Gabon

* Flag
* Coat of Arms
* FlagMap
* Outline Border

*Gabon* (French: Gabon) is a West Equatorial-African country. In TSIGPIGS, they're both male in the mapping and object style, and compete in the team of Equatoria.

## Geography

Gabon is specifically located in Central Africa, just off the cost of Atlantic Ocean from the West, and just a hop away from São-Tome and Principe. They're bordered by Equatorial Guinea to the North-West, Cameroon to the North, and Congo-Brzaville to the East and South.

### Political Geography

The country is divided into 9 provinces, with the capital of Libreville located near Equatorial Guinea in the North-West, and off-coast to the Atlantic Ocean. Gabon is also one of the 13 countries that're transected by the equator, passing just South of Libreville.

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Gabon also has a dispute with the Mbañe, and lesser islands of Conga and Cocoteros off the Atlantic Coast with Equatorial Guinea. Fortunately, the UN has urged to them to sort of settle disputes for now, and set maritime boundaries.

Each village in rural Gabon is considered to own about 5 km of surrounding forestry in every direction, which is also common in most Sub-Saharan African countries. When seen on a map from above but closely, small round villages by long single stretches of roads like knots on a string are visible.

#### Landmarks

A list of notable landmarks might include:

* Leon M'ba Memorial (for Gabon's first president)
* Schweitzer Hospital (Highly Acclaimed, located in *Lambarene*, regarded as one of the top medical research units in Africa)
* Liana Bridge (in Ogooué lolo)
* The Flame of Peace
* Omar Bango Statue
* Bondage Statue

...and the Presidential Palace as well, which has been in a hotbed of controversy because the present has spent way $2 million on it.

### Physical Geography

Gabon is absolutely packed with raw, unspoiled, heavily concentrated jungles and rainforests, making it the 2nd most forested African country after Seychelles, at about 85% of the entire landmass.

Also, geographically, the country is split into 3 physical regions:

* The Coastal Plain
* The Central Highlands
* The Thick Jungle Interior (on the East side)

Just a skip away to the national parks, the largest lake-Lake Onague and River Ogooué lie, the largest one which is the most crucial body of water that flows across the entire country, and was therefore historically used as a major source of transport. It is more valuable to the cities of Moanda and Masuku/Franceville, which are also known for being the mining capitals of the country.

#### Mineralogy

Now, despite the lush heavy biodiversity regions, Gabon isn't really too much of an agrarian society. This is because of oil, just like Equatorial Guinea.

In the early 70s, offshore oil was discovered and they rode that pony into the sunset.

#### Physical landmarks

Geographically "carved-out" landmarks in Gabon may include:

* Makokou/Kongou Falls
* Crystal Mountains

#### Flora and Fauna

In between the roads that connect the small round villages, an abundance of gorillas are found, which are found nowhere else on Earth. Gabon also has the highest concentration of gorillas among any countries in the world, and holds about 80% of the word's entire wild gorilla population.

Despite that, the national animal is actually the black panther, as it can be found on the coat of arms.
Over 700 species of birds are found alone in the forested regions, along with hundreds of mammals and reptiles species as well.

In 2003, the government of Gabon decided to designate a minimum of 10% of the land towards towards protected national parks and wildlife areas. The largest N.P. would be the Minkebe N.P. in the North-East.

Some of these place are, however, quite funky. For example, there's the Loango N.P. along the coast. Sometimes referred to as "Africa's Last National Park", as it's one of the only few places in the world we can find the savannah species like elepahant and hippos playing and surfing along the ocean.

## Economy

Gabon is currently economically booming as of right now. Despite the low population work force, civil engineering projects have exploded in the last few decades.

### Exports/Imports

Just like Equatorial Guinea, the major cities in Gabon are thriving with oil-purchased money, which allows them to import luxury items and goods from all over the world. Oil makes up about 80% of the country's exports and about 45% of the overall GDP and 60% of the state budget revenues.

### Forestry

Despite the reduced amount of other roles of other industries, forestry has a sizeable labor force. Cassavas, plantains, avocados, and palm nuts are growing wherever farmland exists.

## Transportation

### Via Road

The most impressive engineering project as of now would probably be the Trans-Gabon Railways, traversing about 670 km from Libreville to Masuku/Franceville with just 23 stops in between. This trainline is basically the backbone of the whole country, as it transports not only people, but also resources from the lush interior to the coast.

### Via Air

The largest international airports of the country are Libreville Leon M'ba International and Port Gentil International.

## Trivia

* You can actually drive a road in Gabon that transects the equator.
* The name "Gabon" originates from the Portuguese word "Gabão" meaning "cloak", since the rivers by Libreville were said to nearly resemble like that.
	+ Also, the current-day capital Libreville actually originated by 52 freed slaves that're dropped off by the French in 1846. Hence the name "Libre-ville", which translates to "free(dom) town" in French.
* Franceville lies in the international center for medical research.
	+ Along with Lambarene, they both are the only 2 maximum bio-safety level for containing contaminant labs in Africa on the same level as a smallpox holding CDC building in Atlanta, Georgia (US).
* Libreville is still considered one of the most expensive cities in Africa.
* You can try to discover and document one of the hundreds-if-not-thousands of unexplored caves hidden deep within the jungle bush.
* Palm nuts are actually a key ingredient to most national dishes.