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An equatorial country on the west coast of Africa, Gabon has an economy based on the production of oil. Only a small area of Gabon is cultivated, and more than two-thirds of it constitutes one of the world's finest virgin rainforests. Gabon became independent of France in 1960. A single-party state from 1968, it returned to multiparty democracy in 1990. Gabon's population is small, and the government is encouraging its increase.