Map of Gabon
Gabon is a country in Africa with its capital at Libreville, home to about 2.59 million people across 267,667 km². The interactive map below plots 20 cities and towns, 5 rivers, 1 lakes, 1 mountain summits and 8 ports recorded for Gabon in YearMaps.
- Population
- 2.59 million
- Area
- 267,667 km²
- Capital
- Libreville
- Continent
- Africa
Interactive Map of Gabon
Centred on Libreville at 0.3854° N, 9.4580° E. Use the layer panel to switch on rivers, dams, ports, peaks and historical borders.
About Gabon
Gabon, officially the Gabonese Republic, is a country on the Atlantic coast of Central Africa, lying on the equator. It is bordered by Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the north, the Republic of the Congo to the east and south, while sharing a maritime border with São Tomé and Príncipe to the west in the Gulf of Guinea. It has an area of 270,000 square kilometres (100,000 sq mi) and a population of 2.6 million people. There are coastal plains, mountains (the Cristal Mountains and the Chaillu Massif in the centre), and savanna in the east. Libreville is the capital and largest city; other major cities include Port-Gentil and Franceville.
Gabon's original inhabitants were the Bambenga. In the 13th century BCE, Bantu migrants began settling in the area. The Kingdom of Orungu was established around 1700. France colonised the region in the late 19th century. Since its independence from France in 1960, Gabon has had four presidents. In the 1990s, it introduced a multi-party system and a democratic constitution that aimed for a more transparent electoral process and reformed some governmental institutions. Despite this, the Gabonese Democratic Party remained the dominant party until its removal from power during the 2023 Gabonese coup d'état.
Gabon is a developing country, ranking 108th in the Human Development Index. It is one of the wealthiest countries in Africa in terms of per capita income; however, large parts of the population are very poor. Omar Bongo came to office in 1967 and created a dynasty which stabilized its power through a client network, Françafrique.
The official language is French, and Bantu ethnic groups constitute around 95% of the population. Christianity is the predominant religion, practised by about 80% of the population. With petroleum and foreign private investment, it has the fourth highest HDI (after Mauritius, Seychelles, and South Africa) and the fifth highest GDP per capita (PPP) of the Sub-Saharan African nations. Gabon's nominal GDP per capita was $10,149 in 2023.
Summary adapted from Wikipedia: Gabon (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Geography and Climate of Gabon
Gabon, a sparsely populated country known for its dense rainforests and vast petroleum reserves, is one of the most prosperous and stable countries in central Africa. Approximately 40 ethnic groups are represented, the largest of which is the Fang, a group that covers the northern third of Gabon and expands north into Equatorial Guinea and Cameroon. From about the early 1300s, various kingdoms emerged in present-day Gabon and the surrounding area, including the Kingdoms of Loango and Orungu. Because most early Bantu languages spoken in these kingdoms did not have a written form, much of Gabon's early history was lost over time. Portuguese traders who arrived in the mid-1400s gave the area its name of Gabon. At that time, indigenous trade networks began to engage with European traders, exchanging goods such as ivory and wood. For a century beginning in the 1760s, trade came to focus mostly on enslaved people. While many groups in Gabon participated in the slave trade, the Fang were a notable exception. As the slave trade declined in the late 1800s, France colonized the country and directed a widespread extraction of Gabonese resources. Anti-colonial rhetoric by Gabon’s educated elites increased significantly in the early 1900s, but no widespread rebellion materialized. French decolonization after World War II led to the country’s independence in 1960. Within a year of independence, the government changed from a parliamentary to a presidential system, and Leon M’BA won the first presidential election in 1961. El Hadj Omar BONGO Ondimba was M’BA’s vice president and assumed the presidency after M’BA’s death in 1967. BONGO went on to dominate the country's political scene for four decades (1967-2009). In 1968, he declared Gabon a single-party state and created the still-dominant Parti Democratique Gabonais (PDG). In the early 1990s, he reintroduced a multiparty system under a new constitution in response to growing political opposition. He was reelected by wide margins in 1995, 1998, 2002, and 2005 against a divided opposition and amidst allegations of fraud. After BONGO's death in 2009, a new election brought his son, Ali BONGO Ondimba, to power, and he was reelected in 2016. He won a third term in the August 2023 election but was overthrown in a military coup a few days later. Gen. Brice OLIGUI Nguema led a military group called the Committee for the Transition and Restoration of Institutions that arrested BONGO, canceled the election results, and dissolved state institutions. In September 2023, OLIGUI was sworn in as transitional president of Gabon.
