National name: Républica de Guinea Ecuatorial
Total and land area: 10,830 sq mi (28,050 sq km)
Wheather: Equatorial, warm and humid. Rainy stations from February to June and from September to December. It is recommended to take long and light clothes and some articles for the rain. In the mountains it is advisable to take some pullover
Population (2006 est.): 540,109 (growth rate: 2.1%); birth rate: 35.6/1000; infant mortality rate: 89.2/1000; life expectancy: 49.5; density per sq mi: 50
Capital and largest city (2006 est.): Malabo, 102,900 and Bata, 60.000
Monetary unit: CFA Franc
Country Code: +240
Languages: Spanish, French (both official); Fang, Bubi, Combe, Benga, Bisio, Fa-Ndambo
Religions: nominally Christian and predominantly Roman Catholic, some muslims and Evangelic Churches.
Literacy rate: 88% (2006 est.)
Economic summary: GDP/PPP (2005 est.): $25.69 billion; per capita $50,200.
Real growth rate: 18.6%. Inflation: 5%. Unemployment: 30% (1998 est.).
Arable land: 5%.
Agriculture: coffee, cocoa, rice, yams, cassava (tapioca), bananas, palm oil nuts; livestock; timber.
Labor force: n.a.
Industries: petroleum, fishing, sawmilling, natural gas.
Natural resources: petroleum, natural gas, timber, gold, bauxite, diamonds, tantalum, sand and gravel, clay.
Exports: $6.727 billion f.o.b. (2005 est.): petroleum, methanol, timber, cocoa.
Imports: $1.864 billion f.o.b. (2005 est.): petroleum sector equipment, other equipment.
Major trading partners: U.S., China, Spain, Taiwan, Canada, France, UK, Côte d'Ivoire, Italy (2004).
Communications: Telephones: main lines in use: 9,800 (2005); mobile cellular: 41,700 (2005).
Radio broadcast stations: AM 0, FM 3, shortwave 5 (2002).
Television broadcast stations: 2 (2002).
Internet hosts: 5 (2004). Internet users: 3,800 (2005).
Transportation: Railways: t Highways: total: 3,880 km (2005 est.).
Ports and harbors: Malabo 2, Luba 1 Bata 1 (2006)
Airports: Malabo 1, Bata 1 Annobon, Corisco 1,Mengomeyen 1 (2006).
History:
Bioko was claimed by (and until 1972 named after) Fernão do Po, a Portuguese navigator, in 1472, and Annobón was also claimed. During the 17th cent. the mainland's indigenous pygmy peoples were displaced by other groups, principally the Fang, who now inhabit the area. In 1778, Portugal ceded the islands, and also the commercial rights to a part of the African coast that included present-day Río Muni, to the Spanish. Hoping to export Africans as slaves to their American possessions, the Spanish sent settlers to the islands, but they died of yellow fever, and by 1781 the region was abandoned by the Europeans.
From 1827 to 1843 the British leased bases at Malabo (then called Port Clarence) and San Carlos from Spain for use by their antislavery patrols, and some freed slaves were settled on Bioko (then called Fernando Po). In 1844 the Spanish reacquired Bioko and began to occupy it. In 1879, a Cuban penal settlement was established there, and some of the convicts remained on the island after being released from prison. The general region of Río Muni was awarded to Spain at the Conference of Berlin in 1885, and its boundaries were defined precisely in a treaty with France in 1900. The islands and Río Muni were grouped together as the colony of Spanish Guinea.
Under the Spanish, economic development was largely confined to Bioko, although some measures were taken in Río Muni beginning in the 1940s. By 1960, about 6,000 Europeans (mostly Spanish) were living in the colony, and they controlled the production of cocoa and timber. In 1959 the colony was reorganized into two overseas provinces of Spain, each under a governor. In a further move to assimilate the region to Spain, three Hispano-Guineans were elected to the Spanish Cortes in 1960. However, nationalists were not satisfied with assimilation and demanded independence.
In 1963, Spain granted the country (renamed Equatorial Guinea) a limited amount of autonomy, and on Oct. 12, 1968, it received complete independence. The first president was Francisco Macías Nguema, a Fang from Río Muni. In 1969, there were violent anti-European demonstrations in Río Muni and most Europeans left the country, thus for a time severely dislocating the economy. In 1970 all political parties were merged into the United National party (PUN), headed by Macías Nguema, who in 1972 was appointed president for life.
