Equatorial Guinea (2002) | Tuvalu (2007) | |
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Administrative divisions | 7 provinces (provincias, singular - provincia); Annobon, Bioko Norte, Bioko Sur, Centro Sur, Kie-Ntem, Litoral, Wele-Nzas | none |
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: 29.8% (male 1,821/female 1,752)
15-64 years: 65.2% (male 3,808/female 4,006) 65 years and over: 5% (male 227/female 378) (2007 est.) |
Agriculture - products | coffee, cocoa, rice, yams, cassava (tapioca), bananas, palm oil nuts; livestock; timber | coconuts; fish |
Airports | 3 (2001) | 1 (2007) |
Airports - with paved runways | total: 2
2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 (2002) |
- |
Airports - with unpaved runways | total: 1
under 914 m: 1 (2002) |
total: 1
1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 (2007) |
Area | total: 28,051 sq km
land: 28,051 sq km water: 0 sq km |
total: 26 sq km
land: 26 sq km water: 0 sq km |
Area - comparative | slightly smaller than Maryland | 0.1 times the size of Washington, DC |
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. | In 1974, ethnic differences within the British colony of the Gilbert and Ellice Islands caused the Polynesians of the Ellice Islands to vote for separation from the Micronesians of the Gilbert Islands. The following year, the Ellice Islands became the separate British colony of Tuvalu. Independence was granted in 1978. In 2000, Tuvalu negotiated a contract leasing its Internet domain name ".tv" for $50 million in royalties over a 12-year period. |
Birth rate | 37.33 births/1,000 population (2002 est.) | 22.43 births/1,000 population (2007 est.) |
Budget | revenues: $200 million
expenditures: $158 million, including capital expenditures of $NA (2001 est.) |
revenues: $22.78 million
expenditures: $14.23 million (2002) |
Capital | Malabo | name: Funafuti
geographic coordinates: 8 30 S, 179 12 E time difference: UTC+12 (17 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) note: administrative offices are located in Vaiaku Village on Fongafale Islet |
Climate | tropical; always hot, humid | tropical; moderated by easterly trade winds (March to November); westerly gales and heavy rain (November to March) |
Coastline | 296 km | 24 km |
Constitution | approved by national referendum 17 November 1991; amended January 1995 | 1 October 1978 |
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: none
conventional short form: Tuvalu local long form: none local short form: Tuvalu former: Ellice Islands note: "Tuvalu" means "group of eight," referring to the country's eight traditionally inhabited islands |
Currency | Communaute Financiere Africaine franc (XAF); note - responsible authority is the Bank of the Central African States | - |
Death rate | 12.83 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.) | 7 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.) |
Debt - external | $225 million (2000 est.) | $NA |
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 | the US does not have an embassy in Tuvalu; the US ambassador to Fiji is accredited to Tuvalu |
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 |
Tuvalu does not have an embassy in the US - the country's only diplomatic post is in Fiji - Tuvalu does, however, have a UN office located at 800 2nd Avenue, Suite 400D, New York, NY 10017, telephone: [1] (212) 490-0534 |
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 | none |
Economic aid - recipient | $33.8 million (1995) (1995) | $13 million; note - major donors are Australia, Japan, and the US (1999 est.) |
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. | Tuvalu consists of a densely populated, scattered group of nine coral atolls with poor soil. The country has no known mineral resources and few exports. Subsistence farming and fishing are the primary economic activities. Fewer than 1,000 tourists, on average, visit Tuvalu annually. Government revenues largely come from the sale of stamps and coins and remittances from seamen on merchant ships abroad. About 1,000 Tuvaluans are being repatriated from Nauru, with the decline of phosphate resources there. Substantial income is received annually from an international trust fund established in 1987 by Australia, NZ, and the UK and supported also by Japan and South Korea. Thanks to wise investments and conservative withdrawals, this fund grew from an initial $17 million to over $35 million in 1999. The US Government is also a major revenue source for Tuvalu because of payments from a 1988 treaty on fisheries. In an effort to reduce its dependence on foreign aid, the government is pursuing public sector reforms, including privatization of some government functions and personnel cuts of up to 7%. Tuvalu derives around $1.5 million per year from the lease of its ".tv" Internet domain name. With merchandise exports only a fraction of merchandise imports, continued reliance must be placed on fishing and telecommunications license fees, remittances from overseas workers, official transfers, and income from overseas investments. |
Electricity - consumption | 20.46 million kWh (2000) | - |