- Location
- Central Africa, bordering the Atlantic Ocean at the Equator, between Republic of the Congo and Equatorial Guinea.
- Climate
- Tropical; always hot, humid.
- Terrain
- Narrow coastal plain; hilly interior; savanna in east and south.
- Highest point
- Mont Bengoue 1,050 m.
- Lowest point
- Atlantic Ocean 0 m.
- Coastline
- 885 km.
- Land borders
- Total: 3,261 km; border countries: Cameroon 349 km; Republic of the Congo 2,567 km; Equatorial Guinea 345 km.
- Natural resources
- Petroleum, natural gas, diamond, niobium, manganese, uranium, gold, timber, iron ore, hydropower.
- Land use
- Agricultural land: 8.4% (2023 est.); arable land: 1.3% (2023 est.); permanent crops: 0.7% (2023 est.); permanent pasture: 6.4% (2023 est.); forest: 91.5% (2023 est.); other: 0.2% (2023 est.)
- Natural hazards
- None.
- Geographic note
- The country has maintained its pristine rain forest and rich biodiversity.
- Languages
- French (official), Fang, Myene, Nzebi, Bapounou/Eschira, Bandjabi.
- Religions
- Protestant 46.4% (Revival Church 37%, other Protestant 9.4%), Roman Catholic 29.8%, other Christian 4%, Muslim 10.8%, traditional/animist 1.1%, other 0.9%, none 7% (2019-21 est.)
- Ethnic groups
- Fang 23.5%, Shira-Punu'Vii 20.6%, Nzabi-Duma 11.2%, Mbede-Teke 5.6%, Myene 4.4%, Kota-Kele 4.3%, Okande-Tsogho 1.6%, other 12.6%, foreigner 16.2% (2021 est.)
- Economy
- Natural-resource-rich, upper-middle-income, Central African economy; significant reliance on oil and mineral exports; highly urbanized population; high levels of poverty and unemployment; uncertainty on institutional and development reform progress following 2023 military coup.
From the CIA World Factbook (public domain), archived edition of 2026-01-22. The Factbook is no longer updated, so figures reflect that edition.
Gabon in Numbers
- Population
- 2.59 million
- GDP
- US$21.4 billion
- GDP per person
- US$8,263
- Life expectancy
- 68.5 years
- Population growth
- 2.11% a year
- Population density
- 10 per km²
- Urban population
- 92.1%
- Surface area
- 267,670 km²
- Forest cover
- 91.4%
- Arable land
- 1.3%
- Access to electricity
- 95.1%
- Internet users
- 68.7%
Indicators from World Bank Open Data (CC BY 4.0). The year under each figure is its reference year.
Gabon in Depth
History
The prehistoric inhabitants of Gabon were rainforest hunter-gatherer peoples collectively known as the Bambenga. In the 13th century BCE, Bantu migrants began settling in the area and formed early agricultural communities. With the development of ironworking in the 7th century CE, Bantu tribes grew dominant in the region, largely absorbing and replacing the Bambenga. By the 14th century, the Vili Kingdom of Loango had extended its control northward along the Gabonese coastline.
Between the late 16th and 18th centuries, European merchants frequented the coast for the ivory and slave trades mediated by local brokers. Coastal communities exchanged such commodities and captives from the interior for sea salt, cloth, mirrors, cooking vessels, and weapons (including guns and iron machetes).
Geography
Gabon is located on the Atlantic coast of Central Africa on the equator, between latitudes 3°N and 4°S, and longitudes 8° and 15°E. Gabon has an equatorial climate with a system of rainforests, with 89.3% of its land area forested.
There are coastal plains (ranging between 20 and 300 km [10 and 190 mi] from the ocean's shore), the mountains (the Crystal Mountains to the northeast of Libreville, the Chaillu Massif in the centre), and the savanna in the east. The coastal plains form a section of the World Wildlife Fund's Atlantic Equatorial coastal forests ecoregion and contain patches of Central African mangroves including on the Muni River estuary on the border with Equatorial Guinea.
Economy
Gabon's economy is heavily dependent on oil and other natural resources, leaving it exposed to global market shifts and climate-related risks. Oil revenue constitutes roughly 46% of the government's budget, 43% of the gross domestic product (GDP), and 81% of exports. The rich Grondin Oil Field was discovered in 1971 in 50 m (160 ft) water depths 40 km (25 mi) offshore in an anticline salt structural trap in Batanga sandstones of Maastrichtian age, but about 60% of its estimated reserves had been extracted by 1978. As of 2023, Gabon produces about 200,000 barrels per day of crude oil.
