Gabon is located on the Atlantic coast of central Africa. It is located on the Equator between latitudes 3°N and 4°S and longitudes 8°and 15°E.
Gabon generally has an equatorial climate with an extensive system of rainforests covering 85% of the country.
There are three distinct regions: the coastal plains (ranging between 20 and 300 km from the ocean’s shore), the mountains (the Cristal Mountains to the northeast of Libreville, the Chaillu Massif in the centre), and the savanna in the east.
The coastal plains form a large section of the World Wildlife Fund’s Atlantic Equatorial coastal forests ecoregion and contain patches of Central African mangroves especially on the Muni River estuary on the border with Equatorial Guinea.
Gabon’s largest river is the Ogooue which is 1,200 kilometres long. Gabon has three karst areas where there are hundreds of caves located in the dolomite and limestone rocks.
Some of the caves include Grotte du Lastoursville, Grotte du Lebamba, Grotte du Bongolo, and Grotte du Kessipougou. Many caves have not been explored yet. A National Geographic Expedition visited the caves in the summer of 2008 to document them.
Gabon is also noted for efforts to preserve the natural environment. In 2002, President Omar Bongo Ondimba designated roughly 10% of the nation’s territory to be part of its national park system (with 13 parks in total), one of the largest proportions of nature parkland in the world.
The National Agency for National Parks manages Gabon’s national park system.
Natural resources include petroleum, magnesium, iron, gold, uranium, and forests.