Equatorial Guinea on the map.

With a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita of $50,200, the tiny oil rich West Central African country of Equatorial Guinea is the second richest in the world. Only Luxemburg, with a per capita income of $68,800 has a higher GDP per capita. Coming in third is the United Arab Emirates with $49,700.

The country has a population of 551,201 (July 2007 estimate) and lies between Cameroon and Gabon.The capital is Malabo.

Equatorial Guinea gained independence in 1968 after 190 years of Spanish rule. This tiny country, composed of a mainland portion plus five inhabited islands, is one of the smallest on the African continent. President OBIANG NGUEM MBASOGO has ruled the country for over two decades since seizing power from his uncle, then President MACIAS, in a 1979 coup.  Although nominally a constitutional democracy since 1991, the 1996 and 2002 presidential elections - as well as the 1999 legislative elections - were widely seen as being flawed. The president controls most opposition parties through the judicious use of patronage. Despite the country’s economic windfall from oil production resulting in a massive increase in government revenue in recent years, unfortunately, there have been few improvements in the country’s living standards. Source: aneki.com

So where is all this wealth? There should be some world development standard at the UN that requires countries to spend a certain percentage of Income on development. there should even be a ceiling on the percentage of revenue the big oil company can keep.

This is a relatively sparsely populated country. With an area of 28,051 square km (10,831 square miles), the population density (July 2007 estimate) is 19.65 persons per square km or 50.89 persons per square mile (Jamaica is only 4,411 square miles with a population of less than 2.7 million!). Although they only get 12% of the oil revenue, there should be enough to go around for the small population. That high GDP per capita should be contributing to rapid development. The recent oil price increase should make them even richer! However, let’s give them a little time. Oil was only discovered there 14 years ago.

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