"Overspending" on the Trans-Gabon Railway, the CFA franc devaluation of 1994, and periods of lower oil prices caused debt problems.
Demographics
Gabon has a population of approximately 2.3 million. Historical and environmental factors caused its population to decline between 1900 and 1940. It has one of the lowest population densities of any country in Africa and the fourth highest Human Development Index in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Gabon has at least 40 ethnic groups, primarily consisting of Bantu peoples.
Sections adapted from Wikipedia: Gabon (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Gabon: Key Facts
| Currency | Central African CFA franc |
|---|---|
| Official language | French |
| Head of state | Brice Clotaire Oligui Nguema |
| Head of government | Raymond Ndong Sima |
| Form of government | presidential system |
| Calling code | +241 |
| Internet domain | .ga |
| Highest point | Mont Bengoué |
| Lowest point | Atlantic Ocean |
| Established | 1960 |
Facts from Wikidata Q1000 (CC0).
History of Gabon: Empires and States
The atlas records 6 polities whose mapped territory included part of Gabon, from French Africa in 1849 CE to 2024 CE. They are listed in the order they first appear.
| Polity | Period here | Extent |
|---|---|---|
| French Africa | 1849–1957 CE | Nearly all |
| The French Colonial Empire | 1849–1957 CE | Nearly all |
| Second French Empire | 1853–1870 CE | A small part |
| French Third Republic | 1871–1939 CE | Nearly all |
| French Fourth Republic | 1945–1957 CE | Nearly all |
| Gabon | 1961–2024 CE | Nearly all |
Historical Maps of Gabon
Gabon on the world map in each year one of these states held it:
Derived by testing mapped cities against dated territorial polygons. Dates are when the polygons cover this place, not the polity's whole lifespan, and polities absent from the source dataset are not listed.
Visiting Gabon
Gabon is a country in Central Africa with an array of landscapes and wildlife in its 13 national parks.
A small population, and oil and mineral reserves, have helped Gabon become one of Africa's wealthier countries. The country has generally been able to maintain and conserve its pristine rain forest and rich biodiversity. Gabon has a reputation as a hidden gem among travelers who enjoy getting well and truly off the beaten path. Everything that Africa has to offer can be found right here, and without other tourists!
Travel notes adapted from Wikivoyage: Gabon (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Largest Cities in Gabon
20 cities recorded. Ranked by metropolitan population. A port city's harbour is written up on the page of its sea.
| # | Name | Population | Region | Role |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Libreville | 578,156 | Estuaire | National capital |
| 2 | Port-Gentil | 116,836 | Ogooué-Maritime | Admin-1 capital |
| 3 | Oyem | 43,423 | Wouleu-Ntem | Admin-1 capital |
| 4 | Franceville | 42,967 | Haut-Ogooué | Admin-1 capital |
| 5 | Moanda | 30,151 | Haut-Ogooué | Populated place |
| 6 | Mouila | 28,000 | Ngounié | Admin-1 capital |
| 7 | Lambaréné | 25,310 | Moyen-Ogooué | Admin-1 capital |
| 8 | Ebebiyín | 24,831 | Wouleu-Ntem | Admin-1 capital |
| 9 | Tchibanga | 19,365 | Nyanga | Admin-1 capital |
| 10 | Bitam | 17,637 | Wouleu-Ntem | Populated place |
| 11 | Makokou | 17,070 | Ogooué-Ivindo | Admin-1 capital |
| 12 | Koulamoutou | 16,222 | Ogooué-Lolo | Admin-1 capital |
| 13 | Gamba | 9,928 | Ogooué-Maritime | Populated place |
| 14 | Okandja | 7,155 | Haut-Ogooué | Populated place |
| 15 | Ndende | 6,200 | Ngounié | Populated place |
| 16 | Mitzik | 4,111 | Wouleu-Ntem | Populated place |
| 17 | Mayumba | 3,996 | Nyanga | Populated place |
| 18 | Mékambo | 3,170 | Ogoou | Populated place |
| 19 | Omboué | 1,667 | Ogooué-Maritime | Populated place |
| 20 | Bifoum | 134 | Moyen-Ogooul | Populated place |
Highest Mountains in Gabon
1 mountain recorded. Ranked by summit elevation above sea level. A summit on a border is listed under both countries.
| # | Name | Elevation | Feet | Region |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mont Bengoué | 1,070 m | 3,510 ft | Africa |
Mont Bengoué
Mountain · 1,070 m
Mont Bengoué is a mountain rising to 1,070 metres (3,510 ft) in Gabon, in the Africa region. From PeakBagger.com, with kind permission..
