The Gabonese Republic is a country in central Africa with a total area of 267,670 km2. The climate is tropical, always hot and humid. The terrain consists of a narrow coastal plain; hilly interior and savannah in the east and south. Natural resources are crude oil, manganese, uranium, gold, timber and iron ore. The religion is 55-75% Christian, less than 1% Muslim with the remainder animist. The official language is French with Fang, Myene, Bateke, Bapounou/Eschira and Bandjabi also spoken. Gabon was visited by Europeans during the late 15th century and colonised between the 16th and 18th centuries by the Fang and Omiene peoples. In 1889 Gabon became part of the French Congo, and in 1908 a province of French Equatorial Africa before gaining independence in 1960. Research Gabon
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Gazetteer
Research Gabon