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Communications

Airports [time series]

3 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

Civil air [time series]

1 major transport aircraft

Roadways (Highways) [time series]

Rio Muni - 2,460 km; Bioko - 300 km

Merchant marine [time series]

2 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 6,413 GRT/6,699 DWT; includes 1 cargo and 1 passenger-cargo

Ports [time series]

Malabo, Bata

Telecommunication systems (Telecommunications) [time series]

poor system with adequate government services; international communications from Bata and Malabo to African and European countries; 2,000 telephones; broadcast stations - 2 AM, no FM, 1 TV; 1 Indian Ocean INTELSAT earth station

Defense Forces

Military and security forces (Branches) [time series]

Army, Navy, Air Force, National Guard, National Police

Military expenditures (Defense expenditures) [time series]

exchange rate conversion - $NA, NA% of GNP

Manpower availability [time series]

males 15-49, 81,850; 41,528 fit for military service

Economy

Agricultural products (Agriculture) [time series]

cash crops - timber and coffee from Rio Muni, cocoa from Bioko; food crops - rice, yams, cassava, bananas, oil palm nuts, manioc, livestock

Budget [time series]

revenues $27 million; expenditures $29 million, including capital expenditures of NA (1990 est.)

Exchange rates (Currency) [time series]

Communaute Financiere Africaine franc (plural - francs); 1 CFA franc (CFAF) = 100 centimes

Economic aid [time series]

US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY81-89), $14 million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-89) $130 million; Communist countries (1970-89), $55 million

Electricity [time series]

23,000 kW capacity; 60 million kWh produced, 160 kWh per capita (1991)

Exchange rates [time series]

Communaute Financiere Africaine francs (CFAF) per US$1 - 269.01 (January 1992), 282.11 (1991), 272.26 (1990), 319.01 (1989), 297.85 (1988), 300.54 (1987)

Exports [time series]

$37 million (f.o.b., 1990 est.) commodities: coffee, timber, cocoa beans partners: Spain 38.2%, Italy 12.2%, Netherlands 11.4%, FRG 6.9%, Nigeria 12.4 (1988)

Debt - external (External debt) [time series]

$213 million (1990)

Fiscal year [time series]

1 April - 31 March

Real GDP (purchasing power parity) (GDP) [time series]

exchange rate conversion - $156 million, per capita $400; real growth rate 1.6% (1988 est.)

Illicit drugs [time series]

transshipment point for illicit drugs from Central and Southwest Asia to Western Europe

Imports [time series]

$68.3 million (c.i.f., 1990) commodities: petroleum, food, beverages, clothing, machinery partners: France 25.9%, Spain 21.0%, Italy 16%, US 12.8%, Netherlands 8%, Germany 3.1%, Gabon 2.9%, Nigeria 1.8 (1988)

Industrial production growth rate (Industrial production) [time series]

growth rate - 6.8% (1990 est.)

Industries [time series]

fishing, sawmilling

Inflation rate (consumer prices) [time series]

3.6% (1990 est.)

Economic overview (Overview) [time series]

The economy, destroyed during the regime of former President Macias NGUEMA, is now based on agriculture, forestry, and fishing, which account for about half of GDP 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 8% of GDP and the construction, public works, and service sectors for about 38%. 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.

Unemployment rate [time series]

NA%

Geography

Climate [time series]

tropical; always hot, humid

Coastline [time series]

296 km

Area - comparative (Comparative area) [time series]

slightly larger than Maryland

Disputes - international (Disputes) [time series]

maritime boundary dispute with Gabon because of disputed sovereignty over islands in Corisco Bay

Environment - current issues (Environment) [time series]

subject to violent windstorms

Area (Land area) [time series]

28,050 km2

Land boundaries [time series]

539 km; Cameroon 189 km, Gabon 350 km

Land use [time series]

arable land 8%; permanent crops 4%; meadows and pastures 4%; forest and woodland 51%; other 33%

Maritime claims [time series]

Exclusive economic zone: 200 nm Territorial sea: 12 nm

Natural resources [time series]

timber, crude oil, small unexploited deposits of gold, manganese, uranium

Note [time series]

insular and continental regions rather widely separated

Terrain [time series]

coastal plains rise to interior hills; islands are volcanic

Area (Total area) [time series]

28,050 km2

Government

Administrative divisions [time series]

7 provinces (provincias, singular - provincia); Annobon, Bioko Norte, Bioko Sur, Centro Sur, Kie-Ntem, Litoral, Wele-Nzas

Capital [time series]

Malabo

Constitution [time series]

new constitution 17 November 1991

Diplomatic representation in the US (Diplomatic representation) [time series]

Ambassador Damaso OBIANG NDONG; Chancery (temporary) 57 Magnolia Avenue, Mount Vernon, NY 10553; telephone (914) 667-9664 US: Ambassador John E. BENNETT; Embassy at Calle de Los Ministros, Malabo (mailing address is P.O. Box 597, Malabo); telephone [240] (9) 2185, 2406, 2507; FAX [240] (9) 2164

Executive branch (Elections) [time series]

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 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

Executive branch [time series]

president, prime minister, deputy prime minister, Council of Ministers (cabinet)

Flag [time series]

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)

Independence [time series]

12 October 1968 (from Spain; formerly Spanish Guinea)

Judicial branch [time series]

Supreme Tribunal

Executive branch (Leaders) [time series]

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)

Legal system [time series]

partly based on Spanish civil law and tribal custom

Legislative branch [time series]

unicameral House of Representatives of the People (Camara de Representantes del Pueblo)

Country name (Long-form name) [time series]

Republic of Equatorial Guinea

International organization participation (Member of) [time series]

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

National holiday [time series]

Independence Day, 12 October (1968)

Political parties (Political parties and leaders) [time series]

only party - Democratic Party for Equatorial Guinea (PDGE), Brig. Gen. (Ret.) Teodoro OBIANG NGUEMA MBASOGO, party leader; multipartyism legalized in new constitution of November 1991, promulgated January 1992

Suffrage [time series]

universal adult at age NA

Government type (Type) [time series]

republic in transition to multiparty democracy

People

Birth rate [time series]

42 births/1,000 population (1992)

Death rate [time series]

15 deaths/1,000 population (1992)

Ethnic groups (Ethnic divisions) [time series]

indigenous population of Bioko, primarily Bubi, some Fernandinos; Rio Muni, primarily Fang; less than 1,000 Europeans, mostly Spanish

Infant mortality rate [time series]

107 deaths/1,000 live births (1992)

Labor force [time series]

172,000 (1986 est.); agriculture 66%, services 23%, industry 11% (1980); labor shortages on plantations; 58% of population of working age (1985)

Languages [time series]

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

Life expectancy at birth [time series]

49 years male, 53 years female (1992)

Literacy [time series]

50% (male 64%, female 37%) age 15 and over can read and write (1990 est.)

Nationality [time series]

noun - Equatorial Guinean(s) or Equatoguinean(s); adjective - Equatorial Guinean or Equatoguinean

Net migration rate [time series]

0 migrants/1,000 population (1992)

Organized labor [time series]

no formal trade unions

Population [time series]

388,799 (July 1992), growth rate 2.6% (1992)

Religions [time series]

natives all nominally Christian and predominantly Roman Catholic; some pagan practices retained

Total fertility rate [time series]

5.4 children born/woman (1992)