Equatorial Guinea
Geography - People - Economy - Government - Communications - Transportation - Military - Transnational IssuesCountry name - conventional long form : Republic of Equatorial Guinea
Country name - conventional short form : Equatorial Guinea
Country name - local long form : Republica de Guinea Ecuatorial/Republique de Guinee equatoriale
Country name - local short form : Guinea Ecuatorial/Guinee equatoriale
Country name - former : Spanish Guinea
Government type : republic
Capital - name : Malabo
Capital - time difference : UTC+1 (6 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)
National holiday : Independence Day, 12 October (1968)
Population : 616,459 (July 2008 est.)
Nationality - noun : Equatorial Guinean(s) or Equatoguinean(s)
Nationality - adjective : Equatorial Guinean or Equatoguinean
Languages : Spanish 67.6% (official), other 32.4% (includes French (official), Fang, Bubi) (1994 census)
Currency (code) : Communaute Financiere Africaine franc (XAF); note - responsible authority is the Bank of the Central African States
Currency code : XAF
Major infectious diseases - degree of risk : very high
Equatorial Guinea is located Western Africa, bordering the Bight of Biafra, between Cameroon and Gabon. The climate is tropical; always hot, humid. The terrain is coastal plains rise to interior hills; islands are volcanic.
Background
This entry usually highlights major historic events and current issues and may include a statement about one or two key future trends.Background : Equatorial Guinea gained independence in 1968 after 190 years of Spanish rule. This tiny country, composed of a mainland portion plus five inhabited islands, is one of the smallest on the African continent. President Teodoro OBIANG NGUEMA MBASOGO has ruled the country since 1979 when he seized power in a coup. Although nominally a constitutional democracy since 1991, the 1996 and 2002 presidential elections - as well as the 1999 and 2004 legislative elections - were widely seen as flawed. The president exerts almost total control over the political system and has discouraged political opposition. Equatorial Guinea has experienced rapid economic growth due to the discovery of large offshore oil reserves, and in the last decade has become Sub-Saharan Africa's third largest oil exporter. Despite the country's economic windfall from oil production resulting in a massive increase in government revenue in recent years, there have been few improvements in the population's living standards.
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