'Equatorial Guinea', officially the 'Republic of Equatorial Guinea', is a country in
Central Africa. One of the smallest countries in continental
Africa, Equatorial Guinea is comprised of a mainland territory known as
Río Muni (including several offshore islands); the island of
Bioko (formerly Fernando Pó), where the capital,
Malabo (formerly Santa Isabel) is located; and the island of
Annobón in the
South Atlantic Ocean. It is bordered by
Cameroon on the north,
Gabon on the south and east, and the
Gulf of Guinea on the west, where the island nation of
São Tomé and Príncipe is located. Formerly the
Spanish colony of
Spanish Guinea, its post-independence name is suggestive of its location near both the
equator and the
Gulf of Guinea. It is the only country in mainland Africa where
Spanish is an official language, excluding the
Spanish exclaves of
Ceuta and
Melilla, and the UN-recognised but Moroccan-occupied
Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (Western Sahara).
Equatorial Guinea is the smallest country, in terms of population, in continental Africa (
Seychelles and
São Tomé and Príncipe are smaller in terms of area). It is also the smallest
United Nations member from continental Africa. The discovery of sizeable
oil reserves in recent years is altering the economic and political status of the country.
History
Main articles: History of Equatorial Guinea
The first inhabitants of the continental region that is now Equatorial Guinea are believed to have been
Pygmies, of whom only isolated pockets remain in northern
Río Muni.
Bantu migrations between the seventeenth and nineteenth centuries brought the coastal tribes and later the
Fang. Elements of the latter may have generated the
Bubi, who emigrated to
Bioko from
Cameroon and Rio Muni in several waves and succeeded former Neolithic populations. The
Bubi were the very first human inhabitants of
Bioko Island. The
Annobon population, native to
Angola, was introduced by the Portuguese via
São Tomé Island (
São Tomé and Príncipe).
The
Portuguese explorer,
Fernão do Pó, seeking a route to
India, is credited with having discovered the island of
Bioko in 1472. He called it ''Formosa'' ("Beautiful"), but it quickly took on the name of its European discoverer. The islands of Fernando Pó and Annobón were colonized by
Portugal in 1474. The Portuguese retained control until 1778, when the island, adjacent islets, and commercial rights to the mainland between the Niger and
Ogoue Rivers were ceded to
Spain in exchange for territory in the American continent (
Treaty of El Pardo, between Queen
Maria I of Portugal and King
Charles III of Spain). Between 1778 and 1810, the territory of Equatorial Guinea depended administratively from the viceroyalty of Rio de la Plata, with seat in Buenos Aires. From 1827 to 1843,
Britain established a base on the island to combat the
slave trade[1]. The mainland portion, Rio Muni, became a protectorate in 1885 and a colony in 1900. Conflicting claims to the mainland were settled in 1900 by the
Treaty of Paris, and periodically, the mainland territories were united administratively under Spanish rule. Between
1926 and
1959 they were united as the colony of
Spanish Guinea.
Politics
Map of Equatorial Guinea
The current president of Equatorial Guinea is
Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo. The
1982 constitution of Equatorial Guinea gives Obiang extensive powers, including naming and dismissing members of the cabinet, making laws by decree, dissolving the Chamber of Representatives, negotiating and ratifying treaties and calling legislative elections. Obiang retains his role as commander in chief of the armed forces and minister of defense, and he maintains close supervision of the military activity. The Prime Minister is appointed by the President and operates under powers designated by the President. The Prime Minister coordinates government activities in areas other than foreign affairs, national defense and security.
On
December 15,
2002,
[2] Equatorial Guinea's four main opposition parties withdrew from the country's presidential election. Obiang won an election widely considered fraudulent by members of the Western press.
Diplomats and even ministers have been caught smuggling drugs, sometimes using diplomatic bags and even the president's baggage on state trips. The incumbent president has never equalled the bloodthirsty reputation of his uncle,
Francisco Macías Nguema whom he overthrew. On Christmas of 1975, Macías had 150 alleged coup plotters executed to the sound of a band playing
Mary Hopkin's tune
''Those Were the Days'' in a national stadium.