Electricity - exports | 0 kWh (2000) | - |
Electricity - imports | 0 kWh (2000) | - |
Electricity - production | 22 million kWh (2000) | - |
Electricity - production by source | fossil fuel: 91%
hydro: 9% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (2000) |
- |
Elevation extremes | lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m
highest point: Pico Basile 3,008 m |
lowest point: Pacific Ocean 0 m
highest point: unnamed location 5 m |
Environment - current issues | tap water is not potable; deforestation | since there are no streams or rivers and groundwater is not potable, most water needs must be met by catchment systems with storage facilities (the Japanese Government has built one desalination plant and plans to build one other); beachhead erosion because of the use of sand for building materials; excessive clearance of forest undergrowth for use as fuel; damage to coral reefs from the spread of the Crown of Thorns starfish; Tuvalu is concerned about global increases in greenhouse gas emissions and their effect on rising sea levels, which threaten the country's underground water table; in 2000, the government appealed to Australia and New Zealand to take in Tuvaluans if rising sea levels should make evacuation necessary |
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, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Whaling
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 | Polynesian 96%, Micronesian 4% |
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 | Tuvaluan dollars or Australian dollars per US dollar - 1.3285 (2006), 1.3095 (2005), 1.3598 (2004), 1.5419 (2003), 1.8406 (2002) |
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: Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952); represented by Governor General Filoimea TELITO (since 15 April 2005)
head of government: Prime Minister Apisai IELEMIA (since 14 August 2006) cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the governor general on the recommendation of the prime minister elections: the monarch is hereditary; governor general appointed by the monarch on the recommendation of the prime minister; prime minister and deputy prime minister elected by and from the members of Parliament; election last held 14 August 2006 (next to be held following parliamentary elections in 2010) election results: Apisai IELEMIA elected Prime Minister in a Parliamentary election on 14 August 2006 |
Exports | $2.1 billion f.o.b. (2001 est.) | $1 million f.o.b. (2004 est.) |
Exports - commodities | petroleum, timber, cocoa | copra, fish |
Exports - partners | China 24%, Japan 7%, US 7%, South Korea 5% (1999) | Germany 60.5%, Italy 20.1%, Fiji 6.9% (2006) |
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) | light blue with the flag of the UK in the upper hoist-side quadrant; the outer half of the flag represents a map of the country with nine yellow five-pointed stars symbolizing the nine islands |
GDP | purchasing power parity - $1.04 billion (2001 est.) | - |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: 20%
industry: 60% services: 20% (1999 est.) |
agriculture: 16.6%
industry: 27.2% services: 56.2% (2002) |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $2,100 (2001 est.) | - |
GDP - real growth rate | 6% (2001 est.) | 1.2% (2002 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 2 00 N, 10 00 E | 8 00 S, 178 00 E |
Geography - note | insular and continental regions rather widely separated | one of the smallest and most remote countries on Earth; six of the 9 coral atolls - Nanumea, Nui, Vaitupu, Nukufetau, Funafuti, and Nukulaelae - have lagoons open to the ocean; Nanumaya and Niutao have landlocked lagoons; Niulakita does not have a lagoon |
Highways | total: 2,880 km
paved: 0 km unpaved: 2,880 km (1996) |
- |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA% |
lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA% |
Imports | $736 million f.o.b. (2001) | $9.186 million c.i.f. (2004 est.) |
Imports - commodities | petroleum sector equipment, manufactured goods and equipment | food, animals, mineral fuels, machinery, manufactured goods |
Imports - partners | US 60%, France 12%, Spain 8%, Italy 6% (1999) | Fiji 46.1%, Japan 18.9%, China 18.2%, Australia 7.7%, NZ 4.1% (2006) |
Independence | 12 October 1968 (from Spain) | 1 October 1978 (from UK) |
Industrial production growth rate | 7.4% (1994 est.) | NA% |
Industries | petroleum, fishing, sawmilling, natural gas | fishing, tourism, copra |
Infant mortality rate | 90.96 deaths/1,000 live births (2002 est.) | total: 18.9 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 21.64 deaths/1,000 live births female: 16.02 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 6% (2001 est.) | 3.9% (2005 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, AsDB, C, FAO, IFRCS (observer), IMO, ITU, OPCW, PIF, Sparteca, SPC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UPU, WHO |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | 1 (2002) | - |
Irrigated land | NA sq km | NA |
Judicial branch | Supreme Tribunal | High Court (a chief justice visits twice a year to preside over its sessions; its rulings can be appealed to the Court of Appeal in Fiji); eight Island Courts (with limited jurisdiction) |
