Equatorial Guinea

Radio broadcast stations

AM 2, FM 0, shortwave 0

Radios

NA

Telephone system

poor system with adequate government services domestic: NA international: international communications from Bata and Malabo to African and European countries; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Indian Ocean)

Telephones

2,000 (1987 est.)

Television broadcast stations

1

Televisions

4,000 (1992 est.)

Agriculture - products

coffee, cocoa, rice, yams, cassava (tapioca), bananas, palm oil nuts, manioc; livestock; timber

Budget

revenues: $27 million expenditures: $34.1 million, including capital expenditures of $11.2 million (1994)

Currency

1 Communaute Financiere Africaine franc (CFAF) = 100 centimes

Debt - external

$252 million (1995 est.)

Economic aid

recipient : ODA, $NA

Economy - overview

Farming, forestry, and fishing account for about half of GDP. Subsistence farming predominates. Although pre-independence Equatorial Guinea counted on cocoa production for hard currency earnings, the deterioration of the rural economy under successive brutal regimes has diminished potential for agriculture-led growth. A number of aid programs sponsored by the World Bank and the IMF have been cut off since 1993 because of the government's gross corruption and mismanagement. Businesses, for the most part, are owned by government officials and their family members. 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 has contributed to Equatorial Guinea's strong growth rates in the early 1990s. The country responded favorably to the devaluation of the CFA franc in January 1994.

Electricity - capacity

23,000 kW (1995)

Electricity - consumption per capita

NA kWh

Electricity - production

NA kWh

Exchange rates

CFA francs (CFAF) per US$1 - 541.69 (January 1997), 511.55 (1996), 499.15 (1995), 555.20 (1994), 283.16 (1993), 264.69 (1992) note: beginning 12 January 1994, the CFA franc was devalued to CFAF 100 per French franc from CFAF 50 at which it had been fixed since 1948

Exports

total value : $83.5 million (f.o.b., 1995) commodities: timber, petroleum, cocoa partners: US 34%, Japan 16%, Spain 15%, China 12%, Cote d'Ivoire, Nigeria

Fiscal year

1 April - 31 March

GDP

purchasing power parity - $328 million (1995 est.)

GDP - composition by sector

agriculture: 50% industry: 14% services: 36% (1994 est.)

GDP - per capita

purchasing power parity - $800 (1995 est.)

GDP - real growth rate

11.2% (1995 est.)

Imports

total value: $52.3 million (f.o.b., 1995) commodities : petroleum, food, beverages, clothing, machinery partners: Spain 51%, Cameroon 21%, France 6%, US 4%

Industrial production growth rate

7.4% (1994 est.)

Industries

fishing, sawmilling

Inflation rate - consumer price index

10.9% (1995 est.)

Labor force

NA

Unemployment rate

NA%

Area

total: 28,050 sq km land: 28,050 sq km water: 0 sq km

Area - comparative

slightly smaller than Maryland

Climate

tropical; always hot, humid

Coastline

296 km

Elevation extremes

lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m highest point: Mount Malabo 3,008 m

Environment - current issues

tap water is not potable; desertification

Environment - international agreements

party to : Biodiversity, Endangered Species, Nuclear Test Ban, Ship Pollution signed, but not ratified: Desertification, Law of the Sea

Geographic coordinates

2 00 N, 10 00 E

Geography - note

insular and continental regions rather widely separated

Irrigated land

NA sq km

Land boundaries

total: 539 km border countries: Cameroon 189 km, Gabon 350 km

Land use

arable land : 5% permanent crops: 4% permanent pastures: 4% forests and woodland: 46% other: 41% (1993 est.)

Location

Western Africa, bordering the Bight of Biafra, between Cameroon and Gabon

Map references

Africa

Maritime claims

exclusive economic zone: 200 nm territorial sea: 12 nm

Natural hazards

violent windstorms

Natural resources

timber, petroleum, small unexploited deposits of gold, manganese, uranium

Terrain

coastal plains rise to interior hills; islands are volcanic

Administrative divisions

7 provinces (provincias, singular - provincia); Annobon, Bioko Norte, Bioko Sur, Centro Sur, Kie-Ntem, Litoral, Wele-Nzas

Constitution

new constitution 17 November 1991

Country name

conventional long form: Republic of Equatorial Guinea conventional short form: Equatorial Guinea local long form: Republica de Guinea Ecuatorial local short form: Guinea Ecuatorial former : Spanish Guinea

Data code

EK

Diplomatic representation from the US

the US does not have an embassy in Equatorial Guinea (embassy closed September 1995); US relations with Equatorial Guinea are handled through the US Embassy in Yaounde, Cameroon

Diplomatic representation in the US

chief of mission : Ambassador Pastor Micha ONDO BILE chancery: Suite 405, 1511 K Street NW, Washington, DC 20005 telephone : [1] (202) 393-0525

Executive branch

chief of state: President Brig. Gen. (Ret.) Teodoro OBIANG NGUEMA MBASOGO (since 3 August 1979) head of government: Prime Minister Serafin Seriche DOUGAN (since April 1996); Vice Prime Minister Francisco Javier Ndongo MBENGONO (since April 1996) cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the president elections: president elected by popular vote to a seven-year term; election last held 25 February 1996 (next to be held NA February 2003) election results : President OBIANG NGUEMA MBASOGO reelected without opposition; percent of popular vote - NA

