Fernando Po (island)
| Native name: Otcho | |
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Map of Bioko
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 Bioko
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| Geography | |
| Location | Gulf of Guinea |
| Coordinates | 3°30′N 8°42′E / 3.500°N 8.700°ECoordinates: 3°30′N 8°42′E / 3.500°N 8.700°E |
| Area | 2,017 km2 (779 sq mi) |
| Length | 70 km (43 mi) |
| Width | 32 km (19.9 mi) |
| Highest elevation | 3,012 m (9,882 ft) |
| Highest point | Pico Basile |
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Equatorial Guinea
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| Demographics | |
| Population | 334,463 (2015 Census (preliminary)) |
| Pop. density | 165.8 /km2 (429.4 /sq mi) |
| Ethnic groups | Bubi (58%), Fang (16%), Fernandino (12%), Igbo (7%) (2002) |
Bioko (also spelled Bioco, in Europe traditionally called Fernando Pó from the period of Portuguese colonization) is an island 32 km off the west coast of Africa, and the northernmost part of Equatorial Guinea. Its population was 334,463 at the 2015 Census (preliminary results) and it covers an area of 2,017 km2 (779 sq mi). The island is located off Cameroon, in the Bight of Bonny portion of the Gulf of Guinea. Its geology is volcanic; its highest peak is Pico Basile at 3,012 m (9,882 ft).
Bioko has a total area of 2,017 km2 (779 sq mi). 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 (3,012 m (9,882 ft)). 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.
The island has a population of 334,463 inhabitants (2015 Census). Its historic indigenous people are the Bubi people who currently constitute 58% of the population. Other ethnicities include the Fang, the Igbo who constitute 7% of the population, and Fernandinos, as well as African and European immigrants.
Bioko's native name is Otcho in the Bube language.
The Portuguese navigator Fernão do Pó in 1472 named it Formosa Flora ('Beautiful Flower'), but in 1494 the Portuguese renamed it Fernão do Pó in his honor.
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Wikipedia