Equatorial Guinea (2002) | Sierra Leone (2001) | |
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Administrative divisions | 7 provinces (provincias, singular - provincia); Annobon, Bioko Norte, Bioko Sur, Centro Sur, Kie-Ntem, Litoral, Wele-Nzas | 3 provinces and 1 area*; Eastern, Northern, Southern, Western* |
Age structure | 0-14 years: 42.4% (male 106,061; female 105,071)
15-64 years: 53.8% (male 128,489; female 139,732) 65 years and over: 3.8% (male 8,385; female 10,406) (2002 est.) |
0-14 years:
44.73% (male 1,190,207; female 1,237,326) 15-64 years: 52.12% (male 1,351,455; female 1,477,155) 65 years and over: 3.15% (male 84,364; female 86,111) (2001 est.) |
Agriculture - products | coffee, cocoa, rice, yams, cassava (tapioca), bananas, palm oil nuts; livestock; timber | rice, coffee, cocoa, palm kernels, palm oil, peanuts; poultry, cattle, sheep, pigs; fish |
Airports | 3 (2001) | 11 (2000 est.) |
Airports - with paved runways | total: 2
2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 (2002) |
total:
1 over 3,047 m: 1 (2000 est.) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | total: 1
under 914 m: 1 (2002) |
total:
10 914 to 1,523 m: 7 under 914 m: 3 (2000 est.) |
Area | total: 28,051 sq km
land: 28,051 sq km water: 0 sq km |
total:
71,740 sq km land: 71,620 sq km water: 120 sq km |
Area - comparative | slightly smaller than Maryland | slightly smaller than South Carolina |
Background | Composed of a mainland portion and five inhabited islands, Equatorial Guinea gained independence in 1968 after 190 years of Spanish rule. The tiny country, one of the smallest on the African continent, has been ruled by President OBIANG NGUEM MBASOGO since he seized power in a coup in 1979. Although nominally a constitutional democracy since 1991, the 1996 and 2002 presidential elections - as well as the 1999 legislative elections - were widely seen as being flawed. | Since 1991, civil war between the government and the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths and the displacement of more than 2 million people (well over one-third of the population) many of whom are now refugees in neighboring countries. A peace agreement, signed in July 1999, collapsed in May 2000 after the RUF took over 500 UN peacekeepers hostage. The RUF stepped up attacks on Guinea in December 2000, despite a cease-fire that it signed with the Freetown government one month earlier. As of late 2000, up to 13,000 UN peacekeepers were protecting the capital and key towns in the south. A UK force of 750 was helping to reinforce security and train the Sierra Leone army. |
Birth rate | 37.33 births/1,000 population (2002 est.) | 45.11 births/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
Budget | revenues: $200 million
expenditures: $158 million, including capital expenditures of $NA (2001 est.) |
revenues:
$96 million expenditures: $351 million, including capital expenditures of $NA (2000 est.) |
Capital | Malabo | Freetown |
Climate | tropical; always hot, humid | tropical; hot, humid; summer rainy season (May to December); winter dry season (December to April) |
Coastline | 296 km | 402 km |
Constitution | approved by national referendum 17 November 1991; amended January 1995 | 1 October 1991; subsequently amended several times |
Country name | conventional long form: Republic of Equatorial Guinea
conventional short form: Equatorial Guinea local long form: Republica de Guinea Ecuatorial local short form: Guinea Ecuatorial former: Spanish Guinea |
conventional long form:
Republic of Sierra Leone conventional short form: Sierra Leone |
Currency | Communaute Financiere Africaine franc (XAF); note - responsible authority is the Bank of the Central African States | leone (SLL) |
Death rate | 12.83 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.) | 19.19 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
Debt - external | $225 million (2000 est.) | $1.28 billion (1999) |
Diplomatic representation from the US | chief of mission: Ambassador George McDade STAPLES; note - the US does not have an embassy in Equatorial Guinea (embassy closed September 1995); the US ambassador to Cameroon is accredited to Equatorial Guinea; the US State Department is considering opening a Consulate Agency in Malabo | chief of mission:
Ambassador Joseph H. MELROSE, Jr. embassy: Corner of Walpole and Siaka Stevens Streets, Freetown mailing address: use embassy street address telephone: [232] (22) 226481 through 226485 FAX: [232] (22) 225471 |
Diplomatic representation in the US | chief of mission: Ambassador Pastor Micha ONDO BILE
chancery: 2020 16th Street NW, Washington, DC 20009 telephone: [1] (202) 518-5700 FAX: [1] (202) 528-5252 |
chief of mission:
