Equatorial Guinea, officially the Republic of Equatorial Guinea, is a country on the west coast of Central Africa, with a location of 28,000 square kilometres (11,000 sq mi). Formerly the colony of Spanish Guinea, its post-independence name stimulates its location near both the Equator and also the Gulf of Guinea. As of 2021, the nation had a population of 1,468,777.

Equatorial Guinea consists of 2 components, an insular and a landmass region. The insular region includes the islands of Bioko (previously Fernando Pó) in the Gulf of Guinea and Annobón, a little volcanic island which is the only part of the country southern of the equator. Bioko Island is the northernmost part of Equatorial Guinea as well as is the website of the nation’s resources, Malabo.

The Portuguese-speaking island country of São Tomé as well as Príncipe lies in between Bioko and Annobón. The landmass area, Río Muni, is surrounded by Cameroon on the north as well as Gabon on the south as well as east. It is the area of Bata, Equatorial Guinea’s biggest city, and also Ciudad de la Paz, the nation’s scheduled future funding. Rio Muni likewise consists of a number of little overseas islands, such as Corisco, Elobey Grande, and Elobey Chico. The nation belongs to the African Union, Francophonie, OPEC and the CPLP.

After becoming independent from Spain in 1968, Equatorial Guinea was ruled by President permanently Francisco Macías Nguema till he was toppled in a stroke of genius in 1979 by his nephew Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo who has actually functioned as the country’s president since. Both presidents have been commonly characterized as totalitarians by foreign viewers.

Considering that the mid-1990s, Equatorial Guinea has turned into one of sub-Saharan Africa’s largest oil producers. It has consequently come to be the wealthiest nation per head in Africa, and also its gross domestic product (GDP) adjusted for acquiring power parity (PPP) per head ranks 43rd on the planet; however, the riches is dispersed incredibly erratically, with couple of individuals gaining from the oil riches.

The country ranks 144th on the 2019 Human Development Index, with less than half the populace having accessibility to clean alcohol consumption water as well as around 1 in 12 kids passing away prior to the age of five.

Equatorial Guinea gained its independence from Spain on 12 October 1968, but maintains Spanish as its official language along with French and also lately (since 2010) Portuguese, being the only African nation (besides the largely unrecognized Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic) where Spanish is a main language.

It is likewise the most extensively talked language (substantially greater than the various other two official languages); according to the Instituto Cervantes, 87.7% of the populace has a good grasp of Spanish.