EQUATORIAL GUINEA
GEOGRAPHY
Total area: 28,050 km2; land area: 28,050 km2
Comparative area: slightly larger than Maryland
Land boundaries: 539 km total; Cameroon 189 km, Gabon 350 km
Coastline: 296 km
Maritime claims:
Exclusive economic zone: 200 nm;
Territorial sea: 12 nm
Disputes: maritime boundary dispute with Gabon because of
disputed sovereignty over islands in Corisco Bay
Climate: tropical; always hot, humid
Terrain: coastal plains rise to interior hills; islands are
volcanic
Natural resources: timber, crude oil, small unexploited deposits
of gold, manganese, uranium
Land use: arable land 8%; permanent crops 4%; meadows and pastures
4%; forest and woodland 51%; other 33%
Environment: subject to violent windstorms
Note: insular and continental regions rather widely separated
PEOPLE
Population: 378,729 (July 1991), growth rate 2.6% (1991)
Birth rate: 42 births/1,000 population (1991)
Death rate: 16 deaths/1,000 population (1991)
Net migration rate: 0 migrants/1,000 population (1991)
Infant mortality rate: 116 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)
Life expectancy at birth: 49 years male, 53 years female (1991)
Total fertility rate: 5.4 children born/woman (1991)
Nationality: noun--Equatorial Guinean(s) or Equatoguinean(s);
adjective--Equatorial Guinean or Equatoguinean
Ethnic divisions: indigenous population of Bioko, primarily Bubi,
some Fernandinos; Rio Muni, primarily Fang; less than 1,000 Europeans,
mostly Spanish
Religion: natives all nominally Christian and predominantly Roman
Catholic; some pagan practices retained
Literacy: 50% (male 64%, female 37%) age 15 and over can
read and write (1990 est.)
Labor force: 172,000 (1986 est.); agriculture 66%, services 23%,
industry 11% (1980); labor shortages on plantations; 58% of population
of working age (1985)
Organized labor: no formal trade unions
GOVERNMENT
Long-form name: Republic of Equatorial Guinea
Type: republic
Capital: Malabo
Administrative divisions: 2 provinces (provincias,
singular--provincia); Bioko, Rio Muni; note--there may now be 6 provinces
named Bioko Norte, Bioko Sur, Centro Sur, Kie-Ntem, Litoral, Wele Nzas
Independence: 12 October 1968 (from Spain; formerly Spanish Guinea)
Constitution: 15 August 1982
Legal system: in transition; partly based on Spanish civil law and
tribal custom
National holiday: Independence Day, 12 October (1968)
Executive branch: president, prime minister, deputy prime minister,
Council of Ministers (cabinet)
Legislative branch: unicameral House of Representatives of the
People (Camara de Representantes del Pueblo)
Judicial branch: Supreme Tribunal
Leaders:
Chief of State--President Brig. Gen. (Ret.) Teodoro OBIANG NGUEMA
MBASOGO (since 3 August 1979);
Head of Government--Prime Minister Cristino SERICHE BIOKO MALABO
(since 15 August 1982); Deputy Prime Minister Isidoro Eyi MONSUY ANDEME
(since 15 August 1989)
Political parties and leaders: only party--Democratic Party for
Equatorial Guinea (PDGE), Brig. Gen. (Ret.) Teodoro OBIANG NGUEMA
MBASOGO, party leader
Suffrage: universal adult at age NA
Elections:
President--last held 25 June 1989 (next to be held 25 June 1996);
results--President Brig. Gen. (Ret.) Teodoro OBIANG NGUEMA MBASOGO was
reelected without opposition;
Chamber of People's Representatives--last held 10 July 1988 (next
to be held 10 July 1993);
results--PDGE is the only party;
seats--(41 total) PDGE 41
Communists: no significant number
Member of: ACP, AfDB, BDEAC, CEEAC, ECA, FAO, FZ, G-77, IBRD,
ICAO, IDA, IFAD, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTERPOL, IOC, ITU, LORCS (associate),
NAM, OAS (observer), OAU, UDEAC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WHO
Diplomatic representation: Ambassador Damaso OBIANG NDONG; Chancery
at 801 Second Avenue, Suite 1403, New York, NY 10017; telephone (212)
599-1523;
US--Ambassador (vacant); Charge d'Affaires William MITHOEFER;
Embassy at Calle de Los Ministros, Malabo (mailing address is P. O.
Box 597, Malabo; telephone 240 (9) 2185, 2406, 2507
Flag: three equal horizontal bands of green (top), white, and red
with a blue isosceles triangle based on the hoist side and the coat of
arms centered in the white band; the coat of arms has six yellow
six-pointed stars (representing the mainland and five offshore islands)
above a gray shield bearing a silk-cotton tree and below which is a
scroll with the motto UNIDAD, PAZ, JUSTICIA (Unity, Peace, Justice)
ECONOMY
Overview: The economy, destroyed during the regime of former
President Macias Nguema, is now based on agriculture, forestry,
and fishing, which account for about 60% of GNP and nearly all exports.
Subsistence agriculture predominates, with cocoa, coffee, and wood
products providing income, foreign exchange, and government
revenues. There is little industry. Commerce accounts
for about 10% of GNP, and the construction, public works, and service
sectors for about 34%. Undeveloped natural resources include titanium,
iron ore, manganese, uranium, and alluvial gold. Oil exploration,
taking place under concessions offered to US, French, and Spanish firms,
has been moderately successful, and some revenues from oil exports
will begin rolling in by mid-1991.
GDP: $144 million, per capita $411; real growth rate 2.9% (1988
est.)
partners--Spain 34%, Italy 16%, France 14%, Netherlands 8% (1987)
External debt: $195 million (1989)
Industrial production: growth rate - 6.8% (1990 est.); acounts
for about 4% of GDP
Electricity: 23,000 kW capacity; 60 million kWh produced,
170 kWh per capita (1989)
Industries: fishing, sawmilling
Agriculture: cash crops--timber and coffee from Rio Muni, cocoa
from Bioko; food crops--rice, yams, cassava, bananas, oil palm nuts,
manioc, livestock
Economic aid: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY81-89), $14
million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments
(1970-88), $112 million; Communist countries (1970-89), $55 million
Currency: Communaute Financiere Africaine franc
(plural--francs); 1 CFA franc (CFAF) = 100 centimes
COMMUNICATIONS
Highways: Rio Muni--1,024 km; Bioko--216 km
Ports: Malabo, Bata
Merchant marine: 2 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 6,413
GRT/6,699 DWT; includes 1 cargo and 1 passenger-cargo
Civil air: 1 major transport aircraft
Airports: 4 total, 3 usable; 2 with permanent-surface runways;
none with runways over 3,659 m; 1 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 1 with
runways 1,220-2,439 m
Telecommunications: poor system with adequate government services;
international communications from Bata and Malabo to African and European
countries; 2,000 telephones; stations--2 AM, no FM, 1 TV; 1 Indian Ocean
INTELSAT earth station
DEFENSE FORCES
Branches: Army, Navy, Air Force, National Guard, National Police
Manpower availability: males 15-49, 79,641; 40,369 fit for military
service
