Equatorial People's Republic (Soviet Dominance)

The Equatorial People's Republic, known in short as the EPR, is a nation in Central Africa. It shares borders with two nations; those being Gabon and Cameroon.

Colonial Equatoguinea
The lands of the modern day EPR were first discovered in 1472 by Portuguese explorer Fernando Pó, who discovered the island of Bioko. He called the area "Formosa", a name that later would be given to the island of Taiwan. In 1778, the Portuguese and Spanish monarchies signed a treaty which ceded Bioko and some other lands in the nation to Spain. From that time to 1810, it was administered by the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata, based in Buenos Aires. The United Kingdom at one point had a military base on Bioko made to combat the slave trade, however it was moved to Sierra Leone in 1843. The Treaty of Paris in 1900 left Spain with just Rio Muni, just 26,000km out of the 300,000km stretching east they had claimed. Spain gained independence to the nation in 1968.

Independence
The nation gained independence from the Spanish in 1968. Francisco Macías Nguema was elected president. In 1970, he created a single-party state and declared himself president for life. He also broke any ties his nation had with the west. Despite his condemnation of Marxism, his nation maintained great relations with numerous socialist nations including China, Cuba, and the Soviet Union. Towards the mid-1970s, the regime came under fire due to potentially being guilty of mass killings. It was discovered that he had killed genocide against the Bubi people and ordered the deaths of thousands of political opponents. He was disposed of in a coup d'état in 1979, and Teodoro Obiang succeeded him.

Transition to Marxism
In 1996, the nation of Gabon threatened the nation saying that if they don't change their government to Marxism, they would invade. They said they would still let him remain in power; this caused him to accept the offer. The EPR was proclaimed on October 16, 1996.

Modern-day Equatoguinea
The EPR is a very rich nation and benefits most off of the nation's vast oil resources. Most of the nation's exports are oil-based, and the countries which invest the most in Equatoguinean oil are the Soviet Union, Cuba, and Gabon. President Obiang has repeatedly come under fire for some of his actions, such as his alleged cannibalism, but his nation is still very stable and political unrest is very uncommon. Opposition groups do exist but most of them aren't very powerful.

Government
Equatorial Guinea is a single-party dictatorship. The only party allowed is the Democratic Socialist Party, which was only made as a result of the 1996 threats from Gabon. Corruption is very common however the nation in itself is very stable. The nation is also one of the richest economies in Africa, taking advantage of the regional oil trade. Democracy is nearly nonexistent, with democratic elections only happening for the government's legislative branch.