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Official language: Spanish 
Population: 465.000
Current president: Teodoro Obiang Nguema (since 1979)
GDP per capita: 1500 US$

Location: Central Africa, inmost in the Gulf of Guinea. Equatorial Guinea consists of a larger continental part (Río Muni), bordering to Cameroon in the north an Gabon to the south and east. Further, the country consists of the island of Bioko (former Fernando Poo) off Douala (Cameroon), the island of Annobón in the Atlantic Ocean and some smaller islands (Corisco, Elobey, etc.) off the Río Muni coast. See map.
Capital: Bata (since 2000, before Malabo) 
Surface: 28.051 km² (of which Río Muni consumes 26.000 km² ) 
Coastline: 296 km 
Highest point: Pico Basile (on Bioko) 3,008 m 
Climate: Tropical rainforest climate, hot and humid the whole year. Although there is rain throughout the year, some rainy seasons can be observed. In Río Muni, rain is heaviest from March to May and from September to November. On Bioko, rains are heaviest from October to November.
Natural hazards: Violent windstorms and flash floods.
Regions: Regions follow natural, geographical divisions, making three regions; Río Muni, Bioko and Annobón.
Land use: Arable land (5%), permanent crops (4%), permanent pastures (4%), forests and woodland (46%), other (41%) (1993 est.). The patterns of land use in Equatorial Guinea are most related to the different soil types. These again depend heavily on the fluvial influence and the amount of rain. Soils influenced by rivers are more nutrient and provide agricultural land (except for the coastal zone, were salt intrusion into the mangroves prohibit agriculture). Zones with too heavy rains, like the southern slopes of the island mountains, neither are fit for agriculture.
Towns: The main town in Equatorial Guinea has always been Malabo, or Santa Isabel, as it originally was named. This has always been the colony's and the country's capital, marking that the island of Bioko was the economically most active region, with its cocoa plantations, and strategic location. In 2000, President Obiang made Bata, the urban centre on mainland Río Muni, the capital. This might reflect that the country's new economic sectors (timber) are centered on the mainland - but it more probably reflects that the ruling class of independent Guinea always has been from Río Muni, and that Bioko is the centre of opposition. There are not any other important towns on the mainland, while Luba, on southern Bioko is of relative importance. 
Administrative Regions: For administrative purposes, the country is divided into 7 provinces; Annobón, Bioko Norte, Bioko Sur, Centro Sur, Kie-Ntem, Litoral, Wele-Nzas.
Population: 465.000 (1999 est.), whereof 44,7% urban. 2,5% annual increase.
Population density: 16 persons/km² 

Infrastructure:
Paved roads: 30 km (unpaved: 2.880 km) 
Railways: none 
Car park: N.A. 
Airports: 2 international airport (paved); Bata and Malabo. 1 unpaved; Mongomo. 
Telephones: 7 pr. 1000 persons 
Radio: 393 pr. 1000 persons; Television: 9 pr. 1000 persons 

People & Population

Peoples of Equatorial Guinea: There are two peoples dominating each their region in Equatorial Guinea. The people of island of Bioko are the Bubi. They probably were the first to settle on the island, and were the only people until external contacts were brought upon the Bubi by Europeans. Through centuries of interaction of Bubi, Europeans and West Africans (imported labour), a Creole population emerged, the Fernandinos. From the 20th century, more and more Fang people from the Río Muni province were also drawn to the colonial/national capital. 
   The Fang is the dominant people of the Río Muni mainland, and the most populous in Guinea. Fang also populate vast areas in Cameroon and Gabon. The Fang people, however, have not lived for long in the rainforest climate of Southern Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea and Northern Gabon. Until the political instability in Central Cameroon in the mid-19th century, it is believed that the Fang lived in these areas, between savannah and rainforest. They conquered the sparsely populated areas were they are now settled from the Ndowe and other Bantu peoples (related to the Fang). The Ndowe themselves, are believed to have conquested the land from the Pygmies living there originally on the Bantu expansion. Ndowe are still a relatively important people in several zones of Río Muni, although the Fang dominate.
   Each people speaks its own language, although Ndowe and Fang are related. Means of intercommunication are the official language of Spanish, although the second official language, French, is getting somewhat common too. Additionally, there exists a pidgin English on Bioko, which was more actively used when the island had many Nigerian contract workers. Annobón also has its own language and people (Creole). Spanish is the most widely understood language.
Ethnic composition: Fang, Bubi, Ndowe, Annobonese, Fernandino, Pygmy.
Language: Spanish (official) pidgin English, Fang, Bubi, etc. Since 1995 French is also an official language.