Ambassador John Ernest LEIGH chancery: 1701 19th Street NW, Washington, DC 20009 telephone: [1] (202) 939-9261 through 9263 FAX: [1] (202) 483-1793 |
Disputes - international | tripartite maritime boundary and economic zone dispute with Cameroon and Nigeria is currently before the ICJ; maritime boundary dispute with Gabon because of disputed sovereignty over islands in Corisco Bay | civil war has engendered massive refugee movements into neighboring Guinea and Liberia |
Economic aid - recipient | $33.8 million (1995) (1995) | $203.7 million (1995) |
Economy - overview | The discovery and exploitation of large oil reserves have contributed to dramatic economic growth in recent years. Forestry, farming, and fishing are also major components of GDP. Subsistence farming predominates. Although pre-independence Equatorial Guinea counted on cocoa production for hard currency earnings, the neglect of the rural economy under successive regimes has diminished potential for agriculture-led growth (the government has stated its intention to reinvest some oil revenue into agriculture). A number of aid programs sponsored by the World Bank and the IMF have been cut off since 1993 because of corruption and mismanagement. No longer eligible for concessional financing because of large oil revenues, the government has been unsuccessfully trying to agree on a "shadow" fiscal management program with the World Bank and IMF. Businesses, for the most part, are owned by government officials and their family members. Undeveloped natural resources include titanium, iron ore, manganese, uranium, and alluvial gold. Boosts in production and higher world oil prices stimulated growth in 2002, with oil accounting for 90% of increased exports. | Sierra Leone is an extremely poor African nation with tremendous inequality in income distribution. It does have substantial mineral, agricultural, and fishery resources. However, the economic and social infrastructure is not well developed, and serious social disorders continue to hamper economic development. About two-thirds of the working-age population engages in subsistence agriculture. Manufacturing consists mainly of the processing of raw materials and of light manufacturing for the domestic market. Bauxite and rutile mines have been shut down by civil strife. The major source of hard currency is found in the mining of diamonds, the large majority of which are smuggled out of the country. The resurgence of internal warfare in 1999 brought another substantial drop in GDP, with GNP recovering part of the way in 2000. The fate of the economy depends upon the maintenance of domestic peace and the continued receipt of substantial aid from abroad. |
Electricity - consumption | 20.46 million kWh (2000) | 223.2 million kWh (1999) |
Electricity - exports | 0 kWh (2000) | 0 kWh (1999) |
Electricity - imports | 0 kWh (2000) | 0 kWh (1999) |
Electricity - production | 22 million kWh (2000) | 240 million kWh (1999) |
Electricity - production by source | fossil fuel: 91%
hydro: 9% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (2000) |
fossil fuel:
100% hydro: 0% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (1999) |
Elevation extremes | lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m
highest point: Pico Basile 3,008 m |
lowest point:
Atlantic Ocean 0 m highest point: Loma Mansa (Bintimani) 1,948 m |
Environment - current issues | tap water is not potable; deforestation | rapid population growth pressuring the environment; overharvesting of timber, expansion of cattle grazing, and slash-and-burn agriculture have resulted in deforestation and soil exhaustion; civil war depleting natural resources; overfishing |
Environment - international agreements | party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Law of the Sea, Ship Pollution
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements |
party to:
Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Law of the Sea, Marine Life Conservation, Nuclear Test Ban, Wetlands signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements |
Ethnic groups | Bioko (primarily Bubi, some Fernandinos), Rio Muni (primarily Fang), Europeans less than 1,000, mostly Spanish | 20 native African tribes 90% (Temne 30%, Mende 30%, other 30%), Creole 10% (descendants of freed Jamaican slaves who were settled in the Freetown area in the late-18th century), refugees from Liberia's recent civil war, small numbers of Europeans, Lebanese, Pakistanis, and Indians |
Exchange rates | Communaute Financiere Africaine francs (XAF) per US dollar - 742.79 (January 2002), 733.04 (2001), 711.98 (2000), 615.70 (1999), 589.95 (1998), 583.67 (1997); note - from 1 January 1999, the XAF is pegged to the euro at a rate of 655.957 XAF per euro | leones per US dollar - 1,653.39 (January 2001), 2,092.13 (2000), 1,804.20 (1999), 1,563.62 (1998), 981.48 (1997), 920.73 (1996) |
Executive branch | chief of state: President Brig. Gen. (Ret.) Teodoro OBIANG NGUEMA MBASOGO (since 3 August 1979 when he seized power in a military coup)
head of government: Prime Minister Candido Muatetema RIVAS (since 26 February 2001); First Deputy Prime Minister Miguel OYONO NDONG (since NA January 1998); Deputy Prime Minister Demetrio Elo NDONG NZE FUMU (since NA January 1998) cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the president elections: president elected by popular vote for a seven-year term; election last held 15 December 2002 (next to be held NA December 2009); prime minister and deputy prime ministers appointed by the president election results: Teodoro OBIANG NGUEMA MBASOGO reelected president; percent of vote - Teodoro OBIANG NGUEMA MBASOGO 97.1%, Celestino Bonifacio BACALE 2.2%; elections marred by widespread fraud |
chief of state:
President Ahmad Tejan KABBAH (since 29 March 1996, reinstated 10 March 1998); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government head of government: President Ahmad Tejan KABBAH (since 29 March 1996, reinstated 10 March 1998); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government cabinet: Ministers of State appointed by the president with the approval of the House of Representatives; the cabinet is responsible to the president elections: president elected by popular vote for a five-year term; election held 26-27 February and 15 March 1996 (next to be held NA September 2001); note - president's tenure of office is limited to two five-year terms election results: Ahmad Tejan KABBAH elected president; percent of vote - Ahmad Tejan KABBAH (SLPP) 59.5%, John KAREFA-SMART (UNPP) 40.5% |
Exports | $2.1 billion f.o.b. (2001 est.) | $65 million (f.o.b., 2000 est.) |
Exports - commodities | petroleum, timber, cocoa | diamonds, rutile, cocoa, coffee, fish |
Exports - partners | China 24%, Japan 7%, US 7%, South Korea 5% (1999) | Belgium 38%, US 6%, Italy 4%, UK 4% (1999) |
Fiscal year | 1 January - 31 December | calendar year |
Flag description | 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) | three equal horizontal bands of light green (top), white, and light blue |
GDP | purchasing power parity - $1.04 billion (2001 est.) | purchasing power parity - $2.7 billion (2000 est.) |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: 20%
industry: 60% services: 20% (1999 est.) |
agriculture:
43% industry: 26% services: 31% (1999) |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $2,100 (2001 est.) | purchasing power parity - $510 (2000 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | 6% (2001 est.) | 4.2% (2000 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 2 00 N, 10 00 E | 8 30 N, 11 30 W |
Geography - note | insular and continental regions rather widely separated | - |
Heliports | - | 1 (2000 est.) |
Highways | total: 2,880 km
paved: 0 km unpaved: 2,880 km (1996) |
total:
11,300 km paved: 904 km unpaved: 10,396 km (1997) |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA% |
lowest 10%:
0.5% highest 10%: 43.6% (1989) |
Imports | $736 million f.o.b. (2001) | $145 million (f.o.b., 2000 est.) |
Imports - commodities | petroleum sector equipment, manufactured goods and equipment | foodstuffs, machinery and equipment, fuels and lubricants, chemicals |
Imports - partners | US 60%, France 12%, Spain 8%, Italy 6% (1999) | UK 34%, US 8%, Italy 7%, Nigeria 5% (1999) |
Independence | 12 October 1968 (from Spain) | 27 April 1961 (from UK) |
Industrial production growth rate | 7.4% (1994 est.) | NA% |
Industries | petroleum, fishing, sawmilling, natural gas | mining (diamonds); small-scale manufacturing (beverages, textiles, cigarettes, footwear); petroleum refining |
Infant mortality rate | 90.96 deaths/1,000 live births (2002 est.) | 146.52 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 6% (2001 est.) | 15% (2000 est.) |
International organization participation | ACCT, ACP, AfDB, BDEAC, CEEAC, CEMAC, ECA, FAO, FZ, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, ITU, NAM, OAS (observer), OAU, OPCW, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WToO, WTrO (applicant) | ACP, AfDB, C, CCC, ECA, ECOWAS, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Intelsat (nonsignatory user), Interpol, IOC, ITU, NAM, OAU, OIC, OPCW, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | 1 (2002) | 1 (2000) |
Irrigated land | NA sq km | 290 sq km (1993 est.) |
Judicial branch | Supreme Tribunal | Supreme Court; Appeals Court; High Court |
Labor force | NA | 1.369 million (1981 est.)
note: only about 65,000 wage earners (1985) |
Labor force - by occupation | - | agriculture NA%, industry NA%, services NA% |
Land boundaries | total: 539 km
border countries: Cameroon 189 km, Gabon 350 km |
total:
958 km border countries: Guinea 652 km, Liberia 306 km |
Land use | arable land: 4.63%
permanent crops: 3.57% other: 91.8% (1998 est.) |
arable land:
7% permanent crops: 1% permanent pastures: 31% forests and woodland: 28% other: 33% (1993 est.) |
Languages | Spanish (official), French (official), pidgin English, Fang, Bubi, Ibo | English (official, regular use limited to literate minority), Mende (principal vernacular in the south), Temne (principal vernacular in the north), Krio (English-based Creole, spoken by the descendants of freed Jamaican slaves who were settled in the Freetown area, a lingua franca and a first language for 10% of the population but understood by 95%) |
Legal system | partly based on Spanish civil law and tribal custom | based on English law and customary laws indigenous to local tribes; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction |
Legislative branch | unicameral House of People's Representatives or Camara de Representantes del Pueblo (80 seats; members directly elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms)
elections: last held 7 March 1999 (next to be held NA March 2004) election results: percent of vote by party - PDGE 80%, UP 6%, CPDS 5%; seats by party - PDGE 75, UP 4 and CPDS 1 note: opposition parties have refused to take up their seats in the House to protest widespread irregularities in the 1999 legislative elections |
unicameral House of Representatives (80 seats - 68 elected by popular vote, 12 filled by paramount chiefs elected in separate elections; members serve five-year terms)
elections: last held 26-27 February 1996 (next to be held NA 2001) election results: percent of vote by party - SLPP 36.1%, UNPP 21.6%, PDP 15.3%, APC 5.7%, NUP 5.3%, DCP 4.8%, other 11.2%; seats by party - SLPP 27, UNPP 17, PDP 12, APC 5, NUP 4, DCP 3; note - first elections since the former House of Representatives was shut down by the military coup of 29 April 1992 |
Life expectancy at birth | total population: 54.35 years
male: 52.26 years female: 56.5 years (2002 est.) |
total population:
45.6 years male: 42.69 years female: 48.61 years (2001 est.) |
Literacy | definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 78.5% male: 89.6% female: 68.1% (1995 est.) |
definition:
age 15 and over can read and write English, Mende, Temne, or Arabic total population: 31.4% male: 45.4% female: 18.2% (1995 est.) |
Location | Western Africa, bordering the Bight of Biafra, between Cameroon and Gabon | Western Africa, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, between Guinea and Liberia |
Map references | Africa | Africa |
Maritime claims | exclusive economic zone: 200 NM
territorial sea: 12 NM |
territorial sea:
200 NM continental shelf: 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation |
Merchant marine | total: 6 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 14,413 GRT/16,251 DWT
ships by type: bulk 1, cargo 3, passenger 1, passenger/cargo 1 (2002 est.) |
total:
1 ship (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 2,057 GRT/3,498 DWT ships by type: cargo 1 (2000 est.) |
Military branches | Army, Navy, Air Force, Rapid Intervention Force, National Police | Army |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | $27.5 million (FY01) | $46 million (FY96/97) |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | 2.5% (FY01) | 2% (FY96/97) |
Military manpower - availability | males age 15-49: 112,664 (2002 est.) | males age 15-49:
1,161,790 (2001 est.) |
Military manpower - fit for military service | males age 15-49: 57,194 (2002 est.) | males age 15-49:
563,631 (2001 est.) |
National holiday | Independence Day, 12 October (1968) | Independence Day, 27 April (1961) |
Nationality | noun: Equatorial Guinean(s) or Equatoguinean(s)
adjective: Equatorial Guinean or Equatoguinean |
noun:
Sierra Leonean(s) adjective: Sierra Leonean |
Natural hazards | violent windstorms, flash floods | dry, sand-laden harmattan winds blow from the Sahara (December to February); sandstorms, dust storms |
Natural resources | oil, petroleum, timber, small unexploited deposits of gold, manganese, uranium | diamonds, titanium ore, bauxite, iron ore, gold, chromite |
Net migration rate | NEGL migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002 est.) | 10.23 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.)
