Bioko is an island 32 km off the west coast of Africa, specifically Cameroon,
in the Gulf of Guinea. It is the northernmost part of Equatorial Guinea
with a population of 260,462 at the 2001 Census and an area of 2,017 km2. It is
volcanic with its highest peak the Pico Basile at 3,012 m.
Geography Bioko has a total area of 2,017 km2. It
is 70 km long from NNE to SSW and about 32 km across. It is volcanic and very
mountainous with the highest peak Pico Basile). It thus resembles neighbouring
islands São Tomé and Príncipe. Like them, it lies on the Cameroon line.
Bioko used to be the end of a peninsula attached to the mainland in what is now
Cameroon, but it was cut off when sea levels rose 10,000 years ago at the end
of the last ice age. Demographics
The island has a population of 260,462 inhabitants; formerly most of these
belonged to the indigenous Bubi people, but they have long since become a
minority, outnumbered by others who originated from Río Muni, Nigeria, and
Cameroon. The rest of the population are Fernandinos, Spaniards, and other
immigrants. Etymology
Bioko's native name is Otcho from the Bube language.
The Portuguese navigator Fernão do Pó in 1472 named it Formosa Flora, but in 1494
it was renamed by Europeans as Fernão do Pó.
History The island was inhabited in the middle
of the first millennium BC by Bantu tribes from the mainland who formed the
Bubi ethnic group. Unlike other islands in the area, Bioko had an indigenous
African population. Still a distinct ethnic group on the island today, these
indigenous people, the Bubi, speak a Bantu language. The island was probably
inhabited by this or other Bantu-speaking groups since before the
7th century BC. In 1472, the Portuguese navigator Fernão
do Pó was the first European to visit the island. He named it Formosa Flora,
but in 1494 it was renamed after it was claimed by the Portuguese. The
Portuguese developed the island for sugarcane crops, and while considered
poor quality, the refineries' output was such that Fernando Po sugar briefly
dominated the trade centres in Europe. In 1642, the Dutch East India Company
established trade bases on the island without Portuguese consent, temporarily
centralizing from there its slave trade in the Gulf of Guinea. The Portuguese
appeared again on the island in 1648, replacing the Dutch Company with one of
their own, also dedicated to slave trading and established in its neighbour
island Corisco. Parallel with this establishment, the
Bubi clans began the slow process of establishing the core of a new kingdom
on the island, especially after the activity of some local chiefs such as
Molambo. During a period when enslavement was increasing in the
region, local clans abandoned their coastal settlements and settled in the
safer hinterland. Under the Treaty of El Pardo in 1778,
Portugal ceded to Spain Fernando Po, Annobón and the Guinea coast, Rio Muni,
together forming modern Equatorial Guinea. The treaty was signed by Queen
Mary I of Portugal and King Charles III of Spain, in exchange for territory on
the American continent. Spain then mounted an expedition to Fernando Po,
led by the Conde de Argelejos, who stayed for four months. In October 1778,
Spain installed a governor on the island who stayed until 1780, when the Spanish
mission left the island. Chief Molambo was succeeded by another
local leader, Lorite, who was succeeded by Lopoa. After abolishing their slave
trade, from 1827 to 1843 the British leased bases at Port Clarence and San
Carlos for their anti-slavery patrols. The settlement at Port Clarence was
constructed under the supervision of William Fitzwilliam Owen, who had
previously mapped most of the coasts of Africa and was a zealous anti-slaver.
During his three-year command, his forces detained 20 ships and liberated
2,500 slaves. The Court of Mixed Commission was moved from Freetown to
Clarence to hasten the legal process. In March 1843, Juan José Lerena planted
the Spanish flag in Malabo, starting the decline of British influence on the
island. The British lease was finally revoked in 1855. Madabita and Sepoko
were principal local chiefs during the reestablishment of Spanish rule on the
island. This period was also marked by the immigration of several hundred
Afro-Cubans as well as tens of Spanish scholars and politicians. Spain exiled
218 Philippine Revolution rebels here of which only 94 survived.
In 1923–1930, the League of Nations investigated the transportation of
migrant labour between Liberia and the Spanish colony of Fernando Po. Although
the League concentrated its attention on Liberia, a closer examination revealed
labour abuse as the product of conditions on Fernando Po. In the last
quarter of the 19th century, black planters on the island had shifted from
palm oil trading to cocoa cultivation. Their dependence on migrant labour and
increasing competition with Europeans resulted in an economic crisis in the
first years of the twentieth century. Planters detained labour but failed to
pay contracts, resulting in a situation of de facto slavery.
During the Nigerian civil war in the 20th century, relief agencies used the
island as a base for flights into Biafra.
Today Malabo is the capital city of Equatorial
Guinea and the largest city on the island. The island is mostly covered by
tropical rainforest. Located on Punta Europa, west of Malabo,
the Alba Gas Plant processes natural gas delivered from offshore production
wells. The plant is operated by Marathon Oil Company through its subsidiary,
Marathon Equatorial Guinea Production Limited. The plant produces natural gas
liquids including propane, butane, and condensate products. The majority of the
residue gas from the Alba plant is delivered to a natural gas liquefaction
plant operated by EG LNG. A portion of the Alba plant residue is also delivered
to the Atlantic Methanol Production Company and is used to produce methanol.
The products from all three plants are loaded onto ocean-going tanker ships for
export. A rectangular transport route links the
four main cities: Malabo, Luba, Baney, and Riaba.
Cultural references Fernando Pó is mentioned throughout The
Illuminatus! Trilogy, by Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson.
Spelled "Fernando Po", the island is mentioned in John Brunner's 1968 novel
Stand on Zanzibar. See also
References Room, Adrian. African placenames.
Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland. ISBN 0-89950-943-6
Sundiata, Ibrahim K.. Equatorial Guinea: Colonialism, State Terror, and the
Search for Stability. Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press. ISBN 0-8133-0429-6
Janikowski, Leopold. L'ile De Fernando-Poo, Son Etat Actuel Et Ses
Habitants [The Island of Fernando Po, its current state and its inhabitants].
Janikowski, Leopold. La Isla de Fernando Póo, su estado actual y sus habitantes
[The Island of Fernando Po, its current state and its inhabitants]. pp. 67–77
and 201–211. Janikowski, Leopold. W dżunglach Afryki.
Wspomnienia z polskiej wyprawy afrykańskiej w latach 1882-90 [In the
African Jungle. Memories of the Polish expedition to Africa in the years
1882-1890]. Warsaw, Poland: Wydawnictwo Ligi Morskiej I Kolonjalnej; Skład
Główny: Instytut Wydawn. Bibljoteka Polska S. A. Archived from the original
on April 9, 2015. Retrieved April 9, 2015.
External links Bioko Biodiversity Protection Program
Gulf of Guinea Conservation Group Virginia Morell: "Island ark", National
Geographic Magazine August 2008; link