Throughout our #ElEspañolEnElMundo journey, Rosario Traducciones y Servicios S.A. made its way along with more than 20 countries where Spanish is the official spoken language, most of which are based in the American continent.
On our last stop, we would like to introduce you to the distinctive features of Equatorial Guinea. A Spanish colony between 1865 and 1968 is the only African country where Spanish is considered an official language. One of the smallest nations in Africa, yet one of the countries with the most natural resources south of the Sahara, with oil and gas deposits discoveries in the 1990s.
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1) Spanish: co-official language
The Constitution of Equatorial Guinea states that Spanish is an official language, just as French and Portuguese. Spanish has been an official language since its independence in 1968, while French became official in 1984, and Portuguese in 2007.
According to data provided by Instituto Cervantes, 13.7% of the population is fluent or semi-fluent in Spanish, and 74% speak it correctly, which makes up a total of 87.7% of the entire population. Additionally, Equatorial Guinean Spanish is regulated by the Equatoguinean Academy of the Spanish Language.
2) The Spanish-speaking country with a high population of African-descent people
Equatorial Guinea is the only Spanish-speaking country in the world with the highest population of African-descent people. Almost all the residents have Spanish names.
The main ethnic groups are Fang (72% of the population, based mainly in Rio Muni), Bubi (15%, in Bioko), Fernandinos (in Bioko), Bisios and Ndowes on the coast, and residents from the Annobon Island, the only territory of the country located in the Southern Hemisphere.
White Europeans of Spanish origin are the minority. There has been a flux of immigration from Asia and other African countries to work in the cocoa and coffee fields. Although British, French, and German communities have also immigrated to the territory, the French are the only ones who did not adopt the Spanish language.
3) Variety of native languages
Besides Spanish, French, and Portuguese, in Equatorial Guinea, more native spoken languages come from western Bantu. The most popular are the Fang (spoken by about 300 thousand people), the Bubi (spoken by 40,000 people), the Ndowe (spoken by 4 thousand people), and the Bisio or Bujeba (spoken by 11 thousand people.)
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4) A territory of great biological diversity
An interesting fact about Equatorial Guinea is that the largest and most populated city is not the current capital city, Malabo, located on an island, but Bata, which is on the mainland and used to be the capital of the country.
19% of the territory is conservation land; 45% is forested, with tropical trees that showcase the country’s biodiversity. Two of the largest islands, Bioko and Annobon, are volcanic in nature and part of a mountain range that begins in Cameroon and elevates in the Atlantic.
5) Equatorial Guinean Spanish
Given the circumstances around the arrival of Spanish to Equatorial Guinea, the variety of native tongues, and the diverse sociolinguistics, Equatorial Guinean Spanish shares the typical characteristics of a regional locale, a bilingual locale (just like Paraguay and the Guarani language), and a variety of sociolects under one roof (Source: John Lipski – Revista Iberoamericana, 2014).
Ever since it was declared an official language in 1984, French gained ground over Spanish, especially in business and media. This has given way to a blend of languages, known as espaguifrances.