[3]
A huge proportion of the £370 million revenue is confiscated by the president while most of the 500,000 subjects subsist on less than a dollar a day, sewage runs through the streets of the capital
Malabo, and there is no public transport and little running water or electricity.
[4]
According to a March 2004
BBC profile,
[5] politics within the country are currently dominated by tensions between Obiang's son, Teodorin, and other close relatives with powerful positions in the security forces. The tension may be rooted in power shift arising from the dramatic increase in oil production which has occurred since 1997.
A November 2004 report
[6] named
Mark Thatcher as a financial backer of a March 2004 attempt to topple Obiang organized by
Simon Mann. Various accounts also name Britain's
MI6, America's
CIA, and Spain as having been tacit supporters of the coup attempt.
[7] Nevertheless, the
Amnesty International report released in June 2005
[8]
on the ensuing trial of those allegedly involved highlights the prosecution's failure to produce conclusive evidence that a coup attempt had actually taken place.
Provinces
Provinces of Equatorial Guinea
Equatorial Guinea is divided into seven
provinces (capitals appear in parentheses):
#
Annobón Province (
San Antonio de Palé)
#
Bioko Norte Province (
Malabo)
#
Bioko Sur Province (
Luba)
#
Centro Sur Province (
Evinayong)
#
Kié-Ntem Province (
Ebebiyín)
#
Litoral Province (
Bata)
#
Wele-Nzas Province (
Mongomo)
Economy
Main articles: Economy of Equatorial Guinea
Pre-independence Equatorial Guinea counted on
cocoa production for hard currency earnings. It had the highest
per capita income of Africa in
1959.
The discovery of large oil reserves in
1996 and its subsequent exploitation have contributed to a dramatic increase in government revenue.
As of 2004,
[9] Equatorial Guinea is the third-largest oil producer in
Sub-Saharan Africa. Its oil production has risen to 360,000 barrels/day, up from 220,000 only two years earlier.
Forestry, farming, and fishing are also major components of GDP. Subsistence farming predominates. The deterioration of the rural economy under successive brutal regimes has diminished any potential for agriculture-led growth.
Despite a per capita GDP (PPP) of more than US$30,000
[10] (CIA Factbook $50,200
[11]) which is as of 2006 the
second highest in the world (after
Luxembourg), Equatorial Guinea ranks 121st out of 177 countries on the
United Nations Human Development Index.
In July 2004, the U.S. Senate published an investigation into
Riggs Bank, a Washington-based bank into which most of Equatorial Guinea's oil revenues were paid until recently, and which also banked for
Chile's
Augusto Pinochet. The Senate report, as to Equatorial Guinea, showed that at least $35 million were siphoned off by Obiang, his family and senior officials of his regime. The president has denied any wrongdoing. While Riggs Bank in February 2005 paid $9 million as restitution for its banking for Chile's Augusto Pinochet, no restitution was made with regard to Equatorial Guinea, as reported in detail in an Anti-Money Laundering Report from
Inner City Press.
[12]
On
August 9,
2006, ''
Harper's Magazine'' published an article by
Ken Silverstein highlighting Obiang's recent connections with the
U.S. State Department and
Independence Federal Savings Bank.
[13]
While Equatorial Guinea is currently one of the largest producers of oil in Africa, few improvements have been made to the living conditions of the people and most people live in poverty.
Demographics
Equatorial Guinean children of Bubi descent.
The majority of the people of Equatorial Guinea are of
Bantu origin. The largest tribe, the
Fang, is indigenous to the mainland, but substantial migration to
Bioko Island has resulted in Fang dominance over the earlier Bantu inhabitants. The Fang constitute 80 percent of the population and are themselves divided into 67 clans. Those in the northern part of Rio Muni speak Fang-Ntumu, while those in the south speak Fang-Okah; the two dialects have differences but are mutually intelligible. Dialects of Fang are also spoken in parts of neighboring Cameroon (Bulu) and Gabon. These dialects, while still intelligible, are more distinct. The Bulu Fang of Cameroon were traditional rivals of Fang in Rio Muni. (The
Bubi, who constitute 15 percent of the population, are indigenous to Bioko Island. The traditional demarcation line between Fang and beach tribes was the village of Niefang (limit of the fang) inland from Bata.
