Religion and History in Equatorial Guinea

This article records tradition as it has been passed down and reported. Its sources are not yet part of the atlas's verified catalogue.

Equatorial Guinea is overwhelmingly Roman Catholic, a legacy of nearly two centuries of Spanish colonial rule that ended in 1968, with a smaller Protestant minority and a small Muslim community drawn mostly from West African migrant workers. About 88 per cent of the population is Roman Catholic and 5 per cent Protestant, according to the 2015 national census, with a Muslim community of roughly 2 per cent.

President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, in power since 1979, has cultivated close public ties to the Catholic hierarchy even as human rights organizations have documented pressure on unregistered congregations and on clergy seen as insufficiently supportive of the government. The country's religious landscape reflects its colonial history closely: the Catholic Church's dominance traces directly to Spanish rule, and the government's continued favor toward it long after independence has kept that colonial-era religious hierarchy intact rather than displaced by a postcolonial reordering.