Macías Nguema led a dictatorship characterized by campaigns against intellectuals and all those alleged to be plotting the overthrow of the regime; many were imprisoned, killed, or driven into exile. Nigerian migrant workers demanding higher wages were brutally suppressed, straining relations between Nigeria and Equatorial Guinea. Relations with Cameroon and Gabon were also strained as refugees fled to those countries. Equatorial Guinea severed its diplomatic ties with Spain in 1977. Spanish plantation owners shut down their operations, foreign investment declined, and the nation suffered a severe drop in population, with some 25,000 to 80,000 of the country's inhabitants estimated to have been killed by the government.
In 1979 the military staged a coup, executing Macías Nguema and installing Lt. Col. Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, as head of the military and head of state. Obiang Nguema Mbasogo lifted restrictions on the Roman Catholic Church, freed political prisoners, encouraged refugees to return, and restored diplomatic ties with Western nations. Spain and France began to reinvest, and the European Community helped rehabilitate the road system. These efforts met with limited success.
In 1982 a new constitution was approved that called for a more democratic political structure, and a decade later legislation was passed providing for a multiparty democracy. By 1993, legislative elections were held, only one party, Obiang Nguema Mbasogo's Democratic Party for Equatorial Guinea (PDGE), held significant power . In the 1996 multiparty presidential elections the president won a landslide victory.
Obiang Nguema Mbasogo was reelected u in 2002 In Mar., 2004, the government foiled a coup attempt involving mainly South African mercenaries. The national legislative elections two months later assured a new total victory for the PDGE and its allies.
Recent offshore oil boom resulted in the economy's growth by 71.2% in 1997, the first year of the petroleum bonanza, and it has sustained this phenomenal rate of growth. Between 2002 and 2005, the GDP skyrocketed from $1.27 billion to $25.69 billion.
Administrative Division:
The Republic of Equatorial Guinea is divided in 7 Provinces ( Bioko-Norte, Bioko-Sur, Annobon, Litoral, Centro Sur, Wele-Nzás and Kie Ntem) and 18 Districts ( Malabo, Annobon, Baney, Luba, Riabba, Bata, Mbini, Kogo, Niefang, Evinayong, Akurenam, Akonibe, Nsork, Mongomo, Añisok, Ebebiyin, Mikomeseng , Nsok Nzomo)
POLITICAL SYSTEM: Parliamentarian Republic
HEAD OF STATE:
H.E. OBIANG NGUEMA MBASOGO,
President of the Republic, Head of State
Prime Minister
H.E. Mr. Ricardo MANGUE OBAMA NFUBEA
Head of the Government
Vice-Prime Ministers:
H.E. Mr. Aniceto EBIAKA MOETE
First Vice Minister, in charge of Human Rights
H.E. Mr. Demetrio ELO NDONG NSEFUMU
Second Vice Minister, in charge of Interior Politics
Ministers:
- H.E. Mr. Alejandro EVUNA OWONO ASANGONO
Minister at the Presidency of the Republic in charge of Missions.
Minister at the Presidency of the Republic in charge of Political and Administrative Matters.
Minister at the Presidency of the Republic in charge of Information, Culture and Tourism.
Minister Secretary General of the Presidency of the Government.
Minister of the Presidency of the Government in charge of Parliament and Juridical Matters.
Minister at the Presidency of the Government in charge of Sub-regional Integration.
Minister of Foreign Affairs, International Cooperation and Francophone Affairs.
Minister of Justice, Worship and Penitentiary Institutions.
Minister of the Interior and Local Corporations.
Minister of National Defence.
Minister of National Security.
Minister of Transports, Technology, Post and Telecommunications.
Minister of Infrastructure and Urbanism.
Minister of Economy, Trade and Managerial Promotion.
Minister of Planning, Economic Development and Public Investments.
Minister of Finance and Budget.
Minister of Mines, Industry and Energy.
Minister of Education, Science and Sports.
Minister of Health and Social Well-being.
Minister of Work and Social Security
Minister of Agriculture and Forests.
Minister of Social Matters and Promotion of the Woman.
Minister of Fishing and Environment
Minister of Information, Culture and Tourism.
Minister of the Public Function and Administrative Planning.
Vice-ministers
- H.E. Mr. Jose ESONO MICHA
Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs, International Cooperation and Francophony.
