Omar Bongo (El Hadj Omar Bongo Ondimba) , 1935-, Gabonese political leader, president of Gabon (1967-), b. Albert-Bernard Bongo. He entered the civil service (1958), became minister of information and tourism in 1966, vice president in 1967, and then succeeded to the presidency. He created a one-party state (1968) and was reelected in 1973, 1979, and 1986. His rule has provided stability and attracted foreign investment, but protests forced him to reinstate a multiparty system in 1990. Bongo was reelected in 1993 and 1998 in elections generally regarded as unfair by observers; he triumphed over a divided opposition again in 2005.

Gabon A country on the west coast of central Africa. Under French influence from 1853, it was integrated into French Equatorial Africa in 1910. It became an autonomous member of the French Community in 1958, and acquired complete independence on 17 August 1960. In 1967, its first president, Léon Mba, was deposed in a coup by Omar Bongo (b. 1935), who has continued to rule the country in an authoritarian manner, despite introducing façades of democracy. Thus, a new Constitution was proclaimed in 1991, and other political parties were allowed, but only with the help of large-scale electoral fraud did he win the general elections of 1993. Bongo's position was made tenable through the tacit acquiescence of Western leaders, particularly in France, who did not want to see their investments or exports (e.g. of arms) in danger. One of Africa's richest countries in mineral resources, most of the wealth coming in from its oil exports has gone either to foreign-owned companies or to its corrupt leadership and bureaucratic machine. The economy has suffered from its over-reliance on oil exports, high foreign debt, and its dependence on foreign (and especially French) aid.

Gabon An equatorial country on Africa's Atlantic coast, bounded inland by Equatorial Guinea, Cameroon, and Congo.

Physical

Along the coast of Gabon are many lagoons, mangrove swamps, and large deposits of oil and natural gas. A broad plain covered by thick rainforest rises gradually to a plateau which surrounds a central river valley, and near the head this vegetation gives way to savannah.

Economy

Gabon is the wealthiest mainland African country, with one of the continent's fastest economic growth rates, based on substantial, albeit now falling, revenues from offshore oilfields. Gabon was a member of OPEC from 1975 until 1996. Mineral deposits also include gold and diamonds, manganese, and uranium.

History

In 1839 the French made it a naval base to suppress slave trade. Thus a French colony developed, exploiting the rare woods, gold, diamonds, other minerals, and oil. The country became autonomous within the French Community in 1958 and fully independent in 1960. Almost entirely on the basis of its natural resources it has had one of the fastest economic growth rates in Africa. After early years of political instability, there has been considerable support for the presidency of Omar Bongo (first elected in 1967). In November 1990 his Gabonese Democratic Party won a general election, following a decision to restore multiparty politics. In 1993, Omar Bongo was re-elected in multiparty presidential elections.