Equatorial Guinean children of Fang descent.
In addition, there are coastal tribes, sometimes referred to as "Playeros" (''Beach People'' in
Spanish):
Ndowes,
Bujebas,
Balengues, (Kombi)s, and
Bengas on the mainland and small islands, and "Fernandinos", a
Creole community, on Bioko. Together, these groups compose five percent of the population. Some Europeans (largely of
Spanish or
Portuguese descent) – among them mixed with African ethnicity – also live in the nation. Most Spaniards left after independence. There is a growing number of foreigners from neighboring
Cameroon,
Nigeria, and
Gabon. Equatorial Guinea received
Asians and black Africans from other countries as workers on
cocoa and
coffee plantations. Other black Africans came from
Liberia,
Angola, and
Mozambique, and Asians are mostly
Chinese . Equatorial Guinea also allowed many fortune-seeking European settlers of other nationalities, including
British,
French and
Germans. After independence, thousands of Equatorial Guineans went to Spain. Another 100,000 Equatorial Guineans went to Cameroon, Gabon, and Nigeria because of the dictatorship of
Francisco Macías Nguema. Some of its communities also live in
Brazil, some Spanish-speaking
Latin American nations, the
United States, Portugal, and
France.
Oil extraction has contributed to a doubling of the population in Malabo.
Official languages
The Constitutional Law which amends article 4 of the Fundamental Law of the State, establishes that "the official languages of the Republic of Equatorial Guinea are Spanish and French. The aboriginal languages are recognized as integral parts of the national culture" (Constitutional Law No. 1/1998 of
21 January). The great majority of Equatorial Guineans speak Spanish
["Obiang convierte al portugués en tercer idioma oficial para entrar en la Comunidad lusófona de Naciones", ''Terra''. 13-07-2007 ''(translate)''], especially those living in the capital,
Malabo. Spanish has been an official language since 1844. In July 2007, President Teodoro Obiang Nguema announced his government's decision for
Portuguese to become Equatorial Guinea's third official language, in order to meet the requirements to apply for full membership of the
Community of Portuguese Language Countries (CPLP). This upgrading from its current Associate Observer condition would result in Equatorial Guinea being able to access several professional and academic exchange programs and the facilitation of cross-border circulation of citizens. Its application is currently being assessed by other CPLP members.
Culture
Main articles: Culture of Equatorial Guinea
Several cultural dispersion and literacy organizations are located in the country, founded chiefly with the financial support of the Spanish government. The country has one
university, the
Universidad Nacional de Guinea Ecuatorial (UNGE) with a campus in
Malabo and a Faculty of Medicine located in
Bata on the mainland. The Bata Medical School is supported principally by the government of
Cuba and staffed by Cuban medical educators and physicians.
Mass media
The most dominant form of
mass media in the country is the three state-operated
FM radio stations. There are also five
shortwave radio stations.
A
July 2003 article from the BBC
[14] points out there are no daily newspapers in the country and described how a
Fang program called "Bidze-Nduan" ("Bury the Fire") on a widely listened-to state radio station declared that Obiang was "in permanent contact with the Almighty"; a presidential aide on the show also said:
Most of the media companies practise heavy self-censorship, and are banned by law from criticising public figures. The state owned media and the main private radio station are under the directorship of
Teodorin Nguema Obiang, the president's son. Some media-related statistics from ''
The World Factbook'' are summarized in a section on
communications in Equatorial Guinea.
Sports
''The county has been chosen to co-host the
2012 African Nations Cup in partnership with neighboring
Gabon.''
★
Equatorial Guinea national football team
Equatorial Guinea in fiction
Fernando Po (now Bioko) is featured prominently in the 1975
science fiction work ''
The Illuminatus! Trilogy'' by
Robert Shea and
Robert Anton Wilson. The island (and, in turn, the country) experience a series of coups in the story which lead the world to the verge of nuclear war. The trilogy also establishes that Fernando Po is the last remaining piece of the sunken continent of
Atlantis.