- H.E. Mr. Salvador ONDO NKUMU
Vice-Minister of Justice, Worship and Penitentiary Institutions.
- H. E. Mr. Leocadio NDONG MEÑUNG
Vice-Minister of the Interior and Local Corporations.
- H.E. Mr. Antonio OBAMA NDONG
Vice-Minister of National Defense.
- H.E. Mr. Francisco EDU NGUA
Vice-Minister of National Security.
- H.E. Mr. Isidoro EYI MONSUY
Vice-Minister of Transport, Technology, Post and Telecommunications.
- H.E. Mr. Alejandro MICHA NSUE
Vice-Minister of Infrastructures and Urbanism.
- H.E. Mrs. Nicasia RILOA EBUERA
Vice-Minister of Economy, Trade and Managerial Promotion.
- H.E. Mr. Martin-Crisantos EBE MBA
Vice-minister of Planning, Economic Development and Public Investments.
- H.E. Mr. Estanislao DON MALAVO
Vice-Minister of Estate and Budget.
- H.E. Mr. Gabriel MBEGA OBIANG SMOOTHS
Vice-Minister of Mines, Industry and Energy.
- H.E. Mr. Carlos NSUE OTONG
Vice-Minister of Education, Youth and Sports.
- H.E. Mr. Pedro ABAGA ESONO
Vice-Minister of Health and Social Well-being.
- H.E. Mr. Jerónimo DARES EKORO DARES
Vice-Minister of Work and Social Security.
- H.E. Mr. Domingo NDONG OLOMO
Vice-Minister of Agriculture and Forest.
- H.E. Mr. Anastasio ASUMU MUM MUÑOZ
Vice-Minister of Fishing and Environment.
- H.E. Mrs. Purificación OPO BARILA,
Vice-Minister of Information, Culture and Tourism.
- H.E. Mr. Salvador MANGUE AYINGONO
Vice-Minister of the Public Function and Administrative Planning.
Secretaries of State:
- H.E. Mr. Francisco MABALE NSENG
Secretary of State at the Prersidencia of the Republic, for Mines, Industry and Energy.
- H.E. Mrs. Victorian NCHAMA NSUE OKOMO
Secretariat of State for the International Cooperation.
- H.E.Mr. Santiago-Mauro NGUEMA
Secretary of State for the National Defense.
- H.E. Mr. Julián ONDO NKUMU
Secretary of State for the National Security.
- H.E. Mr. Francisco MBA OLO BAHAMONDE,
Secretary of State for Post and Telecommunications.
- H.E. Mr. Pedro ONDO NGUEMA
Secretary of State for Housing and Urbanism.
- H.E. Mr. Melchor ESONO EDJO
Secretary of State for the Treasury and Budget.
- H.E.Mrs. Montserrat AFANG ONDO
Secretary of State for the Patrimony of the State.
- H.E Mr. Miguel - Angel ONDO ANGUE
Secretary of State for Energy.
- H.E. Mr. Pedro MABALE FUGA
Secretary of State for Youth and Sports.
- H.E. Mrs. Maria Leonor EPAM BIRIBE
Secretary of State for Social Matters and Promotion of the Woman.
- H.E. Mr. Federico ABAGA,
Secretary of State for Information, Culture and Tourism
- H.E. Mr. Santiago ESUA NKO
Secretary of State for Labour and Social Security
LEGISLATIVE: A Unicameral 100 Members Parliament.
Oficial name: CAMARA DE LOS REPRESENTANTES DEL PUEBLO
(PDGE and a coalition of various parties have the majority of the seats)
PRESIDENT:
Hon. Salomán NGUEMA OWONO (PDGE)
1st. Vicepresident:
Hon. Angel-Serafín Seriche DOUGAN MALABO (PDGE)
2nd. Vicepresident:
Hon. Angel ALOGO NCHAMA (PDGE)
Leader of the Opposition:
Hon. Plácido MIKO ABOGO (CPDS)
Speaker of the PDGE parliamentarian Group:
Hon: Francisco-Pascual OBAMA ASUE
JUDITIARY:
President of the Suprem Court of Justice
H.E. Sergio Esono Abeso Tomo
Attorney General
Hon. José OLO OBONO
GENERAL INFORMATION
MAIN HOTELS:
MALABO.
