EQUATORIAL GUINEA                                                               
GEOGRAPHY                                                                       
Total area: 28,050 km2; land area: 28,050 km2                                   
                                                                                
Comparative area: slightly larger than Maryland                                 
                                                                                
Land boundaries: 539 km total; Cameroon 189 km, Gabon 350 km                    
                                                                                
Coastline: 296 km                                                               
                                                                                
Maritime claims:                                                                
                                                                                
Exclusive economic zone: 200 nm;                                                
                                                                                
Territorial sea: 12 nm                                                          
                                                                                
Disputes: maritime boundary dispute with Gabon because of                       
disputed sovereignty over islands in Corisco Bay                                
                                                                                
Climate: tropical; always hot, humid                                            
                                                                                
Terrain: coastal plains rise to interior hills; islands are                     
volcanic                                                                        
                                                                                
Natural resources: timber, crude oil, small unexploited deposits                
of gold, manganese, uranium                                                     
                                                                                
Land use: arable land 8%; permanent crops 4%; meadows and pastures              
4%; forest and woodland 51%; other 33%                                          
                                                                                
Environment: subject to violent windstorms                                      
                                                                                
Note: insular and continental regions rather widely separated                   
                                                                                
PEOPLE                                                                          
Population: 378,729 (July 1991), growth rate 2.6% (1991)                        
                                                                                
Birth rate: 42 births/1,000 population (1991)                                   
                                                                                
Death rate: 16 deaths/1,000 population (1991)                                   
                                                                                
Net migration rate: 0 migrants/1,000 population (1991)                          
                                                                                
Infant mortality rate: 116 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)                      
                                                                                
Life expectancy at birth: 49 years male, 53 years female (1991)                 
                                                                                
Total fertility rate: 5.4 children born/woman (1991)                            
                                                                                
Nationality: noun--Equatorial Guinean(s) or Equatoguinean(s);                   
adjective--Equatorial Guinean or Equatoguinean                                  
                                                                                
Ethnic divisions: indigenous population of Bioko, primarily Bubi,               
some Fernandinos; Rio Muni, primarily Fang; less than 1,000 Europeans,          
mostly Spanish                                                                  
                                                                                
Religion: natives all nominally Christian and predominantly Roman               
Catholic; some pagan practices retained                                         
                                                                                
Language: Spanish (official), pidgin English, Fang, Bubi, Ibo                   
                                                                                
Literacy: 50% (male 64%, female 37%) age 15 and over can                        
read and write (1990 est.)                                                      
                                                                                
Labor force: 172,000 (1986 est.); agriculture 66%, services 23%,                
industry 11% (1980); labor shortages on plantations; 58% of population          
of working age (1985)                                                           
                                                                                
Organized labor: no formal trade unions                                         
                                                                                
GOVERNMENT                                                                      
Long-form name: Republic of Equatorial Guinea                                   
                                                                                
Type: republic                                                                  
                                                                                
Capital: Malabo                                                                 
                                                                                
Administrative divisions: 2 provinces (provincias,                              
singular--provincia); Bioko, Rio Muni; note--there may now be 6 provinces       
named Bioko Norte, Bioko Sur, Centro Sur, Kie-Ntem, Litoral, Wele Nzas          
                                                                                
Independence: 12 October 1968 (from Spain; formerly Spanish Guinea)             
                                                                                
Constitution: 15 August 1982                                                    
                                                                                
Legal system: in transition; partly based on Spanish civil law and              
tribal custom                                                                   
                                                                                
National holiday: Independence Day, 12 October (1968)                           
                                                                                
Executive branch: president, prime minister, deputy prime minister,             
Council of Ministers (cabinet)                                                  
                                                                                
Legislative branch: unicameral House of Representatives of the                  
People (Camara de Representantes del Pueblo)                                    
                                                                                
Judicial branch: Supreme Tribunal                                               
                                                                                
Leaders:                                                                        
                                                                                
Chief of State--President Brig. Gen. (Ret.) Teodoro OBIANG NGUEMA               
MBASOGO (since 3 August 1979);                                                  
                                                                                
Head of Government--Prime Minister Cristino SERICHE BIOKO MALABO                
(since 15 August 1982); Deputy Prime Minister Isidoro Eyi MONSUY ANDEME         
(since 15 August 1989)                                                          
                                                                                
Political parties and leaders: only party--Democratic Party for                 
Equatorial Guinea (PDGE), Brig. Gen. (Ret.) Teodoro OBIANG NGUEMA               
MBASOGO, party leader                                                           
                                                                                
Suffrage: universal adult at age NA                                             
                                                                                
Elections:                                                                      
                                                                                
President--last held 25 June 1989 (next to be held 25 June 1996);               
results--President Brig. Gen. (Ret.) Teodoro OBIANG NGUEMA MBASOGO was          
reelected without opposition;                                                   
                                                                                
