CULTURAL PHENOMENAL IN EQUATORIAL GUINEA

SUBJECT CULTURAL PHENOMENA

Language  The official language used by about 90% of its inhabitants is Spanish. It is
taught in schools and used by the media as a means of communication common
to Bioko Island and the main land and is widely used for inter-ethnic
communication.
 2.5% speaks French while the other languages by about 7.5% are Portuguese,
Pichinglis, Fang, Ibo, Bubi, Annobonesis, Creole English, and German.
 Each ethnic group speaks its own language.
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Religion  About 93% of the population are Christians. Within the Christian population
87% are Roman Catholic and about 5% are main line protestant primarily
Baptist and Episcopalian.
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Food  The main foods are cassava root, bananas, rice, and yams. People supplement
their primarily plant based diet through hunting and fishing.
 Palm wine and malamba(an alcoholic drink made from sugarcane) are both
popular.
 Chicken and ducks are usually serve at special occasions.
 However, rural areas based their dishes primarily on meat and fish, with more
urban area offering Spanish influenced restaurants serving paella and potato
omelette.
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Musical Instrument  Among the Fang of the mainland, traditional music are in which Fang harp,
xylophones, great drums, and wooden trumpets are used.
 The largest ethnic group the Fang, are known for their mvet, a cross between a
zither and a harp. Mvet can have up to 15 strings. The semi-spherical part of
this instrument is made of bamboo and stings are attached to the center by
fibers.
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Dance  The balele is a type of dance that originated out of the Bubi tribes and is still
performed today. The music is performed with the three or four person
orchestras and is often seen along the coastal region throughout the year. It’s
also dance on the island of Bioko as part of the Christmas traditions there.
 The ibangs is a more risqué dance from Fang tradition, which is the other main
dance in the country.
 Another festival that includes dancing is called the abira: it’s a community wide
celebration that rids the entire community of evil.
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Song  The national anthem of Equatorial Guinea was written by Atanasio Ndongo
MIyone and adopted in 1968, when the country gained independence in Spain.
 Pan-Afican styles like soukous and makossa are popular, as are reggae and
rock and roll. Acoustic guitar bands based on a Spanish model are the country’s
best known indigenous popular tradition, especially national stars Desmali and
Dambo de la Costa.
 Other musicians from Equatorial Guinea include Malabo Strit Band, Luna
Loca, Chiquitin, Dambo de la Costa,Ngal Madunga, Lily Afro, and Spain-based
exiles like Super MOmo,Hijas del Sol and Baron Ya Buk-lu.
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Holiday and  All major Christian holidays are recognized as Equatorial Guinea holidays.
Ceremony Independence Day is celebrated annually on October 12. There are 11 public
observances every year, some influenced by worldwide celebrations (like
Women’s Day and New Year’s Day), while others are specific to the region
(like President’s Day and Constitution Day). There are also city-wide events
such as the famous Malabo Hip-Hop Festival.
 New Year’s Day-Every year on January 1
 Africa Cup of Nations- One of the continent’s largest sporting events, the
Africa Cup of Nations is a soccer tournament held every two years with
participation from 16 national teams. A highly anticipated event, it was hosted
in Equatorial Guinea in 2012, from January 21 to February 12.
CULTURAL PHENOMENAL IN EQUATORIAL GUINEA
 President’s Day is Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo’s birthday, which is
celebrated annually on June 5. He has been the political leader of Equatorial
Guinea since 1979 and is known for ousting his dictator uncle, Francisco
Macias Nguema.
 Music Day Festival was held on July 28, but the dates change yearly.
 August 3 is Equatorial Guinea’s Armed Forces Day to honor the military. It is
treated as a public holiday where members of the armed forces gather together
for a feast filled with food and drinks. Exhibitions are also held to showcase
key achievements.
 Equatorial Guinea is mostly Roman Catholic, so the country celebrates
Christmas every December 25.
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Custom  As a member of the six-nation Central African Economic Community
(CEMAC), Equatorial Guinea shares customs systems and practices with its
neighbors. The CEMAC, if it succeeds, promises to make trade with Central
African countries much easier and more efficient. The tariff system is divided
into four simple categories: basic necessities are taxed at a rate of 5%, raw
materials and equipment at 10%, capital goods at 20%, and consumer goods at
30%. There is also a fiscal tax of 15–40% charged on all imports except alcohol
and tobacco, for which there is a different rate, and a turnover tax of 5-12%.
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Sports  Equatorial Guinea is a small central African nation with a big love of football.
It was introduced to the country in the Spanish colonial times and has grown to
be the most popular sport of the country. The national football team made quite
a few impacts like qualifying for the FIFA World Cup in 2006 as well as the
African Cup of Nations. Equatorial Guinea co-hosted, along with Gabon, the
2012 African Cup of Nations by hosting it in Malabo and Bata. The Equatorial
Guinea National Olympic Committee was formed in 1980 and received
recognition by in 1984 from the International Olympic Committee just in time
to participate in the 1984 Summer Olympic Games.
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Tradition  Greetings are usually accompanied by an enthusiastic handshake and
sometimes a small bow. In cities, Spanish greetings such as ¡Buenos días!
(“Good day!”) and ¡Buenas noches! (“Good evening!”) are common. A light
kiss on each cheek may be used to greet women.
 In villages, handshakes with local greetings are more common. For example,
Mbolo (“Hello”) is common on the mainland. Rural Fang women often greet
each other by joining both forearms together up to the elbow, bowing slightly at
the hips and knees, and issuing a long, low, guttural Sah (“Hello”). Other Fang
greetings include Mbamba kiri (“Good day”) and Mbamba aloo (“Good
evening”).
 Leisure time in Equatorial Guinea, especially on weekends, is often spent on
social visits, and Voy a pasear (“I am going visiting”) is the common
expression for the activity. Drumming, dancing, and singing are part of holiday
celebrations and family events. Soccer is the only group sport, but it is very
popular and every village has a soccer field. A traditional strategy-based board
game is played with rocks and seeds.
 Many marriages are still arranged. When two people marry, a three-day
wedding celebration of dancing and feasting marks the woman’s acceptance
into her husband’s clan. This celebration is preceded by negotiations between
the two families on the bride price (paid to the bride’s family), which can be
extremely high. Because of the expense, young people often enter into a
common-law relationship and begin having children before they are married.
Any children born before the wedding technically belong to the woman’s
father, but the groom can take the children when he pays the bride price and
formally marries the woman. In the rare case of divorce, the bride price must be
returned to the husband, who retains the children, while the woman returns to
her family.
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