Equatorial Guinea

Through the ages

Rivals in history

The kingdoms, empires and states Equatorial Guinea fought or stood against, from the first to today.

1. 🇪🇸 Kingdom of Spain1778 to 1969

   Spain's first expedition to Fernando Po, in 1778, was wrecked by disease and local resistance. Spain returned in the 1840s and ruled until 1968. Months after independence, a crisis with Macías drove most Spaniards out in 1969.

2. 🇬🇧 United Kingdom1827 to 1843

   Britain's navy used Fernando Po as its base against the Atlantic slave trade and built the town of Clarence, today's Malabo. Britain offered to buy the island, but Spain refused and reasserted its rule in 1843.

3. 🇫🇷 French Third Republic1885 to 1900

   France and Spain both claimed the mainland between the Campo and Gabon rivers. The Treaty of Paris of 1900 gave most of it to French Gabon and left Spain only the rectangle of Río Muni.

4. 🇬🇦 Gabon1972 to 2025

   Gabonese troops occupied the islet of Mbanié, in Corisco Bay, in 1972, and oil raised the stakes. The two states took the case to the International Court of Justice, which ruled for Equatorial Guinea in May 2025.

Today

Equatorial Guinea now

Equatorial Guinea consists of a continental territory and five inhabited islands; it is one of the smallest countries by area and population in Africa. The mainland region was most likely predominantly inhabited by Pygmy ethnic groups prior to the migration of various Bantu-speaking ethnic groups around the second millennium BC. C. In the early 1470s, Portuguese explorers landed on Bioko Island, and Portugal soon after established control of the island and other areas of modern Equatorial Guinea.

Capital

Ciudad de la Paz

Government

presidential republic

Head of government

Manuel Osa Nsue Nsua

Head of state

Teodoro Obiang

Languages

Portuguese, French, Spanish

Area

28,052 km²

Through time

Then and now

• Population1.8 million2023 · 226,600 in 1950
• Life expectancy63.7 years2023 · 40.1 years in 1950
• GDP per person$22,7072022 · $797 in 1950
• Living in cities72%2025 · 16% in 1950
• Literacy88%2000 · 23% in 1950
• Political regimeElectoral autocracy2025 · Closed autocracy in 1950
• Military alliancesNone of these2024 · None of these in 1950
• Military spending0.9% of GDP2025
• War deathsNone2025

Population: HYDE 3.3, Gapminder and UN WPP. GDP per capita: Maddison Project Database 2023. Urban share: UN WPP. Life expectancy: Riley, HMD, UN WPP. Literacy: OWID historical estimates, World Bank, UNESCO. Military spending: SIPRI. War deaths: UCDP. Political regime: V-Dem, Regimes of the World. All via Our World in Data (CC BY 4.0). Alliances and organization memberships: compiled by Atlas. Satellites in orbit: CelesTrak SATCAT. Modern borders, backcast.

Relations

Close partners and tensions

Summarised from World Bank and Wikipedia data, updated 23 October 2026.