Demographical data
Total population: 465.000 (1999 est.)
Natural increase: 2,5% annual
Population projected to 2010: 615.000
Population density: 16 p/km2
Population under 15 years: 43%
Population over 65 years: 4%
Urbanization: 55,3% rural and 44,7% urban
Major towns: Malabo, Bata, Luba, Mbini, Cogo, Ebebiyin, Mongomo.

Society 

Social data
Life expectancy: Men 52 years, women 57 years (1999 est.).
Infant mortality: 91,2/1.000 born (1999 est.).
Adult alphabetization rate: 80%
Medical services: 0.48 doctors each 1.000 inhabitants.
Pupil enrollment: 64%
Access to potable water: 95% 
Education expenditures: 3 mil. US$ (0,5% of GDP)
Military expenditures: 2 mil US$ (0,3% of GDP)

Religious data
The population is Roman Catholic, at least nominal. Some 86% belong to the Catholic Church. However, the church was expelled during the Macias Nguema dictatorship and traditional religion was encouraged. The Government still restricts the activities of the Catholic Church. Further, traditional religion has always been firmly rooted in the population, even when nominally Christian. This specially goes for the Río Muni population. Religion in practice therefore is a mix between traditional, African religions and Catholicism.
Data: Catholics 86,1%, African religions 10,9%, other Christians 3,0%.

Women 
Although the Constitution provides for equal rights, women largely are confined by custom to traditional roles, particularly in agriculture. Polygamy, which is widespread among the Fang, contributes to women's secondary status, as does limited educational opportunity. On average women receive only one-fifth as much schooling as men do. 
   There is no discrimination against women with regard to inheritance and family laws, but there is discrimination in traditional practice. For an estimated 90 percent of women, including virtually all ethnic groups except the Bubi, tradition dictates that if a marriage is dissolved, the wife must return the dowry given her family by the bridegroom at the time of marriage, while the husband automatically receives custody of all children born after the marriage. The mother maintains custody of all children born prior to the marriage. 
   Similarly, in the Fang, Ndowe, and Bubi cultures, primogeniture is practiced, and as women become members of their husband's family upon marriage, they usually are not accorded inheritance rights. According to the law, women have the right to buy and sell property and goods, but in practice the male-dominated society permits few women access to sufficient funds to engage in more than petty trading or to purchase real property beyond a garden plot or modest home. 
   Societal violence against women, particularly wife beating, is common. The public beating of wives is forbidden by government decree, but violence in the home generally is tolerated. The Government does not prosecute perpetrators of domestic violence.
   Although there are no legal restrictions on the participation of women in politics; however, women remain seriously underrepresented in government positions. There are 4 women in the 41-member Cabinet, and 5 in the 80-member legislature. However, women's participation in public and political life is increasing.

Read more about women's situation in Equatorial Guinea!

History
Colonization: Recognized as Spanish colony in 1900.
Independence: October 12th 1968
Heads of state: Francisco Macias Nguema (1968-79), Teodoro Obiang Nguema (1979-)
Population increase: 1965: 254.000. 1974: 301.000. 1984: 300.000. 1995: 400.000. 1999: 465.000

