and harbors:
Gamba, Libreville, Lucinda, Owendo, Port-Gentil
Airports:
56 (2004 est.)
Airports - with paved runways: total: 11 over 3,047 m: 1 2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 8 914 to 1,523 m: 1 (2004 est.)
Airports - with unpaved runways: total: 45 1,524 to 2,437 m: 7 914 to 1,523 m: 15 under 914 m: 23 (2004 est.)
Military Gabon
Military branches:
Army, Navy, Air Force, National Gendarmerie, National Police
Military service age and obligation:
18 years of age for compulsory and voluntary military service (2001)
Manpower available for military service:
males age 18–49: 276,310 (2005 est.)
Manpower fit for military service:
males age 18–49: 156,632 (2005 est.)
Manpower reaching military service age annually:
males: 15,150 (2005 est.)
Military expenditures - dollar figure:
$184.8 million (2004)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP:
2% (2004)
Transnational Issues Gabon
Disputes - international:
UN presses Equatorial Guinea and Gabon to resolve the sovereignty
dispute over Gabon-occupied Mbane Island and to establish a maritime
boundary in hydrocarbon-rich Corisco Bay; only a few hundred out of
the 20,000 Republic of the Congo refugees who fled militia fighting
in 2000 remain in Gabon
This page was last updated on 20 October, 2005
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@Gambia, The
Introduction Gambia, The
Background:
The Gambia gained its independence from the UK in 1965; it formed a
short-lived federation of Senegambia with Senegal between 1982 and
1989. In 1991 the two nations signed a friendship and cooperation
treaty. A military coup in 1994 overthrew the president and banned
political activity, but a 1996 constitution and presidential
elections, followed by parliamentary balloting in 1997, completed a
nominal return to civilian rule. The country undertook another round
of presidential and legislative elections in late 2001 and early
2002. Yahya A. J. J. JAMMEH, the leader of the coup, has been
elected president in all subsequent elections.
Geography Gambia, The
Location:
Western Africa, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean and Senegal
Geographic coordinates:
13 28 N, 16 34 W
Map references:
Africa
Area:
total: 11,300 sq km
land: 10,000 sq km
water: 1,300 sq km
Area - comparative:
slightly less than twice the size of Delaware
Land boundaries: total: 740 km border countries: Senegal 740 km
Coastline: 80 km
Maritime claims: territorial sea: 12 nm contiguous zone: 18 nm continental shelf: not specified exclusive fishing zone: 200 nm
Climate:
tropical; hot, rainy season (June to November); cooler, dry season
(November to May)
Terrain:
flood plain of the Gambia River flanked by some low hills
Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m
highest point: unnamed location 53 m
Natural resources:
fish, titanium (rutile and ilmenite), tin, zircon, silica sand,
clay, petroleum
Land use: arable land: 25% permanent crops: 0.5% other: 74.5% (2001)
Irrigated land:
20 sq km (1998 est.)
Natural hazards:
drought (rainfall has dropped by 30% in the last 30 years)
Environment - current issues:
deforestation; desertification; water-borne diseases prevalent
Environment - international agreements:
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto
Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law
of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements
Geography - note:
almost an enclave of Senegal; smallest country on the continent of
Africa
People Gambia, The
Population:
1,593,256 (July 2005 est.)
Age structure:
0–14 years: 44.5% (male 356,079/female 352,894)
15–64 years: 52.8% (male 416,809/female 424,429)
65 years and over: 2.7% (male 22,111/female 20,934) (2005 est.)
Median age:
total: 17.59 years
male: 17.45 years
female: 17.74 years (2005 est.)
Population growth rate:
2.93% (2005 est.)
Birth rate:
39.86 births/1,000 population (2005 est.)
Death rate:
11.81 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.)
Net migration rate:
1.27 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.)
Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.01 male(s)/female
15–64 years: 0.98 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 1.06 male(s)/female
total population: 1 male(s)/female (2005 est.)
Infant mortality rate:
total: 72.02 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 78.6 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 65.24 deaths/1,000 live births (2005 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 53.75 years
male: 51.91 years
female: 55.64 years (2005 est.)
Total fertility rate:
5.38 children born/woman (2005 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: