Gabon

Gabon is a country on the Atlantic coast of Central Africa straddling the equator, bordered by Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the north and the Republic of the Congo to the east and south, with a maritime border toward Sao Tome and Principe in the Gulf of Guinea, covering 270,000 square kilometers with about 2.6 million inhabitants. Libreville is its capital and largest city, with Port-Gentil and Franceville as other significant urban centers; 89.3 percent of Gabon's land area is forested. Hunter-gatherers known as the Bambenga originally inhabited the region, and Bantu migrants arrived in the thirteenth century BC; France colonized the territory in the late nineteenth century, and Gabon gained independence on 17 August 1960, subsequently having four presidents before a 2023 military coup brought General Brice Oligui Nguema to power as transitional leader, who then won the 2025 presidential election. Gabon is a unitary presidential republic; despite unequal wealth distribution, it ranks 108th on the Human Development Index and holds the fourth-highest HDI among African countries.