James Baquet

There are three African countries with “Guinea” in their name — Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, and today’s subject, Equatorial Guinea — and none of them seems to have an official tourism slogan. So I have tagged Equatorial Guinea as “open at last,” because until 2015, the country had been closed to visitors as the result of mercenaries, coup attempts and an oligarchical family.

Ranked the world’s seventh-least visited country that year, Equatorial Guinea is at last opening up to the world, investing petrodollars in infrastructure meant to make travel more attractive. Though the country as yet has no UNESCO World Heritage Sites, it does boast pristine rainforest, idyllic beaches and colonial architecture.

The other two Guineas are located on the far western coast of the African continent, the “bump.” But Equatorial Guinea — as its name implies — is located further south on the Equator, and on the eastern shores of the Gulf of Guinea. Cameroon is to its north, and Gabon wraps around the right-angled east and south sides. Once known as “Spanish Guinea,” it is the only African country in which Spanish is the national language. French and Portuguese are also official. Perhaps not coincidentally, Guinea was once called French Guinea, and Guinea-Bissau was Portuguese Guinea. Several regional languages are also recognized.

With the entire region between the two Guineas to the northwest, Equatorial Guinea lies along the Gulf of Guinea. Guinea as a region encompasses all the countries between, including Benin, Togo, Ghana, the Ivory Coast, Liberia, Sierra Leone and others. In addition to the mainland, Equatorial Guinea has a significant insular component, comprised of Bioko Island (formerly known as “Fernando Po” after its Portuguese discoverer), Annobon, Corisco, and Elobey Grande and Elobey Chico.

First contacted by Europeans in 1472, the country was occupied in whole or part by Portugal and Spain, though the British used Bioko Island as a base for slavers for a decade and a half in the early 19th century. Independence was gained from Spain in 1968.

Vocabulary:

Which word above means:

1. pure, unaffected by development

2. toppling of a government

3. situated at 90 degrees

4. ruled by a few powerful people

5. of or related to the Equator

6. peaceful, charmingly simple

7. as if by accident

8. money from oil exports

9. of or related to islands

10. soldiers for hire