The statements in this article are based on reliable sources and are repeated at the end of this article
There are three countries in Africa called "Guinea", which means "country of blacks" in Berber.
One of them is called "Equatorial Guinea", because of the original colonial era, its national borders are in a standard straight line.
In this country with a land area of only 28,000 square kilometers, its capital is not landlocked or on the coast, but on a small island nearly 200 kilometers away.
What did Equatorial Guinea think, why did it have its capital on such a small island, and why didn't it move its capital?
01
The nearest island is Cameroon, only 45 kilometers away, while Malabo, the capital of Equatorial Guinea, is located to the northeast of the island.
The second closest is Nigeria, which is only 90 kilometers from its coastline, which makes Bioko Island very awkward.
And the area of this small island is only 2,034 square kilometers, which is one-third of Shanghai's.
It stands to reason that Equatorial Guinea faces the Atlantic Ocean, and it should be possible to choose a suitable large city as its capital either inland or on the coast, but why did it choose Malabo on Bioko Island?
The United Nations stipulates that the 12-nautical-mile stretch from the territory of the country belongs to the territory of this country, but it is clearly far beyond this distance than Oko Island.
And if people in Equatorial Guinea need to run to the capital, they need to take a plane or a boat to get there.
Why would they prefer to be so inconvenient to have their capital on Bioko Island? In fact, it all started with the frenzied colonization of the Age of Sail at that time.
02
In the 15th century, the Portuguese discovered the island of Bioko and named it Formosa.
But because Portugal had too many such colonies at that time, Bioko Island, which was deep in the Gulf of Guinea, was not taken seriously, but the Spaniards did not think so.
As early as the discovery of the New World in the Americas, the Spaniards established their own huge colonies, and it is reasonable not to covet such a small island, but due to the killings and viruses at that time, the population of the Americas decreased rapidly.
In order to cultivate the farms to a greater extent and obtain more wealth, the Spaniards decided to import black slaves from Africa.
That's when Bioko Island came into play, becoming a natural dock for docking.
In 1827, the Spanish officially made Malabo the capital of the region, and as the Spanish continued to invade, Equatorial Guinea, which is now located on the African soil, became their colony, and the two regions were completely controlled by the Spanish.
Although the Republic of Equatorial Guinea declared its independence in 1968, because the Spaniards had made Malabo on Bioko their capital hundreds of years earlier, it was certainly better to come in all respects than to choose a new place as the capital.
This is why Equatorial Guinea still chooses Malabo as its capital, and at the same time, it does not change.
03
Another reason is that Equatorial Guinea's native location does not meet their needs.
We can see that Equatorial Guinea is completely surrounded by other countries in three directions, and imports and exports are extremely restricted.
Even the terrain is not flat, most of the area is plateaus and mountains, and the altitude reaches 500 to 1,000 meters.
The only area they have facing the sea has no real harbor, and although the coastal area is flat compared to the inland, the coastline is not tortuous and unsuitable for ships to dock, and there is no way to develop the economy by sea in such conditions.
Bioko Island is quite different, it is geographically higher than Equatorial Guinea, so it does not have as hot temperatures, and the rainfall is not as exaggerated as the average annual rainfall of 2,000 mm in Equatorial Guinea.
Compared to Equatorial Guinea, which is dark and humid all day long and has short sunshine hours, the climate is more suitable than that of Oko Island.
In fact, the issue of moving the capital in Equatorial Guinea is not without controversy, but it has been delayed again and again because of the discovery of one thing.
After all, Malabo is so close to Cameroon that they can even see the mountains on the opposite side, and the economic gap with the interior is getting bigger and bigger, which will be problematic in the long run, so they chose Bata and La Paz as alternative capitals.
But at the end of the last century, a large amount of oil and gas resources were discovered in the waters near Bioko Island, which is great news for Equatorial Guinea, but because of the proximity to Cameroon and Nigeria as we mentioned above, there is also a lot of controversy between the parties.
Fearing that negotiations on oil and gas resources would become more difficult after the relocation of the capital, Equatorial Guinea's plan to move the capital has been repeatedly delayed.
04
In fact, in addition to Equatorial Guinea's choice to establish its capital on a small island, there is another country that we are all familiar with has also built its capital "outside", which is the "fairy tale world" Denmark that we are all familiar with.
I believe everyone is familiar with Copenhagen, the capital of Denmark, which is rated as one of the happiest cities in the world, and is also the place often chosen for United Nations meetings.
Most of Denmark's territory is located on the Jutland Peninsula, which is a good place in terms of climate and geographical location, but why did Denmark choose the island of Zealand as its capital?
Of course, it's because the geography is better! Compared to Jutland, which is all flat, Zealand is surrounded by the sea, so in the event of a war, it will be easy to defend and difficult to attack.
The Danes, who were formerly Vikings, would of course choose to defend the sea, and it was a matter of habit for them.
And the fact that it's a gateway for ships is really important to them.
It can be seen that whether it is Equatorial Guinea or Denmark, the establishment of their capitals was carefully considered, and not for nothing. [Floating clouds]
Reference Sources:
Ministry of Commerce of the People's Republic of China - August 14, 2023 Report on "Equatorial Guinea intends to further boost oil and gas economy".
China International Development Cooperation Agency - January 2024 Report on "Equatorial Guinea Country Profile".
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China - December 2023 Report on the "Economic Community of Central African States".