Since independence in 1968, Equatorial Guinea has been ruled by two men - from the same family - who have been described by a variety of human rights organisations as among the worst abusers of human rights in Africa.
In recent years the former Spanish colony has become one of sub-Saharan Africa's biggest oil producers.
Large oil and gas deposits were discovered off Bioko in the mid-1990s and their exploitation has driven spectacular growth. In 2004 Equatorial Guinea had the world's fastest-growing economy.
AT-A-GLANCEBut few people have benefited from the oil riches and the country ranks near the bottom of a UN human development index. The government has started a scheme to divert a share of oil revenues into social projects.
The corruption watchdog Transparency International has put Equatorial Guinea in the top 10 of its list of corrupt states. Despite calls for more transparency in the sector, President Obiang has said oil revenues are a state secret.
In 1996 Equatorial Guinea's first multi-party presidential election was held amid reports of widespread fraud and irregularities, returning President Obiang Nguema with 99% of the vote.
His government has been accused of widespread human rights abuses and of suppressing political opposition. A government-in-exile has been formed by opposition leaders living in exile in Spain; President Obiang accused its leader of sponsoring a failed coup in 2004.
Equatorial Guinea's territory includes the island of Bioko, off the Cameroonian coast, which hosts the capital, Malabo.
In the 1970s it became notorious when the widespread human rights abuses of President Francisco Nguema caused a third of the population to flee.
President: Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo
Mr Obiang Nguema overthrew his uncle, President Francisco Nguema, in 1979. The former leader was tried and executed.
The new president proclaimed an amnesty for refugees and released some 5,000 political prisoners, but kept the absolute control he had inherited.
Officials said President Obiang Nguema won more than 97% of the vote in the country's most-recent presidential elections, in December 2002. Opposition candidates had withdrawn from the poll, citing fraud and irregularities.
A French judge announced in May 2009 that he would launch a landmark investigation into whether President Obiang, Omar Bongo, the late president of Gabon, and Congolese President Denis Sassou Nguesso plundered state coffers to buy luxury homes and cars in France.
A complaint filed by Transparency International France accused the leaders, who denied any wrongdoing, of acquiring millions of dollars of real estate in Paris and on the French Riviera and buying luxury cars with embezzled public money.
An ethnic Fang, Teodoro Obiang Nguema was born in 1942 in mainland Equatorial Guinea. He received military training in Spain and, after independence, served under his uncle-president, first as military governor of Bioko and then as presidential aide-de-camp.
Equatorial Guinea's media outlets are closely controlled by the government. There are few private publications.
The nation ranked 158th out of 175 countries in the 2009 Reporters Without Borders press freedom index. The organisation has included President Obiang in its list of "Predators of Press Freedom". It says the information ministry, which serves as the media regulator, is staffed by ruling party members.
Radio France Internationale and Gabon-based Africa No. 1 are available on FM in Malabo.
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