note: by the end of 1999 refugees from Sierra Leone are assumed to be returning |
Political parties and leaders | Convergence Party for Social Democracy or CPDS [Placido MIKO Abogo]; Democratic Party for Equatorial Guinea or PDGE (ruling party) [Teodoro OBIANG NGUEMA MBASOGO]; Party for Progress of Equatorial Guinea or PPGE [Severo MOTO]; Popular Action of Equatorial Guinea or APGE [Miguel Esono EMAN]; Popular Union or UP [Andres Moises Bda ADA]; Progressive Democratic Alliance or ADP [Victorino Bolekia BONAY]; Union of Independent Democrats of UDI [Daniel OYONO] | All People's Congress or APC [Edward Mohammed TURAY, chairman]; Democratic Centre Party or DCP [Adu Aiah KOROMA]; National Democratic Alliance or NDA [Amadu M. B. JALLOH]; National Republican Party or NRP [Sahr Stephen MAMBU]; National Unity Party or NUP [Dr. John KARIMU, chairman]; People's Democratic Party or PDP [Thaimu BANGURA, chairman]; People's Progressive Party or PPP [Abass Chernok BUNDU, chairman]; Revolutionary United Front Party or RUFP [Foday SANKOH, chairman]; Sierra Leone People's Party or SLPP [President Ahmad Tejan KABBAH, chairman]; United National People's Party or UNPP [John KARIFA-SMART in exile, Raymond KAMARA, acting leader] |
Political pressure groups and leaders | NA | Trade Unions and Student Unions |
Population | 498,144 (July 2002 est.) | 5,426,618 (July 2001 est.) |
Population below poverty line | NA% | 68% (1989 est.) |
Population growth rate | 2.45% (2002 est.) | 3.61% (2001 est.) |
Ports and harbors | Bata, Luba, Malabo | Bonthe, Freetown, Pepel |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 0, FM 3, shortwave 5 (2002) | AM 1, FM 9, shortwave 1 (1999) |
Radios | 180,000 (1997) | 1.12 million (1997) |
Railways | total: 0 km | total:
84 km used on a limited basis because the mine at Marampa is closed narrow gauge: 84 km 1.067-m gauge |
Religions | nominally Christian and predominantly Roman Catholic, pagan practices | Muslim 60%, indigenous beliefs 30%, Christian 10% |
Sex ratio | at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.01 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.92 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.81 male(s)/female total population: 0.95 male(s)/female (2002 est.) |
at birth:
1.03 male(s)/female under 15 years: 0.96 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.91 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.98 male(s)/female total population: 0.94 male(s)/female (2001 est.) |
Suffrage | 18 years of age; universal adult | 18 years of age; universal |
Telephone system | general assessment: poor system with adequate government services
domestic: NA international: international communications from Bata and Malabo to African and European countries; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Indian Ocean) |
general assessment:
marginal telephone and telegraph service domestic: national microwave radio relay trunk system, made unserviceable by military activities, is now operating from Freetown to Bo and Kenema (April 2001) international: satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) |
Telephones - main lines in use | 6,000 (1998) | 17,000 (1997) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 300 (1998) | 650 (1999) |
Television broadcast stations | 1 (2002) | 2 (1999) |
Terrain | coastal plains rise to interior hills; islands are volcanic | coastal belt of mangrove swamps, wooded hill country, upland plateau, mountains in east |
Total fertility rate | 4.81 children born/woman (2002 est.) | 6.01 children born/woman (2001 est.) |
Unemployment rate | 30% (1998 est.) | NA% |
Waterways | none | 800 km (of which 600 km navigable year round) |