Gabon Republic

There are many countries in the world and we don't know many of them.

Today I opened the map and closed my eyes and put my finger on a point. 

When I opened my eyes, I saw that it was the Republic of Gabon.

Does anyone know where it is?

Come on, let's hear the guesses.

Okay, of course you googled it. You googled it, as they say these days.

Yes, it is a state on the ocean coast in Africa. 

Its population is around 2 million 120 thousand with 2018 estimates. 

Its area is 267.667 km². It is like one third of Turkey.

A former French colony. On August 17, 1960, it gained its independence. The official language is naturally French. It is governed by a presidential system. The capital is Libreville. About 600 thousand people live in the capital.

A small part of the population (1.5%) are Pygmies. These little people are one of the oldest communities in Africa with a maximum height of 150 cm.

There are 40 different ethnic groups in the country. But the majority are called Bantu ethnic groups. They make up one third of the country's population.

Their per capita national income is higher than ours, around $12,500, partly because the population density is very low. So it is actually a rich country.

Don't ask me what's wrong, believe me, I just looked at it, I felt like it.

Sometimes I wonder why we didn't establish a colonial order? Do you think we are too soft-hearted?

However, we are known as a warrior society. In fact, we have a reputation in the world as brutal, that is to say, more than warlike. They are still afraid of us. They are also a bit jealous... Especially the western civilizations are jealous.

For some reason, we turned our face towards Europe and fought many wars with Europe. 

Maybe because of us Europe had to go and explore other places. 

Okay, this may be an exaggerated interpretation, but we may have had a real share in their colonization. 

We should ask historians, I wonder if they have asked İlber (Ortaylı) such a question? You should search for him on YouTube, if they did, what did he say?

Today Europe is actually continuing its old habits. 

Look, even Gabon has adopted French as its official language. 

Doesn't the country have its own language? 

65% of the country already speaks French. It is even written on the internet that local languages are in danger of extinction. 32% of the population speaks Fang. There are 42 different languages. 

It is really interesting, so many different cultures and languages, yet they continue their lives as a single state. 

There is also a European population living there. They must be the rich of the country.

I looked a little more at the information on the internet. 

There is oil in Gabon! 

It is clear now. Of course, after oil, forestry products, especially timber, and uranium, iron and gold mines, especially manganese (manganese) mines from the interior of the country are also important export products. 

As a metal and mineral, manganese is an element that has important contributions both in industry and in human health, according to the internet. It is an indispensable element in the enzymes secreted by all known living organisms. Many enzymes contain manganese. So it is useful to take it as a vitamin.

It is also a key element of photosynthesis. It is written on the internet that without manganese there would be no photosynthesis and therefore no oxygen in the atmosphere. This information is also interesting!

It has many more benefits. As far as I know, manganese is also found in our country.

Anyway, let's go back to Gabon. Enough about manganese.

Naturally, 80% of the population in Gabon is poor at starvation level. The remaining 20% are probably not all rich. A small vigilant group of 1-2% of the population continues to exploit all the riches of the country.

As I said, it seems that the modern exploitation system has been established here too. Just like in many other parts of the world!

Yes, it is a difference in mentality. I mean colonialism. I'm sure most of the revenues continue to flow to France.

We say Europe, the cradle of civilization, but where does the water for this mill come from? Germany was the only one among them that didn't have that much colonization. But there were countries that were colonized by Germany.

I should do an article sometime in the famous "who taught us what?" series. I think Europe will be the next article. Let's see what we should learn from Europe.

Love and respect to everyone from Moscow for now