Republic of Equatorial Guinea

World Factbook as of October 2014: "The economy is still dominated by hydrocarbon production. The government has solicited foreign investment, particularly from the United States, to diversify the economy and in February 2014 the government hosted an economic diversification symposium focused on attracting investment in five sectors: agriculture and animal ranching, fishing, mining and petrochemicals, tourism, and financial services. Undeveloped mineral resources include gold, zinc, diamonds, columbite-tantalite, and other base metals. Forestry and farming are also minor components of GDP. Subsistence farming is the dominant form of livelihood... 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. The government has been widely criticized for its lack of transparency and misuse of oil revenues and has attempted to address this issue by working towards compliance with the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative."

2012: Rights groups describe most Equatorial Guineans live in squalor. The country has been described in Wikipedia as "one of the most corrupt, ethnocentric, oppressive and undemocratic states in the world."

Economic growth rate
2013: -1.5
2012: 5.3%
2011: 7.1%
2010: - 0.8%
2009: 5.7%

Percentage of people in agricultlure
2011: 3.4%

Unemployment
2009: 22.3%

Exports
petroleum products and timber

Export/import ratio
2011: Exports 173.4% of imports in cash value. A favorable balance little of which accrues to common people (less than 700 thousand people). If it did, imports would be more equal with exports as a result of common people consuming.

Health expenditures
2009: 2.2% of GDP (ranks poorly in infant mortality and life expectancy but leads other African nations in per capita GDP)

Education expenditures
2003: 0.6% of GDP (ranks last in the world)

People

Living in an urban area
2010: 40%

Ethnic groups
1994 census: Fang 85.7%, Bubi 6.5%, Mdowe 3.6%, Annobon 1.6%, Bujeba 1.1%, other 1.4%

Religions:
Nominally Christian and predominantly Roman Catholic, pagan practices

Population density: 16.6 per square kilometer. (2005)  

Geography

Central Africa bordering the Atlantic Coast (facing the Americas), equivalent to 167 by 167 kilometers (105 by 105 miles).

Government

A republic with a constitution approved by national referendum 17 November 1991 and amended January 1995. Chief of state is called "president." Legal system is party based on Spanish civil law and partly tribal custom. Capital: Malabo

Recent History

Independence from Spain in 1968.

One-man rule by President Obiang Nguema since he came to power in a bloody military coup in 1978. Phony elections gave him a 99 percent win in elections in 1996 – the country's first multi-party elections. Nguema's government has been accused of widespread human rights abuses and of suppressing political.

Wikipedia describes a United States State Department 2008 Human Rights Report as follows: "...unlawful killings by security forces; government-sanctioned kidnappings; systematic torture of prisoners and detainees by security forces; life threatening conditions in prisons and detention facilities; impunity; arbitrary arrest, detention, and incommunicado detention."

June 2011: President Obiang has been described as one of the most wealthy of heads of state. His son owns property in Malibu California that is of the highest-assessed value in that area.