The main official language of Equatorial Guinea is Spanish. Being a former Spanish colony, as well as a country of dozens of difficult linguistic ethnic groups, Spanish acts as the main form of inter-ethnic communication, as well as the main medium for education and government. French and Portuguese are also official languages, but only spoken by a small minority.
There are dozens of native languages spoken, which include Bube, Benga, Ndowe, Balengue, Bujeba, Gumu and Igbo.
Spanish
The main official language, Spanish, is spoken by roughly 70% of the population. The local dialect of Spanish is called Equatoguinean Spanish or Español ecuatoguineano .
Equatorial Guinea is the only sub-Saharan country with Spanish as an official language.
Portuguese
A small percentage of the population living on Annondon, an island near the formerly Portuguese colony of Sao Tome and Principe, speak Fa D’ambo, a Portuguese creole language.
You will find small numbers of Portuguese creole speakers on the mainland, and also in Malabo.
Fang
From 1968 until 1982 Fang was the official language of Equatorial Guinea. It is the most widely spoken language in the country, spoken by the largest ethnic group. The language is not indigenous to the island of Bioko and is only found on the mainland with its speakers distributed through Equatorial Guinea and Gabon.
English
There is very little English spoken in Equatorial Guinea. Most young Equatoguineans see their future in Spain and therefore learn Spanish in order to better themselves. You will not have any issues getting by in restaurants or shops, but having more meaningful conversations will be rarer.