FAX

[1] (202) 393-0348

Flag description

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)

Government type

republic in transition to multiparty democracy

Independence

12 October 1968 (from Spain)

International organization participation

ACCT, ACP, AfDB, BDEAC, CEEAC, ECA, FAO, FZ, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, ITU, NAM, OAS (observer), OAU, UDEAC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WHO, WToO, WTrO (applicant)

Judicial branch

Supreme Tribunal

Legal system

partly based on Spanish civil law and tribal custom

Legislative branch

unicameral House of Peoples Representatives or Camara de Representantes del Pueblo (80 seats; members are directly elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms) elections: last held 21 November 1993 (next to be held November 1998) election results: percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - PDGE 68, CSD 6, UDS 5, CLD 1

National capital

Malabo

National holiday

Independence Day, 12 October (1968)

Political parties and leaders

ruling party: Democratic Party for Equatorial Guinea or PDGE [Brig. Gen. (Ret.) Teodoro OBIANG NGUEMA MBASOGO] opposition parties: Convergence for Social Democracy or CSD [Santiago Obama Ndong, president]; Democratic Social Union or UDS [Camelo MODU, general secretary]; Liberal Democratic Convention or CLD [Alfonso Nsue MIFUMU, president]; Liberal Party or PL [Santos PASCUAL]; National Democratic Union or UDENA [Jose MECHEBA Ikaka, president]; Party of the Social Democratic Coalition or PCSD [Buenaventura Moswi M'Asumu, general coordinater]; Party of Progress or PP [Severo MOTO Nsa, president]; Popular Action of Equatorial Guinea or APGE [Casiano Masi Edu]; Popular Union or UP [Juan BITUI, president]; Party for Progress of Equatorial Guinea or PPGE [Severo Moto NSA, president]; Progressive Democratic Alliance or ADP [Antonio-Ebang Mbele Abang, president]; Social Democratic and Popular Convergence or CSDP [Secundino Oyono Agueng Ada, general secretary]; Social Democratic Party or PSD [Benjamin-Gabriel Balingha Balinga Alene, general secretary]; Socialist Party of Equatorial Guinea or PSGE [Tomas MICHEBE Fernandez, general secretary]

Suffrage

NA years of age; universal adult

Historical perspective

on 29 May 1991, ISAIAS Afworke, secretary general of the Peoples' Front for Democracy and Justice (PFDJ), which then served as the country's legislative body, announced the formation of the Provisional Government in Eritrea (PGE) in preparation for the 23-25 April 1993 referendum on independence for the Autonomous Region of Eritrea; the referendum resulted in a landslide vote for independence which was proclaimed on 27 April 1993

Military branches

Army, Navy, Air Force, Rapid Intervention Force, National Police

Military expenditures - dollar figure

$2.5 million (FY93/94)

Military expenditures - percent of GDP

NA%

Military manpower - availability

males age 15-49: 95,788 (1997 est.)

Military manpower - fit for military service

males: 48,696 (1997 est.)

Age structure

0-14 years: 43% (male 95,636; female 95,090) 15-64 years : 53% (male 111,801; female 123,257) 65 years and over: 4% (male 7,407; female 9,325) (July 1997 est.)

Birth rate

39.33 births/1,000 population (1997 est.)

Death rate

13.67 deaths/1,000 population (1997 est.)

Ethnic groups

Bioko (primarily Bubi, some Fernandinos), Rio Muni (primarily Fang), Europeans less than 1,000, mostly Spanish

Infant mortality rate

95.7 deaths/1,000 live births (1997 est.)

Languages

Spanish (official), pidgin English, Fang, Bubi, Ibo

Life expectancy at birth

total population: 53.46 years male: 51.2 years female: 55.8 years (1997 est.)

Literacy

definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population : 78.5% male: 89.6% female: 68.1% (1995 est.)

Nationality

noun: Equatorial Guinean(s) or Equatoguinean(s) adjective: Equatorial Guinean or Equatoguinean

Net migration rate

0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1997 est.)

Population

442,516 (July 1997 est.)

Population growth rate

2.57% (1997 est.)

Religions

nominally Christian and predominantly Roman Catholic, pagan practices

Sex ratio

at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.01 male(s)/female 15-64 years : 0.91 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.79 male(s)/female total population: 0.94 male(s)/female (1997 est.)

Total fertility rate

5.11 children born/woman (1997 est.)

Disputes - international

maritime boundary dispute with Gabon because of disputed sovereignty over islands in Corisco Bay ERITREA

Airports

3

Airports - with paved runways

total: 3 (1996 est.) 2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 under 914 m: 1 (1996 est.)

Highways

total: 2,820 km paved : 0 km unpaved: 2,820 km (1995 est.)

Merchant marine

total: 3 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 7,997 GRT/7,105 DWT ships by type: cargo 1, passenger 1, passenger-cargo 1 (1996 est.)

Ports and harbors

Bata, Luba, Malabo

Railways

total : 0 km