Hotel BAHIA -
(****,16 Habitaciones climatizadas +TV + tél, sala de conferencias, piscina, restaurante, bar, 50.000 FCFA)
tél : 2409 06 48 fax : 9 06 49
Hotel IMPALA, C/Enrique N`vo Apd 62 -
(***,20 apartamentos climatizados +TV + tél, bar, 44.800 FCFA)
tél : 9 24 92 fax : 9 24 93
Hotel URECA, C/ Carretera de Aeropuerto, Apd. Correos, 274
(***,20 habitaciones climatizadas +TV + tél, 8 suites, sala de conferencias, restaurante, bar, 28.000 à 40.000 FCFA)
tél : 9 33 19 fax : 9 32 26
Hotel BANTU C/Avenida de la libertad
(***,16 habitaciones climatizadas +TV + tél, 4 suites, sala de conferencias, restaurante, bar, 30 000 à 40.000 FCFA)
tél : 9 07 39
Hotel CANDY
(***,19 habitaciones climatizadas +TV + tél, bar, 26 900 à- 36.000 FCFA)
tél : 9 20 93 fax : 9 00 37
Hotel YOLI Y HERMANOS
(***,13 habitaciones climatizadas +TV + frigo, 25 000 à 30 000 FCFA)
tél : 9 18 95 fax :9 18 95
Hotel PANAROS - C/ Carretera Luba Apd n°105
(Residencia Albergue, 12 habitaciones, con 7 climatizadas, 15.000 à 25.000 fcfa)
tél / fax: 9 46 85
Hotel BENI
(Residencia Albergue)
tél: 9 15 90
Hotel M.O.N. E HIJOS
(Residencia Albergue, 12 habitaciones con 4 climatizadas)
tél / fax: 9 05 28
Hotel Residencia NELY
(Residencia Albergue)
tél: 9 2090
Hotel CHANA
(Residencia Albergue)
tél: 9 33 38
Hotel MORENITA – C/ Mongomo n°44 -
(Residencia Albergue, 7 habitaciones climatizadas )
tél: 9 10 26
Hotel BAMBU - C/ Butuku Luba -
(Residencia Albergue, 5 habitaciones climatizadas 28 000 fcfa)
tél: 9 44 98
Two international hotels (Hilton and Sofitel) are under construction in Malabo
BATA:
Hotel PLAZA, Plaza de la Libertad, (72 habitaciones climatizadas entre las cuales 16 Suites Royale -120.000fcfa., 36 Suites Simples-88.000fcfa. y 26 habitaciones simples 70.000 fcfa) televisión Satélite, Internet, restaurante… Telf: 080253 080254
Hotel CARMEN, Carretera Aeropuerto, Habitaciones climatizadas, Televisión satélite, Restaurante, Bar,
Hotel PANAFRICA - Bata
(60 habitaciones climatizadas, restaurante, bar )
tél: 8.32.39 fax : 8 32 41
Hotel GABRIEL, Ngolo Habitaciones climatizadas, Televisión satélite, Restaurante, Bar
Hotel YESSIKA - Bata
(12 habitaciones con 5 climatizadas, bar )
tél: 8.39.74
Hotel NNANG AFANG - Bata
tél: 8 25 82
Hotel RONDO - Bata
(Residencia Albergue)
tél: 8 22 81
BANKS:
There are one Central Bank and four banks in Equatorial Guinea
RESTAURANTS :
MALABO :
Le Paris, (French) Pizza Place, Bantu (Chinese food), Guegué (African food), Layalina (arab food), Candy,
BATA:
Pizza Central, La Ferme, Akena, Acrópole, Adjañeng
PLACES OF TOURIST INTEREST
ON THE BIOKO ISLAND:
ON THE ANNOBON ISLAND:
ON THE MAINLAND:
Corisco's island is of an extreme beauty, where you can enjoy its crystalline waters and beaches of white sand the whole year. Equally they are of tourist interest the Islands Elobey (big and small) as well as Cocoteros and Mbañe.
TRAVELLING TO EQUATORIAL GUNEA
FROM AFRICA:
By means of regular flights that connect Malabo with Douala, (Cameroun), Lagos (Nigeria), Libreville (Gabon), Cotonou (Benin), The operators are national companies of Equatorial Guinea and some of these countries.
FROM EUROPE
Flights from Madrid (Spain), Paris (France), Zurich (Switzerland), London (United Kingdom). The operators are IBERIA, AIR FRANCE, SWISS, JET-AIR and KLM