a small country of West Africa on the Gulf of Guinea, comprising several offshore islands and a coastal settlement between Cameroon and Gabon; pop. 633,400 (est. 2009); languages, Spanish (official), local Niger-Congo languages, pidgin; capital, Malabo (on the island of Bioko). Formerly a Spanish colony, the country became fully independent in 1968. It is the only independent Spanish-speaking state in the continent of Africa.