Equatorial Guinea gained independence in 1968 after 190 years of Spanish rule. This tiny country, composed of a mainland portion plus five inhabited islands, is one of the smallest on the African continent. President Teodoro OBIANG NGUEMA MBASOGO has ruled the country since 1979 when he seized power in a coup. Although nominally a constitutional democracy since 1991, the 1996, 2002, and 2009 presidential elections - as well as the 1999, 2004, and 2008 legislative elections - were widely seen as flawed. The president exerts almost total control over the political system and has discouraged 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, improvements in the population's living standards have been slow to develop.

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

slightly smaller than Maryland

tropical; always hot, humid

coastal plains rise to interior hills; islands are volcanic

petroleum, natural gas, timber, gold, bauxite, diamonds, tantalum, sand and gravel, clay

violent windstorms; flash floods

tap water is not potable; deforestation

insular and continental regions widely separated

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

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

nominally Christian and predominantly Roman Catholic, pagan practices

685,991 (July 2012 est.)

34.88 births/1,000 population (2012 est.)

8.81 deaths/1,000 population (July 2012 est.)

0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2012 est.)

MALABO (capital) 128,000 (2009)

240 deaths/100,000 live births (2010)

4.83 children born/woman (2012 est.)

0.3 physicians/1,000 population (2004)

1.92 beds/1,000 population (2009)

fewer than 1,000 (2009 est.)

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

12 October 1968 (from Spain)

Independence Day, 12 October (1968)

approved by national referendum 17 November 1991; amended January 1995

mixed system of civil and customary law

has not submitted an ICJ jurisdiction declaration; non-party state to the ICCt

18 years of age; universal

unicameral House of People's Representatives or Camara de Representantes del Pueblo (100 seats; members directly elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms)

Convergence Party for Social Democracy or CPDS [Placido MICO Abogo]; Democratic Party for Equatorial Guinea or PDGE [Teodoro OBIANG NGUEMA MBASOGO] (ruling party); Electoral Coalition or EC; Party for Progress of Equatorial Guinea or PPGE [Severo MOTO]; Popular Action of Equatorial Guinea or APGE [Avelino MOCACHE]; Popular Union or UP [Daniel MARTINEZ Ayecaba]

ASODEGUE (Madrid-based pressure group for democratic reform); EG Justice (US-based anti-corruption group)

ACP, AfDB, AU, BDEAC, CEMAC, CPLP (associate), FAO, FZ, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, ITSO, ITU, MIGA, NAM, OAS (observer), OIF, OPCW, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNWTO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WTO (observer)

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

The discovery and exploitation of large oil and gas reserves have contributed to dramatic economic growth, but fluctuating oil prices have produced huge swings in GDP growth in recent years. Forestry and farming are also minor components of GDP. Subsistence farming is the dominate form of livelihood. Although pre-independence Equatorial Guinea counted on cocoa production for hard currency earnings, the neglect of the rural economy under successive regimes has diminished potential for agriculture-led growth (the government has stated its intention to reinvest some oil revenue into agriculture). A number of aid programs sponsored by the World Bank and the IMF have been cut off since 1993 because of corruption and mismanagement. The government has been widely criticized for its lack of transparency and misuse of oil revenues; however, in 2010, under Equatorial Guinea's candidacy in the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, the government published oil revenue figures for the first time. Undeveloped natural resources include gold, zinc, diamonds, columbite-tantalite, and other base metals. Growth remained strong in 2008, when oil production peaked but fell in 2009-10 as the price of oil and the production level dropped. Growth returned in 2011 stimulated by higher oil prices and large investments in public infrastructure and hotels.

$26.48 billion (2011 est.)

$24.73 billion (2010 est.)

$24.92 billion (2009 est.)

$19.81 billion (2011 est.)

49% of GDP (2011 est.)

44.5% of GDP (2011 est.)

1.7% of GDP (2011 est.)

4.6% of GDP (2011 est.)

5.1% of GDP (2010 est.)

8.5% (31 December 2010 est.)

4.25% (31 December 2009 est.)

15% (31 December 2011 est.)

15% (31 December 2010 est.)

$1.936 billion (31 December 2011 est.)

$1.889 billion (31 December 2010 est.)

$2.166 billion (31 December 2011 est.)

$2.109 billion (31 December 2010 est.)

$190.7 million (31 December 2011 est.)

$171.8 million (31 December 2010 est.)

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

petroleum, natural gas, sawmilling

-$940.6 million (2011 est.)

-$1.596 billion (2010 est.)

$15.64 billion (2011 est.)

$10 billion (2010 est.)

petroleum products, timber

Spain 14.6%, China 13%, Italy 10.8%, Japan 10.5%, US 9.5%, Netherlands 7.5%, Canada 5.5%, Brazil 5%, France 4.7%, South Korea 4.1% (2011)

$7.322 billion (2011 est.)

$5.7 billion (2010 est.)

petroleum sector equipment, other equipment, construction materials, vehicles

Spain 16.7%, US 12.8%, France 12.1%, China 12%, Italy 6.6%, Cote dIvoire 5.8%, Morocco 4.7% (2011)

$3.055 billion (31 December 2011 est.)

$2.346 billion (31 December 2010 est.)

$1.051 billion (31 December 2011 est.)

$829.1 million (31 December 2010 est.)

Cooperation Financiere en Afrique Centrale francs per US dollar -

97 million kWh (2009 est.)

90.21 million kWh (2009 est.)

31,000 kW (2009 est.)

96.8% of total installed capacity (2009 est.)

0% of total installed capacity (2009 est.)

3.2% of total installed capacity (2009 est.)

0% of total installed capacity (2009 est.)

302,500 bbl/day (2011 est.)

299,400 bbl/day (2009 est.)

0 bbl/day (2009 est.)

1.1 billion bbl (1 January 2012 est.)

0 bbl/day (2008 est.)

1,588 bbl/day (2011 est.)

25,670 bbl/day (2008 est.)

4,561 bbl/day (2008 est.)

6.74 billion cu m (2010 est.)

1.58 billion cu m (2010 est.)

5.16 billion cu m (2010 est.)

36.81 billion cu m (1 January 2012 est.)

5.005 million Mt (2010 est.)

state maintains control of broadcast media with domestic broadcast media limited to 1 state-owned TV station, 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 (2007)

Bata, Luba, Malabo (2010)

Equatorial Guinea National Guard (Guardia Nacional de Guinea Ecuatoria, GNGE (Army), with Coast Guard (Navy) and Air Wing) (2010)

18 years of age for selective compulsory military service; service obligation 2 years; women hold only administrative positions in the Coast Guard (2011)

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