Country Facts - Equatorial Guinea

The People

Nationality

Equatorial Guinean(s) or Equatoguinean(s)

Ethnic Composition

Bioko (primarily Bubi, some Fernandinos), Rio Muni (primarily Fang), Europeans less than 1,000, mostly Spanish

Religious Composition

Nominally Christian and predominantly Roman Catholic, some pagan practices.

Languages Spoken

Spanish (official), French (official), pidgin English, Fang, Bubi, Ibo

Education and Literacy

Adult literacy remains at 78.5 percent.

Labor Force

Information not currently available.

Geography

Land Mass Total

10,830 sq mi (28,051 sq km)

Land

10,830 sq mi (28,051 sq km)

Water

0 sq mi (0 sq km)

Land Boundaries

Total: 334 mi (539 km)
Border countries: Cameroon 117 mi (189 km), Gabon 217 mi (350 km)

Coastline

183 mi (296 km)

Maritime claim

Exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
Territorial sea: 12 nm

Climate/Weather

Tropical; always hot, humid.

Terrain

Coastal plains rise to interior hills; islands are volcanic.

Elevation extremes

Lowest: Atlantic Ocean 0 ft (0 m)
Highest: Pico Basile 9,868 ft (3,008 m)

Natural Resources

Oil, petroleum, timber, small unexploited deposits of gold, manganese, uranium.

Land use

Arable land	5%
Permanent crops	3%
Other	92%

(1998)

Natural hazards

Violent windstorms, flash floods.

Environment - current issues

Tap water is not potable; deforestation.

Geography Note

Insular and continental regions rather widely separated.

Demographics

Population

498,144 (July 2002)

Age structure

0-14 years:	42.4%	Male: 106,061	Female: 105,071
15-64 years:	53.8%	Male: 128,489	Female: 139,732
65 years and over:	3.8%	Male: 8,385	Female: 10,406

(2002)

Growth Rate

2.45% (2002)

Life Expectancy

54.35 years (2002)
female: 56.5 years
male: 52.26 years

GDP Per Capita

Purchasing power parity
US$2,100 (2001)

Infant Mortality

90.96 deaths/1,000 live births (2002)

Sex ratio

At birth:	1.03 male(s)/female
Under 15 years:	1.01 male(s)/female
15-64 years:	0.92 male(s)/female
65 years and over:	0.81 male(s)/female
Total population:	0.95 male(s)/female

Net migration rate

NEGL migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002)

Economy & Trade

The discovery and exploitation of large oil reserves have contributed to dramatic economic growth in recent years. Forestry, farming, and fishing are also major components of GDP. Subsistence farming predominates. 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. No longer eligible for concessional financing because of large oil revenues, the government has been unsuccessfully trying to agree on a "shadow" fiscal management program with the World Bank and IMF. Government officials and their family members own most businesses. Undeveloped natural resources include titanium, iron ore, manganese, uranium, and alluvial gold. Boosts in production and higher world oil prices stimulated growth in 2002, with oil accounting for 90 percent of increased exports. GDP growth was 6 percent in 2001 and only slightly higher at 6.1 percent in 2002 with prospects that similar growth rates will be in store for the next three years.

Unemployment

30% (1998)

Inflation Rate

6% (2001)

Industries

Petroleum, fishing, sawmilling, natural gas.

Exports

US$2.1 billion (f.o.b., 2001)

Imports

US$736 million (f.o.b., 2001)

Total Trade

Purchasing power parity
GDP US$1.04 billion (2001)

Top Export Partners

China 24%, Japan 7%, US 7%, South Korea 5% (1999)

Top Import Partners

US 60%, France 12%, Spain 8%, Italy 6% (1999)

Top Exports

Petroleum, timber, cocoa.

Top Imports

Petroleum sector equipment, manufactured goods and equipment

Industries

Petroleum, fishing, sawmilling, natural gas.

Debt - external

US$225 million (2000)

Economic aid

Recipient: US$33.8 million (1995)

Fiscal Year:

January 1 to December 31

Business Workweek

	Monday - Friday	Saturday - Sunday
Offices	8a.m. to 3p.m.	Closed
Retail	8a.m. to 1p.m. and 4p.m. to 7p.m.	Saturday 8a.m. to 1p.m. and 4p.m. to 7p.m. Closed Sunday
Banks	8a.m. to noon.	Saturday 8a.m. to noon, closed Sunday.
Government	8:30a.m. to 3p.m.	Saturday 8:30a.m. to noon (every other Saturday 10a.m. to noon). Closed Sunday.

Holidays

Official Holidays

Holidays	2003	2004	2005
New Year's Day	January 1	January 1	January 1
Good Friday	April 18	April 9	March 25
Easter¹	April 20	April 11	March 27
May Day	May 1	May 1	May 1
OAU Day	May 25	May 25	May 25
Corpus Christi²	June 19	June 10	May 26
President's Birthday	June 5	June 10	June 10
Constitution Day	August 15	August 15	August 15
Independence Day	October 12	October 12	October 12
Human Rights Day	December 10	December 10	December 10
Christmas Day³	December 25	December 25	December 25

¹	Easter, a Christian holiday celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ, is the first Sunday after the full moon and the vernal equinox (fixed in the Gregorian calendar at March 21), and often observed with Good Friday and Easter Monday. In the West, Easter is predicted using the Gregorian calendar, while Eastern Orthodox Christians use the much older Julian calendar, and celebrate 13 days later.
²	Western Catholic feast commorating the Eucharist, takes place 60 days after Easter, and is typically the time when believers take their first communion.
³	Christmas celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ. In A.D.320, Pope Julius I fixed the date at December 25 based on the Gregorian calendar. The Orthodox church calculates Christmas using the Julian calendar and celebrates 13 days later on January 7.

Country information used by permission of World Trade Press