According to Article 3 of the
Constitution of Equatorial Guinea
The Constitution of Equatorial Guinea ( es, Ley Fundamental de Guinea Ecuatorial) is the basic document of that country. It was approved in 1991 and amended in 1995. In 2011, a referendum
A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly re ...
,
the country
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
is divided for administrative and economic purposes into regions, provinces, districts, and municipalities.
In practice, the provinces serve as the first-level administrative divisions. Municipalities are subdivided into village councils and neighbourhood communities. Many of the sub-municipal entities are grouped into urban districts, which remain subordinate to municipalities and are distinct from districts proper.
Regions
Equatorial Guinea is divided into a continental region known as
Río Muni
Río Muni (called ''Mbini'' in Fang) is the Continental Region (called ''Región Continental'' in Spanish) of Equatorial Guinea, and comprises the mainland geographical region, covering . The name is derived from the Muni River, along which ...
, and an
insular region comprising
Bioko
Bioko (; historically Fernando Po; bvb, Ëtulá Ëria) is an island off the west coast of Africa and the northernmost part of Equatorial Guinea. Its population was 335,048 at the 2015 census and it covers an area of . The island is located of ...
,
Annobón
Annobón ( es, Provincia de Annobón; pt, Ano-Bom), and formerly as ''Anno Bom'' and ''Annabona'', is a province (smallest province in both area and population) of Equatorial Guinea consisting of the island of Annobón, formerly also Pigalu a ...
,
Corisco
Corisco, Mandj, or Mandyi, is a small island of Equatorial Guinea, located southwest of the Río Muni estuary that defines the border with Gabon. Corisco, whose name derives from the Portuguese word for lightning, has an area of , and its highe ...
,
Elobey Grande
Elobey Grande, or Great Elobey, is an island of Equatorial Guinea, lying at the mouth of the Mitémélé River. It is sparsely inhabited. Elobey Chico is a smaller island offshore, now uninhabited but once the colonial capital of the Río Muni. ...
,
Elobey Chico
Elobey Chico, or Little Elobey, is a small island off the coast of Equatorial Guinea, lying near the mouth of the Mitémélé River. The island is now uninhabited but was once the ''de facto'' colonial capital of the Spanish territory of Río M ...
, , Conga, Leva, Cocotero and other smaller islets.
Gabon
Gabon (; ; snq, Ngabu), officially the Gabonese Republic (french: République gabonaise), is a country on the west coast of Central Africa. Located on the equator, it is bordered by Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the north ...
, pending resolution at the International Court of Justice
The International Court of Justice (ICJ; french: Cour internationale de justice, links=no; ), sometimes known as the World Court, is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN). It settles disputes between states in accordanc ...
.
Provinces
Equatorial Guinea is divided into eight provinces (capitals appear in parentheses):
# Annobón
Annobón ( es, Provincia de Annobón; pt, Ano-Bom), and formerly as ''Anno Bom'' and ''Annabona'', is a province (smallest province in both area and population) of Equatorial Guinea consisting of the island of Annobón, formerly also Pigalu a ...
(San Antonio de Palé
San Antonio de Palé, formerly known as St Antony, São Antonio de Praia and Palea, is the capital of Annobón (an island in Equatorial Guinea that was once part of the Spanish Empire in Africa).
The town has 600 inhabitants, the majority of whom ...
)
# Bioko Norte
Bioko Norte () is the second-most populated of the eight provinces of Equatorial Guinea, after the Wele-Nzas province. Both the provincial capital, Rebola, and the national capital, Malabo are located here. Heavily forested with little urban d ...
(Malabo
Malabo ( , ; formerly Santa Isabel) is the capital of Equatorial Guinea and the province of Bioko Norte. It is located on the north coast of the island of Bioko, ( bvb, Etulá, and as ''Fernando Pó'' by the Europeans). In 2018, the city had a p ...
)
# Bioko Sur
Bioko (; historically Fernando Po; bvb, Ëtulá Ëria) is an island off the west coast of Africa and the northernmost part of Equatorial Guinea. Its population was 335,048 at the 2015 census and it covers an area of . The island is located o ...
(Luba
Luba may refer to:
Geography
*Kingdom of Luba, a pre-colonial Central African empire
*Ľubá, a village and municipality in the Nitra region of south-west Slovakia
*Luba, Abra, a municipality in the Philippines
*Luba, Equatorial Guinea, a town o ...
)
# Centro Sur
Centro Sur (Spanish for "South-center") is a province of Equatorial Guinea. Its capital is Evinayong.
Geography
Centro Sur borders Gabon's Estuaire Province in the southwest and Woleu-Ntem Province in the southeast, and Cameroon's South P ...
(Evinayong
Evinayong is a town lying atop a small mountain in southeastern Río Muni, central Equatorial Guinea.
It is the capital of the Centro Sur Province and the St. Joseph's cathedral is the episcopal see of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Evinayong.
...
)
# Djibloho
Djibloho, officially the ''Administrative City of Djibloho'', (Spanish: ''Ciudad administrativa de Djibloho'') is the newest province of Equatorial Guinea, formally established by law in 2017. The administrative city was initially carved out of A ...
(Ciudad de la Paz
Djibloho - Ciudad de la Paz (french: Djibloho - Ville de Paix, pt, Djibloho - Cidade da Paz), formerly Oyala, is a city in Equatorial Guinea that is being built to replace Malabo as the national capital. Established as an urban district in Wele- ...
)
# Kié-Ntem
Kié-Ntem is a province of Equatorial Guinea. Its capital is Ebebiyín.
Kié-Ntem borders the following country subdivisions:
* South Region, Cameroon - north
*Woleu-Ntem Province, Gabon - east
* Wele-Nzas, Equatorial Guinea - south
* Centro Su ...
(Ebebiyín
Ebibeyin is a town in the northeastern corner of mainland Equatorial Guinea. It is the capital of the province of Kié-Ntem.
It lies very close to the Equatorial Guinea-Gabon-Cameroon tripoint. It is the end point of three main transport routes c ...
)
# Litoral
The littoral zone or nearshore is the part of a sea, lake, or river that is close to the shore. In coastal ecology, the littoral zone includes the intertidal zone extending from the high water mark (which is rarely inundated), to coastal areas ...
( Bata)
# Wele-Nzas
Wele-Nzas Province is a province in the eastern portion of continental Equatorial Guinea. Its capital is Mongomo. It borders the Equatoguinean provinces of Centro Sur to the west and Kié-Ntem to the north, with Gabon's Woleu-Ntem Province to th ...
(Mongomo
Mongomo is a town in the province of Wele-Nzas on mainland Equatorial Guinea, on the eastern border, roughly 1 km (0.62 mi) west of Gabon's Woleu-Ntem Province.
Religion
Its cathedral basilica of the Immaculate Conception is the epis ...
)
The provinces are further divided into 19 districts and 37 municipalities.[
]
Districts and municipalities
The 19 districts and 37 municipalities of Equatorial Guinea are organized as shown in the following table. Municipalities that are the capitals of their respective provinces are shown in bold.
Sub-municipal local government
Below the municipalities are further entities of local government, called village councils (''consejos de poblados'') in rural areas and neighbourhood communities (''comunidades de vecinos'') in urban areas. According to a 2013 United Nations report, there were 716 village councils and 344 neighbourhood communities in Equatorial Guinea.
Neighbourhood communities in the urban areas of Malabo and Bata are grouped into urban districts (''distritos urbanos''), five in each city. These urban districts are subordinate to municipalities and are thus different from districts proper which lie above the municipal level of government.
In 2017, Equatorial Guinea created three new urban districts from various village councils and neighbourhood communities in every district proper (including Bata and Malabo, which now have eight urban districts each) except for Annobón and Djibloho, which each saw the creation of two urban districts. Thus there are now a total of 65 urban districts in Equatorial Guinea.
See also
*
*
*
References
{{Africa topic, Subdivisions of
Equatorial Guinea
Equatorial Guinea ( es, Guinea Ecuatorial; french: Guinée équatoriale; pt, Guiné Equatorial), officially the Republic of Equatorial Guinea ( es, link=no, República de Guinea Ecuatorial, french: link=no, République de Guinée équatoria ...
Equatorial Guinea
Equatorial Guinea ( es, Guinea Ecuatorial; french: Guinée équatoriale; pt, Guiné Equatorial), officially the Republic of Equatorial Guinea ( es, link=no, República de Guinea Ecuatorial, french: link=no, République de Guinée équatoria ...