Mont Bengoué is the highest mountain in Gabon. Mont Bengoué is located in the Ogooué-Ivindo Province, at an elevation of 1,070 m (3,510 ft).
Adapted from Wikipedia: Mont Bengoué (CC BY-SA 4.0).
- Elevation
- 1,070 m (3,510 ft)
- Global rank
- #549 of 641 indexed
- Region
- Africa (#78)
- Country
- Gabon
- Coordinates
- 0.9601°, 13.6898°
Of the 641 named summits indexed in YearMaps, Mont Bengoué ranks #549 by elevation, below Snowdon (1,085 m) and above Khyber Pass (1,070 m).
- Ranges:
- Ruwenzori Range (Africa), Marrah Mountains (Africa)
- Neighbouring summits:
- Mont Nabeba (1,020 m), Mont Cameroun (4,040 m), Pico de Santa Isabel (3,008 m)
Largest Lakes in Gabon
1 lake recorded. Ranked by mapped surface area. A lake on a border is listed under each country it lies in, with the area of the whole lake.
| # | Name | Surface Area | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lac Onangu | 385 km² | Lake |
Rivers in Gabon
5 rivers recorded. Listed alphabetically. A river is listed where its mapped reach lies, so long rivers appear under more than one country.
Ports in Gabon
8 ports recorded. Ranked by approach channel depth, the figure that limits which ships can call. Harbours link to their write-up on the page of the sea or coast they lie on.
| # | Name | Channel Depth | Class | Sea | Max Vessel |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Port Owendo | 34.7 m | Small | Atlantic Coast of Africa | large vessels |
| 2 | Port Gentil | 27.4 m | Minor | Atlantic Coast of Africa | large vessels |
| 3 | Oguendjo Terminal | 9.1 m | Small | Atlantic Coast of Africa | large vessels |
| 4 | Etame Terminal | 5.5 m | Very Small | Atlantic Coast of Africa | large vessels |
| 5 | Cap Lopez | 5.5 m | Very Small | Atlantic Coast of Africa | large vessels |
| 6 | M'Bya Oil Terminal | 5.5 m | Very Small | Atlantic Coast of Africa | large vessels |
| 7 | Gamba Oil Terminal | 5.5 m | Very Small | Atlantic Coast of Africa | large vessels |
| 8 | Olowi Marine Terminal | — | Very Small | Atlantic Coast of Africa | point_of_interest |
UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Gabon
1 World Heritage Site recorded. Listed by year of inscription, earliest first. Sites shared with another country appear under each.
| # | Name | Inscribed | Type | Criteria |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ivindo National Park | 2021 | Natural | (ix) |
Mountain Ranges, Deserts and Landforms of Gabon
3 mountain ranges, deserts and other landforms recorded. Ranked by mapped area. Covers mountain ranges, deserts, plateaus, named glaciers, plains, basins, peninsulas and capes. One that crosses a border is listed under every country it lies in, with the area of the whole feature.
| # | Name | Area | Type | Region |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Africa | 29.41M km² | Continent | Africa |
| 2 | Congo Basin | 3.11M km² | Basin | Africa |
| 3 | Crystal Mountains | 147,032 km² | Range/mtn | Africa |
Congo Basin
Basin · 3.11M km²
Congo Basin is a basin in Africa, covering an estimated 3.11M km². It extends across the DR Congo, the Central African Republic, Angola, the Republic of the Congo, Cameroon, South Sudan, Sudan, Burundi, Gabon, Malawi, Rwanda, Uganda and Zambia. It is the 11th-largest of the 231 landforms with a mapped extent in YearMaps.
The Congo Basin is the sedimentary basin of the Congo River. The Congo Basin is located in Central Africa, in a region known as west equatorial Africa. The region is sometimes known simply as the Congo. It contains some of the largest tropical rainforests in the world and is an important source of water used in agriculture and energy generation.
The rainforest in the Congo Basin is the largest rainforest in Africa and second only to the Amazon rainforest in size, with 300 million hectares compared to the 800 million hectares in the Amazon. Because of its size and diversity the basin's forest is important for mitigating climate change in its role as a carbon sink. However, deforestation and degradation of the ecology by the impacts of climate change may increase stress on the forest ecosystem, in turn making the hydrology of the basin more variable. A 2012 study finds that the variability in precipitation caused by climate change will negatively affect economic activity in the basin.
Eight sites of the Congo Basin are inscribed on the World Heritage List, five being also on the list of World Heritage in Danger (all five located in Democratic Republic of the Congo).
