Mbanie Island
Native name: Isla de Mbañe | |
|---|---|
A Spanish language map showing the location of the island as "Isla de Mbañe" in relation to the rest of Equatorial Guinea | |
| Geography | |
| Location | Gulf of Guinea |
| Coordinates | 0°48′38″N 9°22′46″E / 0.81056°N 9.37944°E |
| Administration | |
| Province | Litoral |
| Area covered | 30 ha (74 acres) |
| Demographics | |
| Population | Sparse |
| Additional information | |
| Time zone | |
Mbanie Island (Spanish: Mbañe), also referred to as Mbanié, is an island in the Gulf of Guinea administered by Equatorial Guinea. The island is the largest in an archipelago containing the smaller islands of Conga and Cocoteros. It is 30 ha (74 acres) in area, and only sparsely populated with fishermen. Control of the island and the larger archipelago had been disputed between Equatorial Guinea and Gabon for decades, until the International Court of Justice ruled in 2025 the territory belonged to Equatorial Guinea.
Control of the island was first described in the Treaty of Paris in 1900, which supposedly gave control of the territory to Spanish Guinea. After becoming independent as Equatorial Guinea in 1968, the islands were soon after claimed by the neighboring and newly-independent Gabon, which took control of the island through military force four years later in 1972. The invasion defeated the small Equatorial Guinean force stationed on the island and replaced them with Gabonese ones, creating tension between the two nations. Before escalation continued, the Bata Convention in 1974 redrew the territory's borders in favor of Gabon, giving them the islands.
After the discovery of oil around the islands in the early 2000s, tension between the two nations started again, prompting Gabon's Minister of National Defense and the President's son Ali Bongo to visit the island and reassert Gabon's claim, much to the resentment of Equatorial Guinea. Despite diplomatic efforts made by both nations presidents afterwards, no agreements were reached for years, possibly because of outside influence from French and American multinational oil producers favoring different outcomes. In wake of the stalemate, it was decided in 2004 the United Nations would be responsible for mediating the solution, which tasked the job to the International Court of Justice in 2016. After proceedings began in 2021 and lasted until 2025, the ICJ ruled the original Treaty of Paris was valid, and the Bata Convention which had been left unsigned was legally void.