Labor force | NA | 3,615 (2004 est.) |
Labor force - by occupation | - | note: people make a living mainly through exploitation of the sea, reefs, and atolls and from wages sent home by those abroad (mostly workers in the phosphate industry and sailors) |
Land boundaries | total: 539 km
border countries: Cameroon 189 km, Gabon 350 km |
0 km |
Land use | arable land: 4.63%
permanent crops: 3.57% other: 91.8% (1998 est.) |
arable land: 0%
permanent crops: 66.67% other: 33.33% (2005) |
Languages | Spanish (official), French (official), pidgin English, Fang, Bubi, Ibo | Tuvaluan, English, Samoan, Kiribati (on the island of Nui) |
Legal system | partly based on Spanish civil law and tribal custom | NA |
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 Parliament or Fale I Fono, also called House of Assembly (15 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms)
elections: last held 3 August 2006 (next to be held in 2010) election results: percent of vote - NA; seats - independents 15 |
Life expectancy at birth | total population: 54.35 years
male: 52.26 years female: 56.5 years (2002 est.) |
total population: 68.63 years
male: 66.38 years female: 70.99 years (2007 est.) |
Literacy | definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 78.5% male: 89.6% female: 68.1% (1995 est.) |
NA |
Location | Western Africa, bordering the Bight of Biafra, between Cameroon and Gabon | Oceania, island group consisting of nine coral atolls in the South Pacific Ocean, about one-half of the way from Hawaii to Australia |
Map references | Africa | Oceania |
Maritime claims | exclusive economic zone: 200 NM
territorial sea: 12 NM |
territorial sea: 12 nm
contiguous zone: 24 nm exclusive economic zone: 200 nm |
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: 74 ships (1000 GRT or over) 568,759 GRT/928,697 DWT
by type: bulk carrier 4, cargo 45, chemical tanker 5, container 2, passenger 2, passenger/cargo 1, petroleum tanker 13, refrigerated cargo 1, specialized tanker 1 foreign-owned: 61 (China 25, Hong Kong 10, Kenya 1, Maldives 1, Romania 1, Russia 4, Singapore 13, Thailand 1, Turkey 1, US 1, Vietnam 3) (2007) |
Military branches | Army, Navy, Air Force, Rapid Intervention Force, National Police | no regular military forces; Police Force |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | $27.5 million (FY01) | - |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | 2.5% (FY01) | NA |
Military manpower - availability | males age 15-49: 112,664 (2002 est.) | - |
Military manpower - fit for military service | males age 15-49: 57,194 (2002 est.) | - |
National holiday | Independence Day, 12 October (1968) | Independence Day, 1 October (1978) |
Nationality | noun: Equatorial Guinean(s) or Equatoguinean(s)
adjective: Equatorial Guinean or Equatoguinean |
noun: Tuvaluan(s)
adjective: Tuvaluan |
Natural hazards | violent windstorms, flash floods | severe tropical storms are usually rare, but, in 1997, there were three cyclones; low level of islands make them sensitive to changes in sea level |
Natural resources | oil, petroleum, timber, small unexploited deposits of gold, manganese, uranium | fish |
Net migration rate | NEGL migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002 est.) | 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.) |
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] | there are no political parties but members of Parliament usually align themselves in informal groupings |
Political pressure groups and leaders | NA | none |
Population | 498,144 (July 2002 est.) | 11,992 (July 2007 est.) |
Population below poverty line | NA% | NA% |
Population growth rate | 2.45% (2002 est.) | 1.543% (2007 est.) |
Ports and harbors | Bata, Luba, Malabo | - |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 0, FM 3, shortwave 5 (2002) | AM 1, FM 1, shortwave 0 (2004) |
Radios | 180,000 (1997) | - |
Railways | total: 0 km | - |
Religions | nominally Christian and predominantly Roman Catholic, pagan practices | Church of Tuvalu (Congregationalist) 97%, Seventh-Day Adventist 1.4%, Baha'i 1%, other 0.6% |
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: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.039 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.951 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.601 male(s)/female total population: 0.954 male(s)/female (2007 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: serves particular needs for internal communications
domestic: radiotelephone communications between islands international: country code - 688; international calls can be made by satellite |
Telephones - main lines in use | 6,000 (1998) | 700 (2002) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 300 (1998) | 0 (2004) |
Television broadcast stations | 1 (2002) | 0 (2004) |
Terrain | coastal plains rise to interior hills; islands are volcanic | very low-lying and narrow coral atolls |
Total fertility rate | 4.81 children born/woman (2002 est.) | 2.96 children born/woman (2007 est.) |
Unemployment rate | 30% (1998 est.) | NA% |
Waterways | none | - |