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Equatorial Guinea Facts & Worksheets

Equatorial Guinea is a Central African country comprising the Rio Muni mainland and 5 volcanic offshore islands.

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Equatorial Guinea is a Central African country comprising the Rio Muni mainland and 5 volcanic offshore islands. The capital, Malabo, on Bioko Island, has Spanish colonial architecture and is a hub for the country’s prosperous oil industry.

See the fact file below for more information on the Equatorial Guinea or alternatively, you can download our 19-page Equatorial Guinea worksheet pack to utilise within the classroom or home environment.

Key Facts & Information

DESCRIPTION

  • Equatorial Guinea is located on the west coast of Africa. It consists of Río Muni (also known as Continental Equatorial Guinea) on the continent, and five islands (known collectively as insular Equatorial Guinea): Bioko (formerly Fernando Po), Corisco, Great Elobey (Elobey Grande), Little Elobey (Elobey Chico), and Annobón (Pagalu).
  • Bata is the administrative capital of the mainland and a former colony of Spain. It was known as Spanish Guinea, but the country achieved independence on October 12, 1968.
  • The current capital of Equatorial Guinea is Malabo, which is located in the Bioko Norte province on the island of Bioko, just 25 miles from the coast of Cameroon.

HISTORY

  • A large island off the coast of Guinea (now the site of Malabo, the capital of Equatorial Guinea) was historically known as Fernando Po because it was first reached, in about 1472, by Portuguese navigator Fernão do Pó.
  • The island and the neighboring coast are mainly visited by Portuguese traders, giving Portugal certain rights in the area (rights recognized at any rate by Catholic Europe, since the Pope granted Africa to Portugal in the treaty of Tordesillas).
  • In 1778, Portugal assigned these rights to Spain. The intention was to give Spain a foothold in Africa from which to conduct its own slave trade. In return Spain recognized Portugal’s rights in the interior of Brazil, far to the west of the Tordesillas line.
  • The Spanish, daunted by yellow fever, made little use of this new opportunity in Africa. In the first half of the 19th century, they leased harbors in Fernando Po to the British for their campaign to suppress the slave trade.
  • Finally, from the 1850s, they began to establish a Spanish presence in their African colony. Minor explorations were made inland from the coast. From 1879, Fernando Po was used as a penal settlement for troublemakers deported from Cuba.
  • When the scramble for Africa began in the 1880s, Spanish activity in this part of Africa was feeble compared to that of its immediate neighbours, Germany to the north in Cameroon, and France to the south in Gabon. Spanish Guinea won recognition as a colony, but was a decidedly pinched area.
  • Spanish colonial interest first centered on the healthy and fertile Fernando Po (with its cocoa and coffee plantations) but, after decades of neglect, the mainland also began to receive some attention in the 1930s.
  • In the 1960s, progress towards independence was smooth. In 1968, the Spanish government proposed a constitution for an independent republic. Within months, before the end of the year, this constitution was approved in a plebiscite. Parliamentary elections were held and independence was proclaimed.

PEOPLE

  • The ethnic composition of the population is complex for such a small political unit. The Fang people, who fought their way to the sea in the 19th and early 20th centuries by subjugating other groups in their path, constitute well over half of the population.
  • The Fang are dominant in the continental region; north of the Mbini River are the Ntumu Fang, and to the south are the Okak Fang.
  • Holding political power on the mainland, the Fang tend to migrate to Bioko, where their leaders also hold most of the levers of political control.
  • Coastal groups, such as the Kombe, Mabea, Lengi, Benga, and others, have been in contact with European traders much longer, and a limited number of intermarriages between European and African ethnic groups have taken place, especially on the island of Corisco.

LANGUAGE

  • Each ethnic group speaks its own language; among the most prominent of these languages are Fang and Bubi. The country’s official languages, however, are Spanish and French.
  • Spanish is taught in schools and used by the press. It is the primary means of communication in both Bioko and the mainland. As a result of Equatorial Guinea’s closer economic association with Francophone countries begun in 1983, French became a compulsory subject in schools in 1988 and an official language in 1997.
  • In addition, an English-based creole is used extensively in petty commerce and forms the lingua franca on Bioko, and a Portuguese patois is spoken on both Bioko and Annobón.

COLONIAL ARCHITECTURE

  • Malabo and Bata have some fascinating Spanish colonial architecture. The Catedrál de Santa Isabel is in a Gothic Revival style. It is apricot in color and is the heart of Malabo.
  • The Casa Verde, a dark green house, was recently restored, having been prefabricated in Belgium in the early 19th century.
  • The Equatoguinean Cultural Centre Workshops, language courses and library are housed in this two-storey building in Malabo.
  • The Catedral de Santiago Apóstol y Nuestra Señora del Pilar is an imposing cathedral in Bata with beautiful stained-glass windows.

Equatorial Guinea Worksheets

This is a fantastic bundle which includes everything you need to know about the Equatorial Guinea across 19 in-depth pages. These are ready-to-use Equatorial Guinea worksheets that are perfect for teaching students about the Equatorial Guinea which is a Central African country comprising the Rio Muni mainland and 5 volcanic offshore islands. The capital, Malabo, on Bioko Island, has Spanish colonial architecture and is a hub for the country’s prosperous oil industry.

Complete List Of Included Worksheets

  • Equatorial Guinea Facts
  • Fascinating Facts
  • EG Timeline
  • EG Trademark
  • What’s My Meaning?
  • Word Scramble
  • Featuring EG
  • What’s News?
  • Letter to the Fang People
  • Brief History
  • Fun Facts

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Link will appear as Equatorial Guinea Facts & Worksheets: https://kidskonnect.com - KidsKonnect, November 4, 2019

Use With Any Curriculum

These worksheets have been specifically designed for use with any international curriculum. You can use these worksheets as-is, or edit them using Google Slides to make them more specific to your own student ability levels and curriculum standards.

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