Bioko in the context of Bight of Biafra

Equatorial Guinea, officially the Republic of Equatorial Guinea, is a country on the west coast of Central Africa. It has an area of 28,000 square kilometres (11,000 sq mi). Formerly the colony of Spanish Guinea, its post-independence name refers to its location both near the Equator and in the African region of Guinea. As of 2024, the country had a population of 1,795,834, over 85% of whom are members of the Fang people, the country's dominant ethnic group. The Bubi people, indigenous to Bioko, are the second largest group at approximately 6.5% of the population.

Equatorial Guinea consists of two parts. The mainland region, Río Muni, is bordered by Cameroon to the north and Gabon to the south and east. It has the majority of the population and is the location of Bata, Equatorial Guinea's largest city, and Ciudad de la Paz, the country's planned future capital. Río Muni's small offshore islands include Corisco, Elobey Grande, and Elobey Chico. The insular region consists of the islands of Bioko (formerly Fernando Po) in the Gulf of Guinea and Annobón. Bioko Island is the northernmost part of Equatorial Guinea and is the site of the country's capital, Malabo. The Portuguese-speaking island nation of São Tomé and Príncipe is located between Bioko and Annobón.

The Bubi people (also known as Bobe, Voove, Ewota and Bantu Bubi) are a Bantu ethnic group indigenous to Bioko Island, Equatorial Guinea. Once the majority group in the region, the population experienced a sharp decline due to war and disease during Portuguese expeditions. By the end of Spanish colonial rule in the mid 20th century, and after substantial intermarriage with newly introduced populations, such as Afro-Cubans, Krio people, Portuguese people and Spaniards, the Bubi people, again, experienced a great decline in number. Seventy-five percent perished due to tribal/clan rooted political genocide during a civil war that led to Spanish Guinea's independence from Spain. This, too, sparked mass exodus from their homeland with most of the exiles and refugees immigrating into Spain. The indigenous Bubi of Bioko Island have since co-existed with non-indigenous Krio Fernandinos; and members of the Fang ethnic group, who have immigrated in large numbers from Río Muni. Once numbering approximately 3 million, the Bubi currently number around 100,000 worldwide.

The Bubi people, both living in Equatorial Guinea and exiled abroad, have long held little political power and economic stake in their native land. However, appointed government officials, such as the former Prime Minister Miguel Abia Biteo Boricó and several other members of the current Equatorial Guinea government, are of ethnic Bubi descent.

Ciudad de la Paz (Spanish: [θjuˈdad de la ˈpaθ], lit. 'City of Peace'), also known as Djibloho or 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-Nzas in 2015, it is now the administrative headquarters of Djibloho, Equatorial Guinea's newest province created in 2017, and is located near the town of Mengomeyén. In 2017, the city was officially renamed Ciudad de la Paz ("City of Peace").

The planned city's location was chosen for its easy access and benign climate. It is notably on the mainland, in contrast to Malabo, which is on the island of Bioko. It was designed by the Portuguese Studio for Architecture and Urbanism FAT – Future Architecture Thinking. It is projected to have around 200,000 inhabitants, a new Parliament building, a number of presidential villas and an area of 8150 hectares. The construction of this new capital has been criticised by the political opposition to President Teodoro Obiang, the driving force behind the initiative. The Government of Equatorial Guinea began to move to the city in early 2017.

Elobey Chico, or Little Elobey, is a small island off the coast of Equatorial Guinea, lying 6.5 km from 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 Muni. Officially, the island was associated with Fernando Pó, but the connection seemed to be little more than fiction. The majority of the factories were owned by Hamburg Merchants.

The island is on the 1st degree north latitude circle.

The Insular Region of Equatorial Guinea (Spanish: Región Insular de Guinea Ecuatorial, French: Région insulaire de Guinée équatoriale, Portuguese: Região Insular da Guiné Equatorial) comprises the former Spanish territory of Fernando Po, together with Annobón island, the latter formerly part of the Spanish territory of Elobey, Annobón, and Corisco, which was located in the Gulf of Guinea and in the Corisco Bay.

The region covers 2,052 km and has a population of 340,362 in 2015. It is split into three political jurisdictions:

Malabo (/məˈlɑːboʊ/ mə-LAH-boh, Spanish: [maˈlaβo] ; (formerly Santa Isabel [ˈsantajsaˈβel] ) is the capital of Equatorial Guinea in the province of Bioko Norte. It is located on the north coast of the island of Bioko (Bube: Etulá, and as Fernando Pó by the Europeans). In 2018, the city had a population of approximately 297,000 inhabitants.

Spanish is the official language of the city and of the country as well, but Pichinglis is used as a language of wider communication across Bioko island, including Malabo.

The Fernandino people are creoles, multi-ethnic or multi-racial populations who developed in Equatorial Guinea (Spanish Guinea). Their name is derived from the island of Fernando Pó, where many worked. This island was named for the Portuguese explorer Fernão do Pó, credited with discovering the region.

Each population had a distinct ethnic, social, cultural and linguistic history. Members of these communities provided most of the labor that built and expanded the cocoa farming industry on Fernando Pó during the 1880s and 1890s. The Fernandino of Fernando Po were closely related to each other. Because of the history of labor in this area, where workers were recruited, effectively impressed, from Freetown, Cape Coast, and Lagos, the Fernandino also had family ties to those areas. Eventually these ethnically distinct groups intermarried and integrated. In 21st-century Bioko, their differences are considered marginal.

Pico Basilé (formerly Pico de Santa Isabel or Clarence Peak), located on the island of Bioko, is the tallest mountain of Equatorial Guinea. With an elevation of 3,011 metres (9,879 feet), it is the summit of the largest and highest of three overlapping basaltic shield volcanoes which form the island. From the summit, Mount Cameroon can be seen to the north-east. Pico Basilé lies close to the city of Malabo. The very top is used as a broadcast transmitting station for RTVGE (Radio Television Guinea Ecuatorial) and microwave relay station for various communication networks.

The peak forms a part of Pico Basilé National Park, created in April 2000 The boundaries of Bioko Norte and Sur runs near the summit. All three shield volcanoes on Bioko Island are listed within the Smithsonian Global Volcanism Program database of active volcanoes, though only Pico Basilé has erupted in historic times (most recently in 1923).