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'''This page has limited information. If you have more information on the hydrogeology of Equatorial Guinea, please get in touch!'''  
'''This page has limited information. If you have more information on the hydrogeology of Equatorial Guinea, please get in touch!'''  


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Equatorial Guinea comprises a mainland territory and five islands lying across the equator in the Gulf of Guinea. Parts of the present-day country were under first Portuguese and then Spanish colonial rule from the 15th century; Britain also occupied parts of the territory. During the colonial era, Spanish settlers established cocoa plantations, worked by waves of migrants from West Africa, Europe and the Caribbean. Equatorial Guinea gained independence as a republic in 1968, and is the only Spanish speaking country in Africa. A one-party state in the 1970s, the country saw a coup in 1979, since when there has been a nominal multiparty democracy with continuing periodic unrest, including attempted coups.  
Equatorial Guinea comprises a mainland territory and five islands lying across the equator in the Gulf of Guinea. Parts of the present-day country were under first Portuguese and then Spanish colonial rule from the 15th century; Britain also occupied parts of the territory. During the colonial era, Spanish settlers established cocoa plantations, worked by waves of migrants from West Africa, Europe and the Caribbean. Equatorial Guinea gained independence as a republic in 1968, and is the only Spanish speaking country in Africa. A one-party state in the 1970s, the country saw a coup in 1979, since when there has been a nominal multiparty democracy with continuing periodic unrest, including attempted coups.  

Revision as of 11:09, 7 January 2020

Africa Groundwater Atlas >> Hydrogeology by country >> Hydrogeology of Equatorial Guinea


This page has limited information. If you have more information on the hydrogeology of Equatorial Guinea, please get in touch!

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License

Equatorial Guinea comprises a mainland territory and five islands lying across the equator in the Gulf of Guinea. Parts of the present-day country were under first Portuguese and then Spanish colonial rule from the 15th century; Britain also occupied parts of the territory. During the colonial era, Spanish settlers established cocoa plantations, worked by waves of migrants from West Africa, Europe and the Caribbean. Equatorial Guinea gained independence as a republic in 1968, and is the only Spanish speaking country in Africa. A one-party state in the 1970s, the country saw a coup in 1979, since when there has been a nominal multiparty democracy with continuing periodic unrest, including attempted coups.

Before independence, the economy relied heavily on exports of cocoa, coffee and timber. Since the discovery of large oil reserves in 1996, Equatorial Guinea has become one of sub-Saharan Africa’s largest oil producers, which has boosted revenues and given the country the highest gross national income per capita in sub-Saharan Africa. Timber and fishing are also important contributors to GDP. Most of the population is employed in subsistence agriculture. Commercial agriculture, dominated by cocoa and coffee plantations inherited from Spanish farm owners who left in the 1970s, has declined in recent years in response to global price drops and a lack of investment. Widespread claims of corruption linked to oil revenue, and a poor human rights record, mean Equatorial Guinea receives little foreign assistance. Thus, despite oil revenues, there is widespread poverty and, despite improvements since 1979, very poor infrastructural and service provision for the majority of the population.

Equatorial Guinea, with a tropical climate and abundant rainfall throughout the year, has extensive perennial surface water resources. However, a lack of infrastructure means that protected water supplies are not well developed, particularly in rural areas.

Compilers

Dr Kirsty Upton and Brighid Ó Dochartaigh, British Geological Survey, UK

Dr Imogen Bellwood-Howard, Institute of Development Studies, UK

Please cite this page as: Upton & Ó Dochartaigh, 2018.

Bibliographic reference: Upton K, Ó Dochartaigh BÉ and Bellwood-Howard, I. 2018. Africa Groundwater Atlas: Hydrogeology of Equatorial Guinea. British Geological Survey. Accessed [date you accessed the information]. https://earthwise.bgs.ac.uk/index.php/Hydrogeology_of_Equatorial_Guinea

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The Africa Groundwater Atlas is hosted by the British Geological Survey (BGS) and includes information from third party sources. Your use of information provided by this website is at your own risk. If reproducing diagrams that include third party information, please cite both the Africa Groundwater Atlas and the third party sources. Please see the Terms of use for more information.

Geographical Setting

Equatorial Guinea consists of two parts, an island and a mainland region. The island region consists of the islands of Bioko in the Gulf of Guinea, and Annobón, a small volcanic island south of the equator. The capital Malabo is on Bioko Island. The mainland region is Río Muni, where Bata, the largest city, and Oyala, the country's planned future capital, are located. Rio Muni also includes several small offshore islands, such as Corisco, Elobey Grande, and Elobey Chico.

Equatorial Guinea. Map developed from USGS GTOPOPO30; GADM global administrative areas; and UN Revision of World Urbanization Prospects. For more information on the map development and datasets see the geography resource page

General

Capital city Malabo
Region Western Africa
Border countries The mainland region is bordered by Cameroon and Gabon
Total surface area* 28,050 km2 ( 2,805,000 ha)
Total population (2015)* 845,100
Rural population (2015)* 526,000 (62%)
Urban population (2015)* 319,100 (38%)
UN Human Development Index (HDI) [highest = 1] (2014)* 0.5866

* Source: FAO Aquastat

Climate

Koppen Geiger Climate ZonesAverage Annual PrecipitationAverage Temperature

Average monthly precipitation for Equatorial Guinea showing minimum and maximum (light blue), 25th and 75th percentile (blue), and median (dark blue) rainfall Average monthly temperature for Equatorial Guinea showing minimum and maximum (orange), 25th and 75th percentile (red), and median (black) temperature Quarterly precipitation over the period 1950-2012 Monthly precipitation (blue) over the period 2000-2012 compared with the long term monthly average (red)

More information on average rainfall and temperature for each of the climate zones in Equatorial Guinea can be seen at the Equatorial Guinea climate page.

These maps and graphs were developed from the CRU TS 3.21 dataset produced by the Climatic Research Unit at the University of East Anglia, UK. For more information see the climate resource page.

Surface water


Major surface water features of Equatorial Guinea. Map developed from World Wildlife Fund HydroSHEDS; Digital Chart of the World drainage; and FAO Inland Water Bodies. For more information on the map development and datasets see the surface water resource page

Soil

Soil Map of Equatorial Guinea, from the European Commission Joint Research Centre: European Soil Portal. For more information on the map see the soil resource page

Land cover

Land Cover Map of Equatorial Guinea, from the European Space Agency GlobCover 2.3, 2009. For more information on the map see the land cover resource page


Water statistics

2000 2005 2014 2015
Rural population with access to safe drinking water (%) 31.5
Urban population with access to safe drinking water (%) 72.5
Population affected by water related disease No data No data No data No data
Total internal renewable water resources (cubic metres/inhabitant/year) 30,766
Total exploitable water resources (Million cubic metres/year) No data No data No data No data
Freshwater withdrawal as % of total renewable water resources 0.0669
Total renewable groundwater (Million cubic metres/year) 10,000
Exploitable: Regular renewable groundwater (Million cubic metres/year) No data No data No data No data
Groundwater produced internally (Million cubic metres/year) 10,000
Fresh groundwater withdrawal (primary and secondary) (Million cubic metres/year) No data No data No data No data
Groundwater: entering the country (total) (Million cubic metres/year) No data No data No data No data
Groundwater: leaving the country to other countries (total) (Million cubic metres/year) No data No data No data No data
Industrial water withdrawal (all water sources) (Million cubic metres/year) 3
Municipal water withdrawal (all water sources) (Million cubic metres/year) 15.8
Agricultural water withdrawal (all water sources) (Million cubic metres/year) 1
Irrigation water withdrawal (all water sources)1 (Million cubic metres/year) No data No data No data No data
Irrigation water requirement (all water sources)1 (Million cubic metres/year) No data No data No data No data
Area of permanent crops (ha) 60,000
Cultivated land (arable and permanent crops) (ha) 180,000
Total area of country cultivated (%) 6.417
Area equipped for irrigation by groundwater (ha) No data No data No data No data
Area equipped for irrigation by mixed surface water and groundwater (ha) No data No data No data No data

These statistics are sourced from FAO Aquastat. They are the most recent available information in the Aquastat database. More information on the derivation and interpretation of these statistics can be seen on the FAO Aquastat website.

Further water and related statistics can be accessed at the Aquastat Main Database.

1 More information on irrigation water use and requirement statistics

Geology

The geology map shows a simplified version of the geology at a national scale. More information is available in the report UN (1988) (see References section, below).


Geology of Equatorial Guinea at 1:5million scale. Developed from USGS map (Persits et al. 2002). For more information on the map development and datasets see the geology resource page

Hydrogeology

The hydrogeology map below shows a simplified version of the type and productivity of the main aquifers at a national scale (see the hydrogeology Map resource page for more details).

More information on the hydrogeology of Equatorial Guinea is available in the report United Nations (1988) (see References section, below).

Hydrogeology of Equatorial Guinea at 1:5million scale. For more information on how the map was developed see the hydrogeology map resource page



Transboundary aquifers

For further information about transboundary aquifers, please see the Transboundary aquifers resources page.

References

References with more information on the geology and hydrogeology of Equatorial Guinea can be accessed through the Africa Groundwater Literature Archive.


United Nations. 1989. Groundwater in Eastern, Central and Southern Africa: Equatorial Guinea. United Nations Department of Technical Cooperation for Development.


Return to the index pages: Africa Groundwater Atlas >> Hydrogeology by country >> Hydrogeology of Equatorial Guinea