Mbini

Mbini refers to the part of Equatorial Guinea located on the African mainland . It used to be called Río Muni . As the Región Continental , Mbini is one of the two regions of the country today.

geography

Mbini is 26,017 km² and has about 400,000 inhabitants, most of whom belong to the Fang people . It borders Cameroon to the north, Gabon to the south and east, and the Gulf of Guinea to the west . It is about 2 ° north of the equator and therefore has a tropical climate . The capital of Mbini is Bata , the capital of Equatorial Guinea is on Bioko and is called Malabo .

The coastal plain is only about 20 km wide, behind it the land rises to about 1000 m height.

history

This area was claimed by Portugal at the end of the 15th century and ceded to Spain in 1778 . The inland was only colonized around 1900. During the First World War , the German protection force of Cameroon was interned in Río Muni in 1916 in order not to have to capitulate to the Allies . The internees included the tropical medicine specialist Heinrich Werner and the architect Roderich Fick .

In 1960 the territory was divided into two Spanish provinces, which were reunited in 1963.

On October 12, 1968, the independent Republic of Equatorial Guinea was established . Its first president was Francisco Macías Nguema .