# data[].attributes.body
Equato Guineans can get a better education depending on their family’s wealth. Large families are a sign of large wealth, and good health. On average, one family can have between four and five kids. Because of this, it is a good thing that the public schools are free. Most people attend school for thirteen years (not counting university) There are public schools, private schools, and religious schools. There is also only one university. Public school is free, while religious and private schools cost money. Though they do cost more money, religious and private schools usually have better education. Some other schools include spanish, french, and turkish. Unfortunately, most schools don’t have enough teachers. And on top of that, the teachers that they do have, are almost always underpaid, and undertrained.  Many of the schools are also unstable and unsanitary structures. (see picture) Recently, early marriages and teenage pregnancies have drastically decreased the number of people finishing their education.

# data[].attributes.body
Equatorial Guinea is best known for being the only country in Africa with spanish as its national language. This is because Equatorial Guinea was originally colonized by Spain as Spanish Guinea. Spanish is used for writing, school, public, and transactions, but it is not the language that is most commonly spoken in homes. This map shows where spanish is spoken as a common language.

# data[].attributes.body
The main export in Equatorial Guinea is petroleum oil. In the 1990’s, foreign corporations began drilling slightly offshore. This expanded, making Equatorial Guinea one of the largest Sub-Saharan oil manufacturers. Other exports include agricultural products such as cocoa beans, coffee, cassava, bananas, and palm oil nuts. Even with this, Equatorial Guinea doesn’t have very much manufacturing. Because of this, timber is normally shipped out as bare logs.

# data[].attributes.body
The president of Equatorial Guinea is Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo (pictured) In 1979, he initiated a coup in which his uncle, the current dictator, was killed. Mbasogo then created a government where there is a president who is elected to a seven year term. In 2011, a constitutional amendment made it so that each person can only serve for two terms. There are many claims of Mbasogo being corrupt. One of the reasons is who he chose as vice-president. In Equatorial Guinea, the president gets to pick his vice, his prime minister, and his cabinet members. He chose his son as his vice-president.

# data[].attributes.body
Most people in Equatorial Guinea are Roman Catholic. As is their custom, many people attend church on Sunday. Many of them also combine their Roman Catholic beliefs, with their traditional African beliefs. In this way, they stay connected to their ancestors religion, while still practicing their own religion.

# data[].attributes.body
Equatorial Guinea is a hot country that is made up of multiple islands, with one mainland area which is about the size of Maryland. The capital city, Malabo, is on Bioko, the largest island. As it is located in West Africa, it is partially covered by dense tropical rainforests. Equatorial Guinea has a total square mileage of 10,831 miles squared. The average temperature is 850F with an average overall yearly rainfall of 95 inches.Bioko usually has a higher temperature than the mainland with an average of 940F. Malabo has an average temperature of 840F, even though it’s on Bioko. February and April are usually the warmest months in the year.

# data[].attributes.body
Although spanish is the national language, many other languages are also spoken a lot in Equatorial Guinea. The most major of which is french which is spoken even more than spanish. It is quite common to find french being spoken markets. The reason for this being the heavy french influence from surrounding countries. Though french is really common, most people speak their native tongues at home. This map shows where french is spoken as the national language.

# data[].attributes.body
There are many Sub-Saharan countries that have a presidential republic form of government. (See image below) One of which is Equatorial Guinea. In Equatorial Guinea, the president is elected through popular vote for seven years. Once elected, the president gets to appoint his own Cabinet Members, his Vice-President, and the Prime-Minister.

# data[].attributes.body
Equatorial Guinea uses the CFA Franc, or Central African Franc. They have used this since 1985  when they converted to provide a much needed economic boost.
Their main trading partners are China, South Korea, and Spain. Unfortunately, corruption stops the money from trades from getting to the local citizens. A large portion of the population lives in poverty and practices agriculture.

# data[].attributes.body
There are a few leisure activities that people enjoy in Equatorial Guinea. One of them is football (soccer) (pictured) Many Equato Guineans have fun playing and/or watching, football. It is the most popular sport. Other leisurely activities include the fine arts, children’s games, and making toys out of old or discarded items. Many people enjoy putting on performances with drumming, dancing, and singing. Children will also make up games to play like tag, hide and seek, and other games that they might come up with to play. Another creative thing that kids decide to do is use old and discarded items to make toys that the can play with. They can make a doll out of an old sack, something soft, buttons, and some fabric.

# data[].attributes.body
There hasn’t been a very long history with who owns this land. The land was given to Spain in the 1900 Treaty of Paris. In 1968, Francisco Macías Nguema became the first president. Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo initiated a successful coup on his uncle. Mbasogo was elected president.

# data[].attributes.body
Not only does Equatorial Guinea have your classic African animals, like a giraffe, hippopotamus, lion, it has some other animals that you have probably never heard of. Here are some of the better known ones.
Bioko Allen’s Bushbaby, Mandrill, Pennant’s Red Colobus, Fernando Po Speirops, which is a small, dark songbird, Annobon White-eye, which is a olive-green, small songbird, and the West African Manatee. Unfortunately, many of these animals are becoming endangered.

# data[].attributes.body
Perhaps the best known of all the arts, is painting, drawing, and sculptures. In Equatorial Guinea, one of the popular styles of this, is decorating masks. People will carve, draw, and paint on masks to form traditional symbols. They also sometimes carve statues, paint paintings, and draw drawings. Leandro Mbomio Nsue is a famous sculptor and artist from Equatorial Guinea.
Many also will blend the modern style of art, with their own traditional style.

# data[].attributes.body
The fine arts are also important to Equato Guineans. They will often have festivals with festive dancing, singing, and decorated masks. They’ll also play music to go along with the singing and the dancing. This music is often made by traditional animal hide drums, xylophones, and thumb pianos. A thumb pianos is a small box with an elliptical hole in it. Small strips of metal are fastened to the box and overlap the hole. The instrument is played by pushing down on the strips and then releasing them so that they vibrate and the sound resonates inside the box. These are just a few of many instruments used in these celebrations.

# data[].attributes.body
Equatorial Guinea’s first attempt at it’s own government didn’t end very well. The 1900 Treaty of Paris gave the land to Spain. On October 12, 1968, Spanish Guinea was granted independence and became, Equatorial Guinea. Francisco Macías Nguema was elected as the first president. This quickly turned sour because of stiffer political boundaries that were put in place in response to many coups and attacks on Malabo. Nguema became a terrible leader and caused all political rules to disappear except for inside security. The economy was only there because of Spanish, Cuban, and Soviet help. He also had about one third of the population either exiled, or killed. Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo later caused a successful coup in which his uncle was executed. He was later elected president.

# data[].attributes.body
There are a few major holidays in Equatorial Guinea. As most people are Roman Catholic, many of them are christian. They include but are not limited to,
New Years; Jan 1
Easter (Eggs Pictured)
Good Friday
Corpus Christi; May or June
President’s Birthday; June 5
Armed Forces Day; August 3
Constitution Day; August 15
Independance Day; October 12
Immaculate Conception Day; December 8
Christmas; December 25
These are just a few of the major holidays in Equatorial Guinea. There are many others from many other religions.