Languages of Equatorial Guinea

Map of Equatorial Guinea.

The official languages of Equatorial Guinea are: firstly, Spanish, secondly, French, and thirdly, recently incorporated, Portuguese. Equatorial Guinea is the first independent country where Spanish and French are official languages. Same relationship between Spanish and Portuguese, and also between French and Portuguese. It is currently the only African country where Spanish is the official language along with the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, a state with limited recognition.

The current Constitution of 1991 (reformed on February 16, 2012) in its articles establishes:

Article 4: The official languages of the Republic of Equatorial Guinea are Spanish, French and those determined by the Law. Indigenous languages are recognized as members of national culture.

Basic Law of Equatorial Guinea.

Among the indigenous languages, Fang, Bubi, and other Bantu languages are spoken, which together constitute the mother tongue of the majority of the population.

Languages of European origin

Floral Registration with Country Name in Spanish in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea

Spanish

Spanish in Africa.

Spanish is the language of the education system, due to which the majority of the population (about 88%) can speak it, but only around 10-15% of the population have a high level of proficiency in it. the language.

Spanish was an official language from 1844 to the 1970s. For a brief period in the 1970s, Spanish was declared an "imported" language and its use was prohibited, nor did any Spanish language academy exist in Equatorial Guinea such as in the rest of the countries that have Spanish as their official language. As of August 3, 1979, it was once again declared an official language. The government of Equatorial Guinea created an Equatoguinean Academy of the Spanish Language in October 2013, which later became part of the Association of Academies of the Spanish Language; the establishment of a program that reinforces the dissemination of Spanish in the media and the reinforcement of the Spanish courses for foreigners already established by the National University of Equatorial Guinea. The cultural centers of Spain in Malabo and Bata have a Management commission from the Instituto Cervantes for the examination of the Diplomas of Spanish as a Foreign Language. The Equatoguinean campus of the National Distance Education University-UNED also teaches Spanish for foreigners, as well as French and Portuguese through the CUID.

In July 2022, the Instituto Cervantes organized the 15th Tribune of Hispanicism at the Cultural Center of Spain in Malabo, dedicated to Equatorial Guinean Hispanicism. In it, Luis García Montero announced the "upcoming opening of an observatory of Spanish in Africa based in Malabo".

French

Since 1998, French has also been the official language of Equatorial Guinea, upon joining the Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa through monetary circulation (CFA Franc). French was adopted as an official language, although in practice its use is very minor and it was adopted to be able to belong to the Community of French-speaking states, with the benefits of market openings that this means.

Portuguese

Portuguese became official on July 18, 2007 as the third language in Equatorial Guinea, in order to acquire full membership of the CPLP (Community of Portuguese Language Countries). The country also wanted the support of the eight member countries (Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, Portugal, Sao Tome and Principe and East Timor) to spread the teaching of the Portuguese language in the country, for professional training of its students and that these could be better considered by the countries of the Lusophone community. On July 20, 2012, the CPLP again rejected Equatorial Guinea's request to be considered a full member, but it was finally accepted during the Dili summit in East Timor on July 23, 2014.

Annabonense Creole, natively developed in Annobón, also has a Portuguese lexical base.

Use on the Internet

Document issued by the Government of Equatorial Guinea

Native languages

Aboriginal languages are recognized as part of the national culture (Constitutional Law No. 1/1998 of January 21): Fang also spoken in areas of Cameroon, Gabon and the Democratic Republic of Congo; bubi, on the island of Bioko; balengue in the Continental Region; Ibo and Creole English (pichi, pichinglis < Pidgin English) also in Bioko, and bisio-bujeba. The Benga-ndowé language (also called kombe or ngumbi) belongs to the group of ndowé located in the coastal zone of the continental part of the country, and is related to the bubi. Pichi is not officially recognized and there are no reliable statistics but it probably has more speakers than the native languages except perhaps Fang.

Fang

African languages of Equatorial Guinea and its environment. Not including European and Creole languages.

The Fang language is the main language of the continental territory of Equatorial Guinea, it has more than a million speakers of which almost 300,000 are Equatoguineans. It is a Bantu language of geographic area A (in Guthrie's classification).

Bubi-Benga languages

The Bubi language is the main language of Bioko Island, around 1995 the number of speakers was estimated at 40,000. It is a Bantu language of geographic area A (in Guthrie's classification).

Benga is spoken on the southern shores of the Río Muni among the Ndowé by about 3,000 people and is considered to be clearly related to Bubi.

Also Batanga spoken north of Benga by about 9,000 people in Equatorial Guinea (in Gabon there would be another 6,000 speakers). It is spoken in the southern part of the coastal region of Río Muni. It is considered related to the benga.

Yasa (also called yassa or lyassa) is also considered a Bubi-Benga language spoken by about 900 people (2000).

Seki

Seki (also called baseke or seke) is spoken by about 11,000 people (2001). In the north, next to the border with Cameroon, they only have three communities or towns in Equatorial Guinea, including Yengue, Ngonamanga and Viadibe (there is another group of Seki speakers in Gabon). It is a Bantu language of geographic area B (in Guthrie's classification).

Kwasio-Bujeba

Kwasio, Bissio or Bujeba is spoken by less than 10,000 people (in 1982 the number of registered speakers was 8,500). It is spoken in the coastal region of Río Muni, although not on the coast line, which is occupied by the "playeros" or ndowé. It is a Bantu language of geographic area A (in Guthrie's classification).

Balengue

The Balengue language, molengue or lengue, is a language spoken in southern Equatorial Guinea by about a thousand people in 2002. It is a Bantu language of geographic area B (in Guthrie's classification), although other authors consider it to be a northwestern Bantu language awaiting proper classification.

Pidgins and Creoles

Pidgins and Creoles are indigenously developed languages but whose origin and development is due to contact with European colonizers. In the territory of Equatorial Guinea there are two of these languages:

• Anonymous spoken on the Island of Annobón
• The Pidgin English of West Africa spoken especially in the border regions with Cameroon.

Pichi

Pichi (picchinglis) derives from the Krio creole language, which first arrived on the island of Bioko brought by African settlers from Freetown, Sierra Leone, in 1827. Pichi It is the second most spoken language in the country, only behind Fang and closely followed by Bubi. Used mainly by the Fernandinos, an ethnic group established in Bioko.