Introduction to Equatoguinean history:
Small is not always beautiful is the expressive title of Max Liniger-Goumaz' classical book about the history of this tiny central African republic of Equatorial Guinea. Being referred to as Africa's Switzerland prior to liberation in 1968, the country was most commonly compared to the Uganda of Idi Amin and the Central African "Empire" of Bokassa ten years later. A brutal dictatorship led to the exile or imprisonment of one third of the population and that an initially promising economy was altered to production decreases of up to 90% in certain central sectors. The history of Equatorial Guinea is as extreme as it gets on the African continent.
   The Bubi people of Bioko were the first to get in contact with Europeans (Portuguese) at the end of the 15th century, while the Fang on Río Muni in general succeeded to avoid this contact until the 20th century. Contact was on low intensity level also on Bioko (then called Fernando Poo). Europeans came and went as permanent settlements in this zone was difficult for Europeans before they knew how to cure malaria (1870s).
   Intensification of the relationship was unavoidable when the Spanish took effective possession of the small areas they had obtained in the scramble for Africa (Spanish Guinea and Western Sahara). The borders of Spanish Guinea (equal to those of present day's Equatorial Guinea) were defined and internationally recognized in 1900. The economic exploitation of the colony was facilitated; Plantations were established, there was built an infrastructure and the government tried to spread the monetary economy among the African population by classical means (imposing taxes, forced labour and positive incentives to start with cash crop growing). 
   In the 1950s and 60s, the rest of Africa was gaining independence, and pressure was put on Spain to give the colony its autodetermination. The colony was made autonomous in 1964, and the Fang politician Bonifacio Ondo Edu was elected president of the Executive Council.
   The constitution of 1967, which was to lead Spanish Guinea towards independence, was clearly inspired by the Franco rule of Spain. It foresaw a strong presidential power , but also prepared the way for democratic institutions. Presidential elections autumn 1968 gave victory to the Fang Francisco Macias Nguema, an opportunistic clerk from Mongomo with Spanish, military training. 
   Equatorial Guinea was proclaimed an independent republic in October 1968, and Macias took office as its president. Already the very same autumn, the other candidate in the elections, Ondu Edu, had to flee to Gabon. On being forcefully sent back to Guinea, Ondu Edu was killed in house arrest in January 1969. Persecution of politicians from the opposition started in full scale already in 1969. Political murders became the order of everyday. 
   In 1973, a quarter of the Equatoguinean population had left for exile. Almost the entire intellectual, political and economical elite had fled or been killed. Almost every key post in the civil administration and the military was given to Macias' relatives. Bedrock was touched in 1979, as almost one third of the population was in exile and the rest of the former elite had been killed by the regime.
   Of course, the national economy totally collapsed under these circumcisions. The production of cocoa could not be sustained, and production shrunk from 38.000 tons in 1968 to only 2.340 tons in 1975! Coffee production equally shrunk from 8.500 tons in 1968 to 1.500 tons in 1978 and merely 400 tons in 1981. Other industries followed in line. Only logging could somehow sustain itself through enormous concessions to foreign companies (mainly French). This trend is mirrored in the GDP per capita estimations for the period, which shrunk from 300 US$ in 1968 to 70 US$ in 1975. In practical terms, this probably meant that the remaining population returned to subsistence farming. 
   The government of Macias was toppled on 3 August 1979. The coup d'état was led by Teodoro Obiang Nguema (present president of the country and nephew of Macias) and supported by the Spanish. The situation in Equatorial Guinea has changed very much for the better with Obiang, although more than twenty years after the coup, very few of the refugees have dared to return to Guinea.

Read more about the history of Equatorial Guinea!

Political situation

The President
Teodoro Obiang Nguema, a Fang born 1946 in the Mongomo village (east in Río Muni, at the Gabonese border), came into importance as the nephew of the first president of the republic, Macias Nguema. As his uncle, he had studied at the Spanish Military Academy in Zaragoza. Together with other family members, he had a quick career during the Macias rule and ended up as governor on Bioko. This gave him nearly total power, as Macias had isolated himself from public life in his bunker near their home village. Obiang was known for his appetites for alcohol, bhang and women, and for his ruthless governance. However, comfort in the collapsing state of Guinea was vanishing, and Macias began murdering more and more of his own family members.
   In June 1979 he obtained the news that his brother was murdered by Macias' bodyguards, and speculations were high who could be next. Thus, Obiang took the initiative to gather various nephews and cousins, those left with a graduation from Zaragoza, and start planning the toppling of Macias. The fruit was ripe and Obiang had the authority to head a coup. He even obtained the support from the Spanish government, which had given up on Macias. Bioko and Bata were quickly taken, and within a week, uncle Macias was arrested. Macias was tried in September 1979 and sentenced to death. Obiang had already been appointed the second president of the republic.
   At his takeover, Obiang promised a relieved Equatoguinean and international audience that he would radically transform the country's situation. However, it was soon clear that no opposition would be allowed. Returning refugees were thrown to jail or beaten up, and returned to exile. Thus, very few ever returned to Guinea. 
   Since then, Obiang has installed his family in power, running the country as his private property. No mercy is shown for the opposition and respect for human rights is very poor. Obiang can truly be called one of the worst despots governing in contemporary Africa - if not the worst. 

Elections
The Constitution nominally provides citizens with the right to change their government peacefully, however, in practice there have been no free, fair, and transparent elections since independence in 1968. The President exercises complete power as head of state, commander of the armed forces, and leader of the government party, the PDGE. With the main exception of the Prime Minister, a Bubi, leadership positions within the Government in general are restricted to the President's Mongomo clan of the Fang ethnic group and its closest supporters. While there is an elected Chamber of Deputies, it is not representative and is dominated completely by the Government. The Minister of the Interior also acts as President of the National Electoral Board. 
   The February 1996 presidential election, in which President Obiang claimed reelection with 98 percent of the vote, was considered openly fraudulent by international observers. Some opposition politicians who campaigned were beaten and jailed. Voting was done in the open and without secrecy, with opposition parties allegedly being barred from access to polling areas. There were credible reports of widespread arrests and violence against opposition party members before the elections, as well as of beatings, roadblocks, stuffed ballot boxes, and the presence of security forces. Most opposition parties, claiming that it was futile to run amidst such blatant corruption, boycotted the election. 
   In 1998 the Government enacted a new electoral law that mandates the replacement of open voting by secret ballots in future elections but prohibits coalitions between political parties, which weakens the opposition by preventing the formation of any opposition umbrella groups.

