"text":"Equatorial Guinea gained independence in 1968 after 190 years of Spanish rule; it is one of the smallest countries in Africa consisting of a mainland territory and five inhabited islands. The capital of Malabo is located on the island of Bioko, approximately 25 km from the Cameroonian coastline in the Gulf of Guinea. Between 1968 and 1979, autocratic President Francisco MACIAS NGUEMA virtually destroyed all of the country's political, economic, and social institutions before being deposed by his nephew Teodoro OBIANG NGUEMA MBASOGO in a coup. President OBIANG has ruled since October 1979 and was reelected in 2016. Although nominally a constitutional democracy since 1991, presidential and legislative elections since 1996 have generally been labeled as flawed. The president exerts almost total control over the political system and has placed legal and bureaucratic barriers that prevent 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, the drop in global oil prices has placed significant strain on the state budget. Equatorial Guinea continues to seek to diversify its economy and to increase foreign investment despite limited improvements in the population's living standards. Equatorial Guinea is the host of major regional and international conferences and continues to seek a greater role in regional affairs."
"text":"Santa Isabel (elev. 3,007 m), which last erupted in 1923, is the country's only historically active volcano; Santa Isabel, along with two dormant volcanoes, form Bioko Island in the Gulf of Guinea"
}
},
"Environment - current issues":{
"text":"tap water is non-potable; deforestation"
},
"Environment - international agreements":{
"party to":{
"text":"Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands"
},
"signed, but not ratified":{
"text":"none of the selected agreements"
}
},
"Geography - note":{
"text":"insular and continental regions widely separated"
"text":"Equatorial Guinea is one of the smallest and least populated countries in continental Africa and is the only independent African country where Spanish is an official language. Despite a boom in oil production in the 1990s, authoritarianism, corruption, and resource mismanagement have concentrated the benefits among a small elite. These practices have perpetuated income inequality and unbalanced development, such as low public spending on education and health care. Unemployment remains problematic because the oil-dominated economy employs a small labor force dependent on skilled foreign workers. The agricultural sector, Equatorial Guinea’s main employer, continues to deteriorate because of a lack of investment and the migration of rural workers to urban areas. About three-quarters of the population lives below the poverty line. Equatorial Guinea’s large and growing youth population – about 60% are under the age of 25 – is particularly affected because job creation in the non-oil sectors is limited, and young people often do not have the skills needed in the labor market. Equatorial Guinean children frequently enter school late, have poor attendance, and have high dropout rates. Thousands of Equatorial Guineans fled across the border to Gabon in the 1970s to escape the dictatorship of MACIAS NGUEMA; smaller numbers have followed in the decades since. Continued inequitable economic growth and high youth unemployment increases the likelihood of ethnic and regional violence."
"text":"the country is named for the Guinea region of West Africa that lies along the Gulf of Guinea and stretches north to the Sahel; the \"equatorial\" refers to the fact that the country lies just north of the Equator"
"text":"Prime Minister Francisco Pascual Eyegue OBAMA Asue (since 23 June 2016); First Deputy Prime Minister Clemente Engonga NGUEMA Onguene; Second Deputy Prime Minister Alfonso Mesie MIBUY; Third Deputy Prime Minister Alfonso Nsue MOKUY"
"text":"president directly elected by simple majority popular vote for a 7-year term (eligible for a second term); election last held on 24 April 2016 (next to be held in 2023); prime minister and deputy prime ministers appointed by the president"
"text":"bicameral National Assembly or Asemblea Nacional, formerly the unicameral Parliament, consists of the Senate or Senado (70 seats; 55 members directly elected by simple majority vote and 15 appointed by the president) and the House of People's Representatives or Camara de Representantes del Pueblo (100 seats; members directly elected in multi-seat constituencies by proportional representation vote to serve 5-year terms); note - the constitutional referendum of 2011 established the Senate and was implemented at the time of the May 2013 elections"
"text":"last held on 26 May 2013 (next to be held in 2018)"
},
"election results":{
"text":"Senate - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - PDGE 54, CPDS 1; Chamber of Deputies - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - PDGE 99, CPDS 1"
"text":"Supreme Court of Justice (consists of the chief justice - who is also chief of state - and 9 judges and organized into civil, criminal, commercial, labor, administrative, and customary sections); Constitutional Court (consists of the court president and 4 members)"
"text":"Supreme Court judges appointed by the president for 5-year terms; Constitutional Court members appointed by the president, 2 of which are nominated by the Chamber of Deputies"
},
"subordinate courts":{
"text":"Court of Guarantees; military courts; Courts of Appeal; first instance tribunals; district and county tribunals"
}
},
"Political parties and leaders":{
"text":"Convergence Party for Social Democracy or CPDS [Andres ESONO ONDO] ++ Democratic Party for Equatorial Guinea or PDGE [Jeronimo OSA OSA ECORO] (ruling party) ++ Electoral Coalition or EC ++ Popular Action of Equatorial Guinea or APGE [Carmelo MBA BACALE] ++ Popular Union or UP [Daniel MARTINEZ AYECABA]",