Most of the action in
Robin Cook's book, ''
Chromosome 6'', takes place in Equatorial Guinea, where an international biochemical corporation, "GenSys", established a primate research facility because the country had permissive laws. The book indicates something of the geography, history and people of Equatorial Guinea.
See also
★
★
Communications in Equatorial Guinea
★
Foreign relations of Equatorial Guinea
★
List of Equatorial Guinea-related topics
★
Military of Equatorial Guinea
★
Scouting in Equatorial Guinea
★
Transport in Equatorial Guinea
Notes and references
1. See Encyclopedia Britannica, 1911, "Fernando Po"
2. Equatorial Guinea: Obiang Sure to Win As Opposition Quits Poll
3. Oil Gives African Nation a Chance for Change
4. Playboy waits for his African throne
5. Profile: Equatorial Guinea's great survivor
6. Thatcher faces 15 years in prison
7. The US knew, Spain knew, Britain knew. Whose coup was it?
8. Equatorial Guinea, A trial with too many flaws
9. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A1101-2004Sep6.html
10. World Economic Outlook IMF Database, September 2005
11. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ek.html
12. http://www.innercitypress.org/finwatch.html
13. Obiang's Banking Again: State Department and Washington insiders help a dictator get what he wants
14. Equatorial Guinea's "God"
Books
★
Max Liniger-Goumaz, ''Small is not Always Beautiful: The Story of Equatorial Guinea'' (French 1986, translated 1989) ISBN 0-389-20861-2
★
Ibrahim K. Sundiata, ''Equatorial Guinea: Colonialism, State Terror, and the Search for Stability'' (1990, Boulder: Westview Press) ISBN 0-8133-0429-6
★
Robert Klitgaard. 1990. ''Tropical Gangsters''. New York: Basic Books. (World Bank economist tries to assist pre-oil Equatorial Guinea -clever book, factual account)
★
D.L. Claret. ''Cien años de evangelización en Guinea Ecuatorial (1883-1983)/ One Hundred Years of Evangelism in Equatorial Guinea'' (1983, Barcelona: Claretian Missionaries)
★
Adam Roberts, ''The Wonga Coup: Guns, Thugs and a Ruthless Determination to Create Mayhem in an Oil-Rich Corner of Africa'' (2006, PublicAffairs) ISBN 1-58648-371-4
External links
★
Official Government of Equatorial Guinea website (
Spanish,
English)
★
Institutional web site of Equatorial Guinea (Spanish,
French, English)
★
Opposition Website ("Government in Exile" - Evolved party from ruling government prior to the coup d'état that lead to the Independence of 1968) (Spanish)
★
Honorary Consulate of Equatorial Guinea in Romania (Spanish) (Romanian) (English)
News
★
allAfrica - ''Equatorial Guinea'' news headline links (English, French)
★
Guinea-Ecuatorial.net (Spanish, some French)
★ http://www.icex.es/staticFiles/GuineaEcuatorial_6814_.pdf (Spanish)
Overviews and directories
★
BBC News Country Profile - ''Equatorial Guinea''
★
CIA World Factbook - ''Equatorial Guinea''
★
Open Directory Project - ''Equatorial Guinea'' directory category
★
Stanford University - Africa South of the Sahara: ''Equatorial Guinea'' directory category
★
The Index on Africa - ''Equatorial Guinea''
★
University of Pennsylvania - African Studies Center: ''Equatorial Guinea'' directory category
★
Yahoo! - ''Equatorial Guinea'' directory category
★ http://www.iradier.org/colaboracion5.htm (Spanish)
"Ethnic" groups
★
The Bubis of Fernando Po The history of first inhabitants of Bioko Island, now an endangered people
★
Cultura Bubi
★
Cultures de Mon: Los Bubis
★
African Pygmies Culture and music of the first inhabitants of Equatorial Guinea, with photos and ethnographic notes
Tourism
★
★
Useful information for travelling to Equatorial Guinea for independent travellers (Spanish, English)
Economy
★
Equatorial Guinea Banking Issues, from the Fair Finance Watch
★
Equatorial Guinea Investment Opportunities in Spanish
★
Can Corporate Power Transform Equatorial Guinea and Angola?
Spain and Africa
★
Spanish Embassy's Plan for African 2006-2008
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