Spanish Guinea

Spanish Territories of the Gulf of Guinea
Territorios Españoles del Golfo de Guinea
Spanish colony
1778–1968
Flag (after 1945) Coat of arms
Location of Spanish Guinea in central Africa.
Capital		Santa Isabel (now Malabo)
Languages		Spanish
Political structure		Colony
Head of State
•	1778–1788	Carlos III (first)
•	1936–1968	Francisco Franco (last)
Governor
•	1964 (last)	Pedro Latorre Alcubierre
Commissioner-General
•	1964–1966 (first)	Pedro Latorre Alcubierre
•	1966–1968 (last)	Víctor Suances Díaz del Río
History
•	Established	11 March 1778
•	Independence	12 October 1968
Currency		Spanish Guinea peseta
Preceded by Succeeded by Bioko Annobón Río Muni Equatorial Guinea

Spanish Guinea (Spanish: Guinea Española) was a set of insular and continental territories controlled by Spain since 1778 in the Gulf of Guinea and on the Bight of Bonny, in Central Africa. It gained independence in 1968 and is known as Equatorial Guinea.

The Spanish colony in the Guinea region was established in 1778, by the Treaty of El Pardo between the Spanish Empire and the Kingdom of Portugal. Between 1778 and 1810, Spain administered the territory of Equatorial Guinea via its colonial Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata, based in Buenos Aires (in present-day Argentina).

From 1827 to 1843, the United Kingdom had a base on Bioko to combat the continuing Atlantic slave trade conducted by Spain and illegal traders. Based on an agreement with Spain in 1843, Britain moved its base to its own colony of Sierra Leone in West Africa. In 1844, on restoration of Spanish sovereignty, it became known as the "Territorios Españoles del Golfo de Guinea".

Spain had never undertaken colonial settlement of the large area in the Bight of Biafra to which it had treaty rights. The French expanded their occupation at the expense of the area claimed by Spain. By the treaty of Paris in 1900, Spain was left with the continental enclave of Rio Muni, 26,000 km² of the 300,000 stretching east to the Ubangi river, which the Spaniards had previously claimed.