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Equatorial Guinea

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: African Countries;
Countries

   SOS Children works in Equatorial Guinea. For more information see SOS
   Children in Equatorial Guinea, Africa
   República de Guinea Ecuatorial
   République de Guinée équatoriale

   Flag of Equatorial Guinea Coat of arms of Equatorial Guinea
   Flag                      Coat of arms
   Motto: "Unidad, Paz, Justicia"  (Spanish)
   "Unity, Peace, Justice"
   Anthem: Caminemos pisando la senda
   Location of Equatorial Guinea
   Capital
   (and largest city) Malabo
   3°21′N 8°40′E
   Official languages * Spanish,
   * French
   Government
    - President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo
    - Prime Minister Ricardo Mangue Obama Nfubea
   Independence
    - from Spain October 12, 1968
   Area
    - Total 28,051 km² ( 144th)
   10,828 sq mi
    - Water (%) negligible
   Population
    - July 2005 estimate 504,000 ( 166th)
    - Density 18/km² ( 187th)
   47/sq mi
   GDP ( PPP) 2005 estimate
    - Total $18.785 billion ( 112th)
    - Per capita $16,507 ( 41st)
   HDI  (2005) 0.655 (medium) ( 121st)
   Currency CFA franc ( XAF)
   Time zone WAT ( UTC+1)
    - Summer ( DST) not observed ( UTC+1)
   Internet TLD .gq
   Calling code +240

   Equatorial Guinea, officially the Republic of Equatorial Guinea, is a
   country in West Middle Africa, one of the smallest in continental
   Africa. It is bordered by Cameroon on the north, Gabon on the south and
   east, and the Gulf of Guinea on the west, where the islands of São Tomé
   and Príncipe lie to its southwest. Formerly the Spanish colony of
   Spanish Guinea, the country's territory (continentally known as Río
   Muni) includes a number of islands, including the sizable island of
   Bioko where the capital, Malabo (formerly Santa Isabel), is located.
   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
   enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla, and the Sahrawi Arab Democratic
   Republic.

   Equatorial Guinea is the smallest country, in terms of population, in
   continental Africa (Seychelles and São Tomé and Príncipe are smaller).
   It is also the smallest United Nations member from continental Africa,
   and the smallest Spanish-speaking country in the world.

History

   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 17th and 19th
   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 Igbo people of Nigeria arrived in the 18th century. 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 Póo 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). From
   1827 to 1843, Britain established a base on the island to combat the
   slave trade. 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
   Enlarge
   Map of Equatorial Guinea

   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 , 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. Macias had opponents executed, 150 at a time, to the sound
   of Mary Hopkin's tune Those Were the Days through stadium loudspeakers.

   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.

   According to a March 2004 BBC profile , 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 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, the CIA, and Spain as having been
   tacit supporters of the coup attempt. Nevertheless, the Amnesty
   International report released in June 2005 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.

Economy

   Pre-independence Equatorial Guinea counted on cocoa production for hard
   currency earnings. In 1959 it had the highest per capita income of
   Africa.

   The discovery of large oil reserves in 1996 and its subsequent
   exploitation have contributed to a dramatic increase in government
   revenue. As of 2004 , 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 (CIA Factbook
   $50,200) which is as of 2006 the third highest in the world, 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 this Anti-Money Laundering Report from Inner City Press.

   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 .

   While EG is currently one of the largest producers of oil in Africa,
   very few imporvements have been made to the living conditions of the
   people. Most live in poverty.

Geography

   Satellite image of Equatorial Guinea, generated from raster graphics
   data supplied by The Map Library
   Enlarge
   Satellite image of Equatorial Guinea, generated from raster graphics
   data supplied by The Map Library
   Bioko (Equatorial Guinea) visible in the distance from Cameroon
   Enlarge
   Bioko (Equatorial Guinea) visible in the distance from Cameroon

   The Republic of Equatorial Guinea is located in west central Africa.
   Bioko Island lies about 40 kilometers (25  mi) from Cameroon. Annobón
   Island lies about 595 kilometers (370 mi) southwest of Bioko Island.
   The larger continental region of Rio Muni lies between Cameroon and
   Gabon on the mainland; it includes the islands of Corisco, Elobey
   Grande, Elobey Chico, and adjacent islets. Contrary to its name, no
   part of the country lies on the equator. Along with Denmark it is one
   of two countries in the world with its mainland on a continent and its
   capital city on an island.

Demographics

   Fang children
   Enlarge
   Fang children

   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 are mutually unintelligible. The
   Bubi, who constitute 15 percent of the population, are indigenous to
   Bioko Island.

   In addition, there are coastal tribes, sometimes referred to as
   "Playeros" (Beach People in Spanish): Ndowes, Bujebas, Balengues, 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) –
   most of them mixed with African ethnicity – also live in the nation.
   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 large majority of Guineans speak
   Spanish, specially those living in the capital, Malabo.

Culture

   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 medical
   educators and physicians from that country.
     * List of writers from Equatorial Guinea

     * Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Equatorial
       Guinea

Sports

     * Eric Moussambani - Swimmer
     * Gus Envela, Jr - Sprinter
     * Equatorial Guinea national football team

Equatorial Guinea in fiction

   Fernando Póo (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 Póo 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 due to the permisive
   laws of the country. The book shows a little bit of the geography of
   the country, its history and its people.

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

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