_#_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.)
_%_
_@_Ethiopia
_*_Geography
_#_Total area: 1,221,900 km2; land area: 1,101,000 km2
_#_Comparative area: slightly less than twice the size of Texas
_#_Land boundaries: 5,141 km total; Djibouti 459 km, Kenya 861 km,
Somalia 1,600 km, Sudan 2,221 km
_#_Coastline: 1,094 km
_#_Maritime claims: