The Province of Río Muni was a Spanish

province A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

in Africa between 1959 and 1968. It consisted of

Río Muni Río Muni (called ''Mbini'' in Fang language, Fang) is the Continental Region (called ''Región Continental'' in Spanish language, Spanish) of Equatorial Guinea, and comprises the mainland geographical region, covering . The name is derived fr ...

, the continental region of modern-day

Equatorial Guinea Equatorial Guinea, officially the Republic of Equatorial Guinea, is a country on the west coast of Central Africa. It has an area of . Formerly the colony of Spanish Guinea, its post-independence name refers to its location both near the Equ ...

, plus the islands of

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 ...

and Elobey. It bordered

Gabon Gabon ( ; ), officially the Gabonese Republic (), is a country on the Atlantic coast of Central Africa, on the equator, bordered by Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the north, the Republic of the Congo to the east and south, and ...

to the east and south and

Cameroon Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon, is a country in Central Africa. It shares boundaries with Nigeria to the west and north, Chad to the northeast, the Central African Republic to the east, and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the R ...

to the north. Its administrative capital was Bata. It had an area of 26 017 km².

History

The territory of the province was ceded by Portugal to Spain in 1778. The delimitation of the continental territory was made in the Treaty of Paris of 1900. It formed a province together with Fernando Poo from 1956 to 1959 as the Spanish . In 1959, it became the Province of Río Muni within the autonomous region of Equatorial Guinea, a name it kept until its independence from Spain in 1968. On 1 September 1960 the was established in the city of Bata, whose first president was José Vedú. The province vehicle registration prefix was "RM", established by an Order on 20 June 1961, which was annulled by an Order on 17 March 1969. Previously the prefix was "TEG" (Territorios Españoles del Golfo de Guinea), established by the order of 30 September 1929, territories that were divided into two provinces by the Law of 29 July 1959.

Geography

The ethnic composition of Rio Muni was mostly

Fang people The Fang people, also known as Fãn or Pahouin, are a Bantu peoples, Bantu ethnic group found in Equatorial Guinea, northern Gabon, and southern Cameroon.Bantu Bantu may refer to: *Bantu languages, constitute the largest sub-branch of the Niger–Congo languages *Bantu peoples, over 400 peoples of Africa speaking a Bantu language * Bantu knots, a type of African hairstyle *Black Association for National ...

on the coast:

Kombe people Kombe people are an Ethnic groups of Africa, African ethnic group, members of the Bantu peoples, Bantu group, who are indigenous to Equatorial Guinea. They are native speakers of the Kombe language. At the beginning of the twentieth century some of ...

. The provincial capital was Bata. Other towns of importance were

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 Evinayo ...

Ebibeyin 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 rou ...

, Cogo,

Acurenam Akurenam () is a town located on mainland Equatorial Guinea Equatorial Guinea, officially the Republic of Equatorial Guinea, is a country on the west coast of Central Africa. It has an area of . Formerly the colony of Spanish Guinea, its p ...

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. The president of Equatorial Guinea, Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, was bor ...

, Micomeseng, Niefang, Añisoc and Rio Benito.

Governors

*1960–1961: Manuel Cervera Cabello *16 Feb 1961–1964: Víctor Suances Díaz del Río *1964–1968: Simón Ngomo Ndumu Asumu

References

{{coord, 1, 35, N, 10, 30, E, display=title, region:GQ_type:adm_source:GNS-enwiki Former provinces of Spain Spanish Africa Provinces of Equatorial Guinea Equatorial Guinea–Spain relations States and territories established in 1959 States and territories disestablished in 1968