Gabon.

Gabon is bordered to the west by the Atlantic Ocean, to the north by Equatorial Guinea and Cameroon, and to the east and south by the Congo. The 800km- (500 mile-) long sandy coastal strip is a series of palm-fringed bays, lagoons and estuaries. The lush tropical vegetation (which covers about 82 per cent of the interior) gives way in parts to the savannah. There are many rivers and they remain the main communication routes along which settlements have grown. Of the 40 or so Bantu tribes, the largest are the Fang, Eshira, Mbele and Okande. Only a small percentage of native Gabonese live in the towns, as the population is concentrated in the coastal areas and the villages along the banks of the many rivers, following a more traditional rural style of life.

In the continual endavour to satisfy the aspirations of the Gabonese people, Gabon proposed a new direction by which they can make better use of the abundant but little known riches that exists in the country today. As stated in the famous tales of La Fontaines, it requires hard work and dedication if we are to make the best use of these hidden treasures. Today, Gabon possess some of the last surviving intact populations of elephants, gorillas and other large mammals on earth. The forest harbour trees that have stood for over a millennium as well as countless species of plants and birds.

A garden of Eden where man can admire waterfalls as well as hippos bathing in the surf of the Atlantic Ocean. Off the coast the sight of whales displaying to one another, untroubled by predators, is one of nature's great spectacles.