedly uses strict libel laws and licensing requirements to 

bully reporters into censoring themselves. As the alternative is 

typically legal action and financial ruin, many reporters comply. 

Print Media: Gabon’s only daily newspaper is L’Union, a stateowned publication. There also are about 10 private 

newspapers—mostly political in nature—that typically appear

weekly or monthly. Despite government censorship, there are 

several opposition papers, including Le Nganga, a satirical 

newspaper, and Misamu, a weekly newspaper that expresses 

independent political views.

Radio and TV: A government-owned broadcaster known as 

Radio-Télévision Gabonaise (RTVG) operates two national TV 

stations, which broadcast in French, as well as two national 

radio stations—RTG 1, which also broadcasts in French, and 

RTG 2, which is a network of stations that broadcast in French 

and indigenous languages (see Language and 

Communication). In addition to 

these public channels, there are 

private stations, including 

TéléAfrica on TV and Africa No. 1 

on the radio. 

Telecommunications

Gabon’s telecommunications 

systems generally are adequate,

although more people have 

access in recent years due to the 

growth of mobile telephony. While

in 2000 fewer than 10% of Gabonese had mobile phones, there 

were more mobile phone subscriptions than people by 2011.

Approximately 8% of the population used the Internet in 2011, 

up from just over 1% in 2000. Internet cafés are widely 

available in Libreville, Franceville, and Port-Gentil, and even in 

smaller cities such as Lastoursville. Both middle-class and elite 

Gabonese commonly use social media websites like Facebook, 

and online discussions about Gabonese politics are common.

TECHNOLOGY

& MATERIAL

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