"not officially registered parties":{
"text":"Democratic Republican Force or FDR [Guillermo NGUEMA ELA] ++ Independent Candidacy or CI [Gabriel NSE OBIANG OBONO] ++ Party for Progress of Equatorial Guinea or PPGE [Severo MOTO] ++ Union for the Center Right or UDC [Avelino MOCACHE MEAENGA]"
},
"note":{
"text":"in November 2014, the government hosted a National Dialogue process to engage with the political opposition; the opposition particiapated with limited attendance and engagement; on March 18, 2015, the CPDS, FDR, and UP formed a coalition called the Front of Democratic Opposition or FOD"
}
},
"Political pressure groups and leaders":{
"text":"ASODEGUE (Madrid-based pressure group for democratic reform) ++ Coalicion CEIBA (group formed by diverse, exiled political parties) ++ C.O.R.E.D. (originally led by Raimundo Ela Nsang; based in Paris) ++ EG Justice (US-based anti-corruption group)"
"text":"Carretera Malabo II, Malabo, Guinea Ecuatorial"
},
"mailing address":{
"text":"US Embassy Malabo, US Department of State, Washington, DC 20521-2520"
},
"telephone":{
"text":"[240] 333 09 57 41"
}
},
"Flag description":{
"text":"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); green symbolizes the jungle and natural resources, blue represents the sea that connects the mainland to the islands, white stands for peace, and red recalls the fight for independence"
},
"National symbol(s)":{
"text":"silk cotton tree; national colors: green, white, red, blue"
},
"National anthem":{
"name":{
"text":"\"Caminemos pisando la senda\" (Let Us Tread the Path)"
},
"lyrics/music":{
"text":"Atanasio Ndongo MIYONO/Atanasio Ndongo MIYONO or Ramiro Sanchez LOPEZ (disputed)"
"text":"Exploitation of oil and gas deposits, beginning in the 1990s, has driven economic growth in Equatorial Guinea, allowing per capita GDP to rise to over $29,000 in 2014. Forestry and farming are minor components of GDP. Although preindependence Equatorial Guinea counted on cocoa production for hard currency earnings, the neglect of the rural economy since independence has diminished the potential for agriculture-led growth. Subsistence farming is the dominant form of livelihood. Declining revenue from hydrocarbon production, high levels of infrastructure expenditures, lack of economic diversification, and corruption have pushed the economy into decline in recent years and led to limited improvements in the general population’s living conditions. ++ ++ Foreign assistance programs by the World Bank and the IMF have been cut since 1993 because of corruption and mismanagement, and as a middle income country Equatorial Guinea is now ineligible for most donor assistance. The government has been widely criticized for its lack of transparency and misuse of oil revenues and has attempted to address this issue by working towards compliance with the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative. US foreign assistance to Equatorial Guinea is limited in part because of US restrictions pursuant to the Trafficking Victims Protection Act. ++ ++ Equatorial Guinea hosted two economic diversification symposia in 2014 that focused on attracting investment in five sectors: agriculture and animal ranching, fishing, mining and petrochemicals, tourism, and financial services. Undeveloped mineral resources include gold, zinc, diamonds, columbite-tantalite, and other base metals."
"text":"fixed-line density is about 2 per 100 persons; mobile-cellular subscribership has been increasing and in 2015 stood at about 70 percent of the population"
"text":"country code - 240; international communications from Bata and Malabo to African and European countries; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Indian Ocean) (2015)"
"text":"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)"
"text":"Equatorial Guinea Armed Forces (FAGE): Equatorial Guinea National Guard (Guardia Nacional de Guinea Ecuatorial, GNGE (Army), Navy, Air Force (2013)"
},
"Military service age and obligation":{
"text":"18 years of age for selective compulsory military service, although conscription is rare in practice; 2-year service obligation; women hold only administrative positions in the Navy (2013)"
}
},
"Transnational Issues":{
"Disputes - international":{
"text":"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 and imprecisely defined maritime coordinates in the ICJ decision delayed final delimitation; UN urged Equatorial Guinea and Gabon to resolve the sovereignty dispute over Gabon-occupied Mbane and lesser islands and to create a maritime boundary in the hydrocarbon-rich Corisco Bay"
"text":"Equatorial Guinea is a source country for children subjected to sex trafficking and destination country for men, women, and children subjected to forced labor; Equatorial Guinean girls may be encouraged by their parents to engage in the sex trade in urban centers to receive groceries, gifts, housing, and money; children are also trafficked from nearby countries for work as domestic servants, market laborers, ambulant vendors, and launderers; women are trafficked to Equatorial Guinea from Cameroon, Benin, other neighboring countries, and China for forced labor or prostitution"
"text":"Tier 3 – Equatorial Guinea does not fully comply with the minimum standards on the elimination of trafficking and is not making significant efforts to do so; in 2014, the government made no efforts to investigate or prosecute any suspected trafficking offenders or to identify or protect victims, despite its 2004 law prohibiting all forms of trafficking and mandating the provision of services to victims; undocumented migrants continued to be deported without being screened to assess whether any were trafficking victims; authorities did not undertake any trafficking awareness campaigns, implement any programs to address forced child labor, or make any other efforts to prevent trafficking (2015)"
