The minimum you must know

The African Union lifted sanctions on Gabon recently.

The military in Gabon took control of the country in 2023, according to the media. Brice Oligui Nguema then won a presidential election in April 2025 that seems to have gained credibility throughout Africa.

The Gabonese Republic is a large thinly populated country of around two million people on the central west coast of Africa bordering Equitorial Guinea, Cameroon and the Congo. It's reportedly one of the wealthiest African nations on a per person basis. But the nation's wealth isn't evenly distributed, with lower classes and even impoverished people far outnumbering affluent. The country is predominantly Christian of Bantu ethnicity.

In August 2023, Gabon's elite presidential guard seized power from President Ali Bongo Ondimba in a coup, before the most recent change in control. There have been very few reports of human rights abuses in the media for the population. Hopefully the various changes have occurred with a minimum of physical confrontation, or none at all.

Gabon is externally at peace globally.