Equatorial Guinea

Overview

Equatorial Guinea, officially the Republic of Equatorial Guinea, is a small country of about 28,050 km² on the west coast of Central Africa, consisting of the mainland enclave of Río Muni (bordering Cameroon and Gabon) plus the islands of Bioko (formerly Fernando Pó, site of the traditional capital Malabo) and Annobón. It is the only African country where Spanish is the main official language; French and Portuguese are also official. In January 2026 the capital formally moved to the purpose-built mainland city of Ciudad de la Paz.

History

Pygmies were the first known inhabitants, followed by Bantu migrations; the Fang moved into Río Muni and the Bubi settled Bioko. Portuguese explorer Fernão do Pó sighted Bioko in 1472, but by the 1778 Treaty of El Pardo Portugal ceded the islands and Bight of Biafra rights to Spain. Spain invested little, leasing Bioko to Britain (1827–1843) for anti-slavery patrols; cocoa plantations run by a Creole "Fernandino" elite with Nigerian contract labour later made the island one of Africa's most productive agricultural zones. The 1900 Treaty of Paris confined Spain to tiny Río Muni, and from 1926 the territories formed the colony of Spanish Guinea. Under Franco it became Spanish "provinces" (1959), then gained autonomy in 1963 before independence on 12 October 1968.

The first president, Francisco Macías Nguema — elected in the country's only free election — established one of Africa's most brutal dictatorships: he banned opposition (1970), made himself president-for-life (1972), persecuted the Bubi, closed churches, and drove a third of the population into exile; of some 300,000 people, an estimated 80,000 were killed. In August 1979 his nephew Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo overthrew and executed him. Obiang has ruled ever since — Africa's longest-serving leader — through a nominally multiparty system dominated by his PDGE, repeatedly re-elected with implausible margins (99.7% in 2022) amid repression, corruption, and a dynastic succession grooming his son Teodorín as vice president.

Later history and present status

Oil discovered in the mid-1990s turned Equatorial Guinea into one of sub-Saharan Africa's largest producers and, per capita, one of Africa's richest countries — yet wealth is concentrated in the ruling family while most citizens lack clean water; Freedom House ranks it among the "worst of the worst" for rights. The population (~1.8 million) is about 86% Fang and overwhelmingly Christian (mostly Catholic). A 2004 mercenary coup plot linked to Simon Mann and Mark Thatcher failed; in 2024–25 Russian Africa Corps mercenaries reportedly arrived to bolster the regime.