Equatorial Guinea occupies 28,051 square kilometers split between a continental region and five islands in the Gulf of Guinea. Río Muni contains 26,000 square kilometers of mainland territory between Cameroon and Gabon. Bioko Island holds 2,017 square kilometers 40 kilometers off the Cameroonian coast. Annobón Island sits 670 kilometers southwest of Bioko in isolation. Corisco, Elobey Grande, and Elobey Chico complete the territorial inventory as small islands near the continental coast. Pico Basile rises 3,008 meters on Bioko as the country's highest point. The Muni River forms much of the eastern border with Gabon. The Wele River drains the northern section of Río Muni. Both the capital Malabo on Bioko and the largest city Bata in Río Muni experience equatorial climate with no distinct dry season.
Portuguese navigator Fernão do Pó reached Bioko Island in 1472 during exploration of the West African coast. Portugal claimed the island and named it Fernando Pó. Spain acquired the island and adjacent mainland rights from Portugal through the Treaty of El Pardo signed March 24, 1778. Spanish occupation remained minimal for decades. The Spanish did not establish sustained administrative presence in Río Muni until the 1920s. Colonial plantation economy on Fernando Pó depended on cocoa cultivation using contract labor brought from Nigeria and Liberia. Spain grouped these territories as Spanish Guinea. Spanish colonial administration intensified after the Spanish Civil War ended in 1939. The colonial government maintained Spanish as the sole official language and promoted Catholic conversion. Spain granted limited autonomy in 1963 with the creation of a local legislative body.
Equatorial Guinea gained independence from Spain on October 12, 1968. Francisco Macías Nguema won the presidential election held before independence and took office as the first president. The independence constitution established a democratic framework. Macías consolidated authoritarian control within months. He banned opposition parties in 1970. He declared himself president for life in 1972. The Macías government closed schools, banned private education, and expelled Nigerian contract workers from Bioko. Approximately 100,000 people fled the country between 1968 and 1979. The economy collapsed as cocoa production declined. Spain closed its embassy in 1976. Macías executed ten government officials on charges of treason in 1974. His nephew Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo led a coup d'état on August 3, 1979. The new government tried Macías for genocide and treason. A military tribunal sentenced him to death. Execution occurred by firing squad on September 29, 1979.
Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo has held the presidency since August 3, 1979. The government adopted a new constitution in 1982. The Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea became the sole legal party until 1991. The government legalized opposition parties in 1992 but maintained restrictive electoral practices. Presidential elections have occurred in 1989, 1996, 2002, 2009, 2016, and 2022. Obiang won each election with reported vote shares exceeding 93 percent. International observers have documented widespread irregularities. The government transferred the capital from Malabo to Oyala in Wele-Nzas Province on continental Río Muni. Construction of Oyala began in 2015. Official government functions moved to the new city in phases starting in 2017. Malabo retains many governmental offices. The constitution limits presidential terms to two but constitutional amendments in 2011 eliminated term limits.
Mobil discovered oil off Bioko Island in 1995. Production began in 1996. Petroleum output peaked at approximately 360,000 barrels per day in 2005. Revenue from oil transformed government finances. GDP per capita rose from under 400 dollars in 1990 to over 20,000 dollars by 2008. Production has declined since 2010 due to field depletion. Natural gas reserves in the Alba field supply methanol plants on Bioko. The oil sector employs few nationals. Most extraction activity concentrates offshore in blocks operated by international companies. The government receives revenue through production sharing agreements. Economic inequality remains extreme despite petroleum wealth. Infrastructure development concentrated in Malabo and Bata with limited rural investment.