Formerly known as the colony of Spanish Guinea, one could easily deduce that its present name suggests its location which is both near the equator and the gulf of Guinea. As a former colony of Spain, it is one of a few nations where Purtugeuse is spoken in the continent. It is bordered by Cameroon on the north, Gabon on the south and east, and the Gulf of Guinea on the west, together with São Tomé and Príncipe.


As a nation, Equatorial Guinea is comprised of a Continental Region (Río Muni) which includes several small offshore islands like Corisco, Elobey Grande and Elobey Chico and an insular region containing Annobón Island and Bioko island formerly Fer- nando Po where the capital city Malabo is situated.


Fernão do Pó, a Portugeuse explorer is credited to have discovered the island of Bi- oko which was later renamed after him in 1472 on his way to India. He called the is- land Formosa meaning beautiful. Portugal later colonized the islands of Fernando Pó and Annobón in 1474.


During the 1827 to 1843, the United Kingdom established a base on the island to combat the slave trade, which was then moved to Sierra Leone upon agreement with Spain in 1843 and in 1844, on restoration of Spanish sovereignty, it became known as the Territo- rios Españoles del Golfo de Guinea Ecuatorial.


The mainland portion, Rio Muni, became a protectorate in 1885 and a colony in 1900 and conflicting claims to the mainland were settled by the Treaty of Paris in the 1900’s, and periodically, the mainland territories were united administratively under Spanish rule and latter between 1926 and 1959 they were united as the colony of Spanish Guinea.


In September 1968, Francisco Macías Nguema was elected first president of Equatorial Guinea, and independence was recognised on October 12, 1968. In July 1970, Nguema created a single-party state. Nguema’s reign of terror led to the death or exile of up to 1/3 of the country's population of which out of a population of 300,000, an estimated 80,000 was killed. This situation caused the economy to collapsed allowing skilled citizens and foreigners to flee which saw Teodoro Obiang rise to deposed Francisco Macías Nguema On Augus 3rd 1979, in a bloody Coup d’etat


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