Chamber of People's Representatives--last held 10 July 1988 (next               
to be held 10 July 1993);                                                       
results--PDGE is the only party;                                                
seats--(41 total) PDGE 41                                                       
                                                                                
Communists: no significant number                                               
                                                                                
Member of: ACP, AfDB, BDEAC, CEEAC, ECA, FAO, FZ, G-77, IBRD,                   
ICAO, IDA, IFAD, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTERPOL, IOC, ITU, LORCS (associate),          
NAM, OAS (observer), OAU, UDEAC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WHO            
                                                                                
Diplomatic representation: Ambassador Damaso OBIANG NDONG; Chancery             
at 801 Second Avenue, Suite 1403, New York, NY 10017; telephone (212)           
599-1523;                                                                       
                                                                                
US--Ambassador (vacant); Charge d'Affaires William MITHOEFER;                   
Embassy at Calle de Los Ministros, Malabo (mailing address is P. O.             
Box 597, Malabo; telephone  240  (9) 2185, 2406, 2507                           
                                                                                
Flag: 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)             
                                                                                
ECONOMY                                                                         
Overview: The economy, destroyed during the regime of former                    
President Macias Nguema, is now based on agriculture, forestry,                 
and fishing, which account for about 60% of GNP and nearly all exports.         
Subsistence agriculture predominates, with cocoa, coffee, and wood              
products providing income, foreign exchange, and government                     
revenues. There is little industry. Commerce accounts                           
for about 10% of GNP, and the construction, public works, and service           
sectors for about 34%. Undeveloped natural resources include titanium,          
iron ore, manganese, uranium, and alluvial gold.  Oil exploration,              
taking place under concessions offered to US, French, and Spanish firms,        
has been moderately successful, and some revenues from oil exports              
will begin rolling in by mid-1991.                                              
                                                                                
GDP: $144 million, per capita $411; real growth rate 2.9% (1988                 
est.)                                                                           
                                                                                
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 5.9% (1989 est.)                              
                                                                                
Unemployment rate: NA%                                                          
                                                                                
Budget: revenues $23 million; expenditures $31 million, including               
capital expenditures of NA (1988)                                               
                                                                                
Exports: $41 million (f.o.b., 1989 est.);                                       
                                                                                
commodities--coffee, timber, cocoa beans;                                       
                                                                                
partners--Spain 44%, FRG 19%, Italy 12%, Netherlands 11% (1987)                 
                                                                                
Imports: $57.1 million (c.i.f., 1988);                                          
                                                                                
commodities--petroleum, food, beverages, clothing, machinery;                   
                                                                                
partners--Spain 34%, Italy 16%, France 14%, Netherlands 8% (1987)               
                                                                                
External debt: $195 million (1989)                                              
                                                                                
Industrial production: growth rate - 6.8% (1990 est.); acounts                  
for about 4% of GDP                                                             
                                                                                
Electricity: 23,000 kW capacity; 60 million kWh produced,                       
170 kWh per capita (1989)                                                       
                                                                                
Industries: fishing, sawmilling                                                 
                                                                                
Agriculture: cash crops--timber and coffee from Rio Muni, cocoa                 
from Bioko; food crops--rice, yams, cassava, bananas, oil palm nuts,            
manioc, livestock                                                               
                                                                                
Economic aid: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY81-89), $14                    
million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments          
(1970-88), $112 million; Communist countries (1970-89), $55 million             
                                                                                
Currency: Communaute Financiere Africaine franc                                 
(plural--francs); 1 CFA franc (CFAF) = 100 centimes                             
                                                                                
Exchange rates: Communaute Financiere Africaine francs (CFAF)                   
per US$1--256.54 (January 1991), 272.26 (1990), 319.01 (1989), 297.85           
(1988), 300.54 (1987), 346.30 (1986), 449.26 (1985)                             
                                                                                
Fiscal year: 1 April-31 March                                                   
                                                                                
COMMUNICATIONS                                                                  
Highways: Rio Muni--1,024 km; Bioko--216 km                                     
                                                                                
Ports: Malabo, Bata                                                             
                                                                                
Merchant marine: 2 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 6,413                     
GRT/6,699 DWT; includes 1 cargo and 1 passenger-cargo                           
                                                                                
Civil air: 1 major transport aircraft                                           
                                                                                
Airports: 4 total, 3 usable; 2 with permanent-surface runways;                  
none with runways over 3,659 m; 1 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 1 with            
runways 1,220-2,439 m                                                           
                                                                                
Telecommunications: poor system with adequate government services;              
international communications from Bata and Malabo to African and European       
countries; 2,000 telephones; stations--2 AM, no FM, 1 TV; 1 Indian Ocean        
INTELSAT earth station                                                          
                                                                                
DEFENSE FORCES                                                                  
Branches: Army, Navy, Air Force, National Guard, National Police                
                                                                                
Manpower availability: males 15-49, 79,641; 40,369 fit for military             
service                                                                         
                                                                                
Defense expenditures: $NA, 11% of GNP (FY81 est.)                               
                                                                                
