192-Part Guide To The World: Equatorial Guinea

By Jeremy Atiyah

Published: 30 June 2000

Official name: Republic of Equatorial Guinea.
Official name: Republic of Equatorial Guinea.
Location: On the west coast of Africa, between Cameroon and Gabon, in the Gulf of Guinea. One of only two non-island countries whose capital city is located on an off-shore island; the other is Denmark.
Size: 28,100 square kilometres, which makes it only slightly smaller than Belgium.Population: No exact figures but probably not greater than 400,000. About a third of the population fled the country during the despotism of the late 1970s and few have returned.
Language: Officially Spanish, but various Bantu languages are spoken. On the mainland, where the Fang people predominate, Ntumi is spoken to the north of the Rio Benito and Okak to the south. On the island of Bioko - formerly known as Fernando Poo - Bubi people speak their own Bantu dialects.
National dish: Various fish dishes, though this diet was severely jeopardised after President Macias Nguema confiscated the nation's canoes in order to prevent citizens from fleeing his dictatorial rule.
Best monument: The capital Bata, formerly Santa Isabel, which is mainly crumbling Spanish colonial architecture, including a cathedral built in 1916.
Most famous citizen: Former president Macias Nguema Biyogo Negue Ndong - dictator for 10 years until 1979 - isn't famous, but after his execution he was memorably described by his nephew as "an envoy of the devil and president of sorcerers".
Best moment in history: Perhaps the most riveting was the allegation made in some British papers that the novelist Frederick Forsyth had attempted a coup against President Macias Nguema in 1970, on the supposition that 12 mercenaries and 50 soldiers from Biafra would suffice to control the country. The coup failed, but Forsyth's novel on the subject, The Dogs of War, was a bestseller.
Worst moment in history: When independence from Spain in 1968 was promptly followed by a 10-year reign of terror and economic chaos under Macias Nguema.
Essential accessory: An umbrella. Parts of the country receive more than 4,600mm of rain per year.
What not to do: Ask the locals what sort of art movement "Nguemism" is. It refers to the use of violence, torture, terror, rape and murder by the ruling Nguema family.
Official name: Republic of Equatorial Guinea.
Location: On the west coast of Africa, between Cameroon and Gabon, in the Gulf of Guinea. One of only two non-island countries whose capital city is located on an off-shore island; the other is Denmark.
Size: 28,100 square kilometres, which makes it only slightly smaller than Belgium.
Population: No exact figures but probably not greater than 400,000. About a third of the population fled the country during the despotism of the late 1970s and few have returned.
Language: Officially Spanish, but various Bantu languages are spoken. On the mainland, where the Fang people predominate, Ntumi is spoken to the north of the Rio Benito and Okak to the south. On the island of Bioko - formerly known as Fernando Poo - Bubi people speak their own Bantu dialects.
National dish: Various fish dishes, though this diet was severely jeopardised after President Macias Nguema confiscated the nation's canoes in order to prevent citizens from fleeing his dictatorial rule.
Best monument: The capital Bata, formerly Santa Isabel, which is mainly crumbling Spanish colonial architecture, including a cathedral built in 1916.
Most famous citizen: Former president Macias Nguema Biyogo Negue Ndong - dictator for 10 years until 1979 - isn't famous, but after his execution he was memorably described by his nephew as "an envoy of the devil and president of sorcerers".
Best moment in history: Perhaps the most riveting was the allegation made in some British papers that the novelist Frederick Forsyth had attempted a coup against President Macias Nguema in 1970, on the supposition that 12 mercenaries and 50 soldiers from Biafra would suffice to control the country. The coup failed, but Forsyth's novel on the subject, The Dogs of War, was a bestseller.
Worst moment in history: When independence from Spain in 1968 was promptly followed by a 10-year reign of terror and economic chaos under Macias Nguema.
Essential accessory: An umbrella. Parts of the country receive more than 4,600mm of rain per year.
What not to do: Ask the locals what sort of art movement "Nguemism" is. It refers to the use of violence, torture, terror, rape and murder by the ruling Nguema family.