Human rights
According to the U.S. Department of State, the government's human rights record is poor. Serious and systematic human rights abuses continue, and the security forces commit a number of abuses. Citizens do not have the right to change their government in fair elections. There are reports of extrajudicial killings, both of prisoners in detention and of individuals in rural areas. Other principal abuses by security forces include: Torture; beating and other physical abuse of prisoners; arbitrary arrest and detention; incommunicado detention; extortion from prisoners; searches without warrants; the looting of private homes; and the confiscation of property without due process. Members of the security forces generally commit abuses with impunity. Prison conditions remain life threatening. Prisoners often are subjected to torture in order to extract confessions. The judicial system continues to fail to ensure due process and remains subject to executive pressures. The Government severely restricts freedom of speech and of the press. It continues to restrict the right of assembly and does not always respect the right of association. The Government continues to limit freedom of religion and freedom of movement. The Government encourages the illegal capture and involuntary repatriation of its political opponents living abroad. There are no effective domestic human rights nongovernmental organizations (NGO's), and in April 1999 the Government promulgated a new law that further restricted NGO's and appears to preclude them from functioning in the area of human rights. Violence and discrimination against women and foreigners remain serious problems. Discrimination against minorities, particularly the Bubi ethnic group is continuing. The Government continues to restrict labor rights; no labor unions exist, and strikes are prohibited. The abuse of workers' rights is a particular problem in the oil industry. Child labor persists, and forced prison labor is used.
   This is one of the poorest records of all countries given in the US State Department's annual report of the world wide human rights situation.

Economy

Overview
The majority of the population of approximately 465,000 lives by subsistence agriculture, supplemented by hunting and fishing. Barter is a major aspect of the economy, and the monetary sector is based on exports of petroleum, cocoa, and timber. Most foreign economic assistance has been suspended due to the lack of economic reform and the Government's poor human rights record. However, in October 1999 the Government of Spain, which suspended aid 6 years ago, signed a new cooperation agreement with the Government. Substantial oil deposits were first discovered in 1995, and exploitation began in 1996. However, the investment and other use of oil revenues lacks transparency despite repeated calls from international financial institutions and citizens for greater financial openness. Poor fiscal management and a lack of public accounting transparency in national finances undermine the country's economic potential. Little evidence is apparent that the country's oil wealth is being devoted to the public good. A number of aid programs sponsored by the World Bank and the IMF have been cut off since 1993 because of the government's gross corruption and mismanagement. Businesses, for the most part, are owned by government officials and their family members.
   This is the background to the amazing numbers of economic boom, illustrated by a tripling in GDP between 1996 and 1999 (from 167 mil. US$ to 600 US$).

National economy
GDP: 600 million US$
GDP per capita: ca 1.500 US$ (1999)
GDP growth rate: 36.0% (1999 est.)
GDP divided in sectors: Agriculture 23%; Industry 67%; Services 10% (1999 est.).
Export values: 489 million US$ (goods and services, 1999). 
Commodities: Oil, timber, cocoa, coffee, fish
Main clients: US 34%, Japan 17%, Spain 13%, China 13%, Nigeria.
Import values: 630 million US$ (goods and services, 1999). 
Commodities: Petroleum, food, beverages, clothing, machinery.
Main suppliers: Cameroon 40%, Spain 18%, France 14%, US 8%.
Military expenditures: 2 million US$, 0,3% of GDP.

Finances
Money: Franc CFA
Foreign dept: 283 million US$ (1999 est.)
Foreign debt in % of GDP: 57,8
Economic aid receipt: 33,8 million US$ (1995)
Trade: Trade is restricted and supervised by government.

Industries
Introduction: The normal Equatoguinean is engaged in subsistence farming and notes little of the economic boom in the country. Cash is earned through sale of crops or labour outside the farm. This includes working on cocoa and coffee plantations and logging. Hunting and gathering is also widespread. The major cash earning industries, however, are the oil industry and the traditional industries of cocoa, coffee and timber. These industries are mostly owned by the ruling clan or international companies. 
Agricultural production: Cocoa (appr. 3.000 tons), coffee (appr. 100 tons) and subsistence food staples and vegetables. Extensive forestry.
Livestock: Little.
Fisheries: 2.300 tons (1996)
Mining: Oil and alluvial gold.
Industry: Oils (local basis).
Tourism: Practically non-existent. 

Equatorial Guinea - overview map

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Sources: CIA, IMF, Mundo Negro, M. Liniger-Goumaz, R. Fegley, N. Nava, Jeune Afrique & US State Dep.

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