Mbanie Island

Mbanie is the largest island of an archipelago in the Gulf of Guinea, also containing the islands Conga and Cocoteros. It is in area, and only sparsely populated with fishermen. The archipelago is known to have commercially viable oil reserves in the waters surrounding it, Modern-day oil estimates made by S&P Global were created by measuring the product of oil production bordering the disputed area, which amounts to 31,000 barrels of crude per day, and 743 million barrels of oil equivalent in recoverable resources. Large amounts of fish are also believed to be present in the waters surrounding the territory. == History ==

One of the first mentions of the island was in the 27 June 1900 In 1972, the Armed Forces of Gabon invaded and took control of the island from the Armed Forces of Equatorial Guinea troops stationed there, and began to administer it as their own. Territorial dispute Since the 1970s, the neighboring nation of Gabon had laid claims to the island, along with its sister islands Conga and Cocoteros, and began administering them after taking control of them in the 1972 military operation. Initial briefs were made by Equatorial Guinea on 5 October 2021 and Gabon on 5 May 2022. Conversely, President of the Constitutional Court of Gabon Marie-Madeleine Mborantsuo previously claimed the Bata Convention "resolves all sovereignty issues regarding the islands and border delimitation". On 19 May 2025, the ICJ made their final ruling asserting Equatorial Guinea had control of the archipelago containing the island, according to the 1900 Treaty of Paris. The 1974 Bata Convention was referred to by ICJ jurist Julia Sebutinde as "not a treaty having the force of law". The ruling further stated Gabon was to remove the small military presence they had on the island. == See also ==