Gabon
Libreville · Central Africa
Gabon is a country in Africa. Its capital city is Libreville, the official currency is the Central African CFA Franc, and the main language is French.
With a population of roughly 2.4 million people spread over 267,668 km², Gabon is the 143rd most populous country in the world and the 76th largest by area. That works out at about 9 people per square kilometre.
Gabon shares land borders with Equatorial Guinea, Cameroon and Congo — 3 neighbours in all. Its largest urban centres are Libreville, Port-Gentil and Franceville. The highest point in the country is Mont Iboundji, at 1,575 metres.
For scale, it covers almost exactly the same area as New Zealand, while its population is closest to that of Lesotho.
- Capital
- Libreville
- Region
- Central Africa
- Population
- 2,400,000
- Area
- 267,668 km²
- Currency
- Central African CFA Franc
- Main language
- French
- Highest point
- Mont Iboundji
1,575 m - Land borders
- 3
Gabon: things worth knowing
- Around 88% of Gabon is forest, and 11% of its territory is protected national park.
- Oil wealth gives it one of the higher per-capita incomes in sub-Saharan Africa.
- The Oklo uranium deposit hosted a natural nuclear fission reaction around two billion years ago.
Gabon in context
Africa has 54 sovereign countries in total. Gabon ranks 44th among them by population.
See the full list of Africa countries, or browse all 195 countries.