Current Environmental Issues: tap water is not potable; deforestation

Geography

Source: CIA

Location: Western Africa, bordering the Bight of Biafra, between Cameroon and Gabon

Geographic Coordinates: 2 00 N, 10 00 E

Area:

total: 28,051 sq km
land: 28,051 sq km
water: 0 sq km

Land Boundaries:

total: 539 km
border countries: Cameroon 189 km, Gabon 350 km

Coastline: 296 km

Maritime Claims:

territorial sea: 12 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm

Natural Hazards: violent windstorms, flash floods

Terrain

Coastal plains rise to interior hills; islands are volcanic

Elevation Extremes:

lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m
highest point: Pico Basile 3,008 m

Climate

Tropical; always hot, humid

Government

Type: Republic

Capital: Malabo

Independence Date: 12 October 1968 (from Spain)

Legal System: partly based on Spanish civil law and tribal custom; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal

International Agreement

Environmental-international Agreement:

party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

People and Society

Population: 616,459 (July 2008 est.)

Age Structure:

0-14 years: 42% (male 131,696/female 127,253)
15-64 years: 53.8% (male 162,458/female 169,445)
65 years and over: 4.2% (male 11,394/female 14,213) (2008 est.)

Population Growth Rate: 2.732% (2008 est.)

Birthrate: 37.04 births/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Deathrate: 9.72 deaths/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Net Migration Rate: NA

Life Expectancy at Birth:

total population: 61.23 years
male: 60.36 years
female: 62.13 years (2008 est.)

Total Fertility Rate: 5.16 children born/woman (2008 est.)

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

Literacy:

definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 87%
male: 93.4%
female: 80.5% (2000 est.)

Water

Total Renewable Water Resources: 26 cu km (2001)

Freshwater Withdrawal:

total: 0.11 cu km/yr (83%/16%/1%)
per capita: 220 cu m/yr (2000)

Agriculture

Agricultural Products: coffee, cocoa, rice, yams, cassava (tapioca), bananas, palm oil nuts; livestock; timber

Irrigated Land: NA

Resources

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

Land Use:

arable land: 4.63%
permanent crops: 3.57%
other: 91.8% (2005)

Energy

Health

Prevalence of HIV/AIDS Rate: 3.4% (2001 est.)

Major Infectious Disease:

degree of risk: very high
food or waterborne diseases: bacterial and protozoal diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever
vectorborne disease: malaria (2008)

Conflict

International Disputes: 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 delay final delimitation; UN urges 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

Trafficking in Persons:

current situation: Equatorial Guinea is primarily a destination country for children trafficked for the purpose of forced labor and possibly for the purpose of sexual exploitation; children have been trafficked from nearby countries for domestic servitude, market labor, ambulant vending, and possibly sexual exploitation; women may also be trafficked to Equatorial Guinea from Cameroon, Benin, other neighboring countries, and China for sexual exploitation
tier rating: Tier 2 Watch List - Equatorial Guinea is on the Tier 2 Watch List for its failure to provide evidence of increasing efforts to eliminate trafficking, particularly in the areas of prosecuting and convicting trafficking offenders and failing to formalize mechanisms to provide assistance to victims; although the government made some effort to enforce laws against child labor exploitation, it failed to report any trafficking prosecutions or convictions in 2007; the government continued to lack shelters or formal procedures for providing care to victims (2008)

Economy

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 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. Growth remained strong in 2007, led by oil.

GDP (purchasing power parity): $15.54 billion (2007 est.)

GDP (official exchange rate): $10.49 billion (2007 est.)

GDP - real growth rate: 12.4% (2007 est.)

GDP - per capita (PPP): $28,200 (2007 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:

agriculture: 2.9%
industry: 92.2%
services: 4.8% (2007 est.)

Population Below Poverty Line: NA%

Household Income or Consumption by Percentage Share:

lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA%

Industries: petroleum, fishing, sawmilling, natural gas

Exports: petroleum, methanol, timber, cocoa

Export Partners: China 22.4%, US 19.9%, Spain 13.4%, Taiwan 10.8%, France 7.3%, Japan 6.3%, Portugal 6.2% (2006)

Imports: petroleum sector equipment, other equipment

Import Partners: US 18.2%, Spain 12.7%, Cote d'Ivoire 11%, France 8.9%, South Korea 8.5%, China 7.1%, Italy 6.1%, UK 6% (2006)

Economic Aid Recipient: $39 million (2005)

Currency: Communaute Financiere Africaine franc (XAF)

Communications

Telephones main line in use: 10,000 (2005)

Telephones mobile/cellular: 220,000 (2007)

Radio Broadcast Stations: AM 0, FM 3, shortwave 5 (2001)

Television Broadcast Stations: 1 (2001)

Internet Hosts: 81 (2007)

Internet Users: 8,000 (2006)

Transportation

Airports: 5 (2007)

Pipelines: condensate 42 km; condensate/gas 5 km; gas 80 km; oil 54 km (2007)

Roadways: total: 2,880 km (2000)

Ports and Terminals: Bata, Malabo