Equatorial Guinea | Facts & Information

Updated September 9, 2022 | Infoplease Staff
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Facts & Figures

  • President: Col. Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo (1979)

    Prime Minister: Vicente Ehate Tomi (2012)

    Total area: 10,830 sq mi (28,050 sq km)

    Population (2014 est.): 722,254 (growth rate: 2.54%); birth rate: 33.83/1000; infant mortality rate: 71.12/1000; life expectancy: 63.49

    Capital and largest city (2011 est.): Malabo, 137,000

    Monetary unit: CFA Franc

    National name: Républica de Guinea Ecuatorial

    Current government officials

    Languages: Spanish (official) 67.6%, other (includes French (official), Fang, Bubi) 32.4% (1994 census)

    Ethnicity/race: Fang 85.7%, Bubi 6.5%, Mdowe 3.6%, Annobon 1.6%, Bujeba 1.1%, other 1.4% (1994 census)

    National Holiday: Independence Day, October 12

    Religions: nominally Christian and predominantly Roman Catholic, pagan practices

    Literacy rate: 94.2% (2011 est.)

    Economic summary: GDP/PPP (2013 est.): $19.68 billion; per capita $25,700 (2011 est.). Real growth rate: –1.5%. Inflation: 6%. Unemployment: 22.3% (2009 est.). Arable land: 4.63%. Agriculture: coffee, cocoa, rice, yams, cassava (tapioca), bananas, palm oil nuts; livestock; timber. Labor force: 195,200 (2007). Industries: petroleum, fishing, sawmilling, natural gas. Natural resources: petroleum, natural gas, timber, gold, bauxite, diamonds, tantalum, sand and gravel, clay. Exports: $15.44 billion (2013 est.): petroleum, methanol, timber, cocoa. Imports: $7.943 billion (2013 est.): petroleum sector equipment, other equipment. Major trading partners: U.S., China, Spain, France, Netherlands, Côte d'Ivoire, Italy, Brazil (2012).

    Communications: Telephones: main lines in use: 14,900 (2012); mobile cellular: 501,000 (2012). Broadcast media: state maintains control of broadcast media with domestic broadcast media limited to 1 state-owned TV station, 1 private TV station owned by the president's eldest son, 1 state-owned radio station, and 1 private radio station owned by the president's eldest son; satellite TV service is available; transmissions of multiple international broadcasters are accessible (2013). Internet hosts: 7 (2012). Internet users: 14,400 (2009).

    Transportation: Railways: total: 0 km. Highways: total: 2,880 km (2000 est.). Ports and harbors: Bata, Luba, Malabo. Airports: 7 (2013).

    International disputes: in 2002, ICJ ruled on an equidistance settlement of Cameroon-Equatorial Guinea-Nigeria maritime boundary in the Gulf of Guinea, but a dispute between Equatorial Guinea and Cameroon over an island at the mouth of the Ntem River, imprecisely defined maritime coordinates in the ICJ decision, and the unresolved Bakasi allocation contribute to the delay in implementation; UN has been pressing Equatorial Guinea and Gabon to pledge to resolve the sovereignty dispute over Gabon-occupied Mbane Island and create a maritime boundary in the hydrocarbon-rich Corisco Bay.

    Major sources and definitions

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