Adapted from Wikipedia: Congo Basin (CC BY-SA 4.0).
- Feature class
- Basin
- Mapped extent
- 3.11M km²
- Size rank
- #11 of 231 landforms
- Region
- Africa
- Countries
- DR Congo, Central African Republic, Angola, Republic of the Congo, Cameroon, South Sudan, Sudan, Burundi, Gabon, Malawi, Rwanda, Uganda, Zambia
- Coordinates
- -0.6351°, 21.4534°
- Summits:
- Mont Bengoué (1,070 m)
- Ranges:
- Ruwenzori Range (Africa), Marrah Mountains (Africa)
- Settlements:
- Franceville (882 km), Moanda (923 km), Oyem (1,126 km)
More about Congo Basin
Geology
The Congo Basin is a large depression within the Congo Craton, making it a patch of relatively recent (Phanerozoic-aged, and mostly Mesozoic and onwards) sedimentary rock within a large, otherwise ancient (Archean-aged) piece of exposed continental crust. The deformation of the craton began as early as the late Cambrian or early Ordovician and continued over the Paleozoic, but the deformation over this period led to rapid erosion of much of the Paleozoic rock, creating a large unconformity. Sediment started to rapidly accumulate in the basin from the Mesozoic (Triassic) up to the present day.
Deposits throughout the Jurassic suggest the presence of a freshwater, lacustrine habitat in the basin, and this continued into the Early Cretaceous.
Climate
The Congo Basin is a globally important climatic region with annual rainfall of between 1,500 to 2,000 millimetres (59 to 79 in). It is one of three hotspots of deep convection (thunderstorms) in the tropics, the other two being over the Maritime continent and the Amazon. These three regions together drive the climate circulation of the tropics and beyond. The Congo Basin has the highest lightning strike frequency of anywhere on the planet. The high rainfall supports the second-largest rainforest on Earth, which is a globally significant carbon sink and an important component of the global carbon cycle.
Averaged across the basin, there are two major rainfall seasons in March to May and September to November.
Ecology and protection
At a global level, Congo's forests act as the planet's second lung, counterpart to the rapidly dwindling Amazon. They are a huge "carbon sink", trapping carbon that could otherwise remain carbon dioxide. The Congo Basin holds roughly 8% of the world's forest-based carbon. Despite this importance, it gets far less scientific attention than the Amazon or the tropical forests of South East Asia. If these woodlands are deforested, the carbon they trap will be released into the atmosphere. Predictions for future unabated deforestation estimate that by 2050 activities in the DRC will release roughly the same amount of carbon dioxide as the United Kingdom has emitted over the last 60 years. A 2013 study by British scientists shows that deforestation in the Congo Basin rainforest is slowing.
History
The first inhabitants of the Congo Basin area were believed to be pygmies, and at that time, the dense forests and wet climate kept the population of the region low, with the prevention of hunter-gatherer society, whose remnants of their culture survive to the present day. Eventually Bantu peoples migrated there and founded the Kingdom of Kongo.Belgium, France, and Portugal later established colonial control over the entire region by the late 19th century.
Sections adapted from Wikipedia: Congo Basin (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Congo Basin: Key Facts
| Area | 1,000,000 km² |
|---|---|
| Highest point | Mount Karisimbi |
| On | River Congo |
Facts from Wikidata Q932289 (CC0).
States and Provinces of Gabon
1 first-level divisions with their own map.
Countries Bordering Gabon
Land and maritime neighbours.
More Maps in Africa
Gabon: Quick Answers
- What is the capital of Gabon?
- The capital of Gabon is Libreville.
- What is the population of Gabon?
- Gabon has a population of about 2.59 million, the #143 largest of 225 countries in YearMaps. Source: World Bank, 2025.
- How big is Gabon?
- Gabon covers 267,667 km², ranking #77 by area, with about 10 people per square kilometre.
- Which continent is Gabon in?
- Gabon is in Africa.
- Which countries border Gabon?
- Gabon shares a land or maritime border with Angola, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Cameroon, Sao Tome and Principe.
- What is the largest city in Gabon?
- Libreville is the largest city in Gabon, with a metropolitan population of about 578,156.
- What is the highest mountain in Gabon?
- The highest summit recorded for Gabon in YearMaps is Mont Bengoué at 1,070 m (3,510 ft). Summits on a border are counted for both countries.
- What is the largest lake in Gabon?
- The largest lake recorded in or bordering Gabon is Lac Onangu, at roughly 385 km².