Equatorial Guinea: Africa's Only Spanish-Speaking Country
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Equatorial Guinea is the only country in Africa where Spanish is an official language — a consequence of Spanish colonial rule from the late 18th century to independence in 1968. It is also one of the few African countries with territory both on the mainland and on islands: Bioko Island in the Gulf of Guinea, where the capital Malabo is located, and the mainland enclave of Río Muni, separated by Cameroonian territory and by water. The country has three official languages — Spanish, French, and Portuguese — making it the only country in the world with all three as official languages.
Oil was discovered in significant quantities in the 1990s and transformed Equatorial Guinea's economy with extraordinary speed. The country became sub-Saharan Africa's third largest oil producer, and GDP per capita rose to levels comparable to some European countries. The wealth distribution that followed was extremely unequal, and human development indicators — health, education, poverty rates — did not reflect the oil revenues in the way economists would predict.
The Bubi people of Bioko Island and the Fang people of the mainland are the two dominant ethnic groups, each with distinct cultural traditions. The Bubi maintained their island culture through centuries of relative isolation. The Fang, who inhabit the dense rainforest of the mainland, have a rich tradition of visual art — particularly the byeri, reliquary figures placed on boxes containing the skulls of ancestors, which influenced Pablo Picasso and other early modernist artists who encountered them in European collections.
