Gulf of Guinea

"Guinea" is thought to have originated from a local name for an area in the region, although the specifics are disputed. Bovill (1995) gives a thorough description: The name "Guinea" was also previously applied to the south coast of West Africa (north of the Gulf of Guinea), which became known as "Upper Guinea", and to the west coast of Southern Africa (to the east), which became known as "Lower Guinea". Today, the word "Guinea" is found in the names of three countries in Africa (Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, and Equatorial Guinea), and in one country in Melanesia (Papua New Guinea). ==Geography==

The main river dispensing its waters in the gulf is the Niger River. Different definitions of the geographic limits of the Gulf of Guinea are given; the International Hydrographic Organization defines the southwest extent of the Gulf of Guinea as "B line from Cap Lopez (), in Gabon, northwestward to Ihléu Gago Coutinho (Ilhéu das Rôlas) (); and thence a line from Ihléu Gago Coutinho northwestward to Cape Palmas (), in Liberia. File:Carte du golfe de Guinée-18e s..jpg|Old French map of the Gulf of Guinea File:Limites du golfe de Guinée-fr.svg|Different limits of the Gulf of Guinea File:Gulf of Guinea 5.24136E 2.58756N.jpg|Satellite imagery of the Gulf of Guinea showing borders of states on its shores Islands in the Gulf of Guinea The Gulf of Guinea contains a number of islands, the largest of which are in a southwest-northeast chain, forming part of the Cameroon line of volcanoes. • Annobón, also known as Pagalu or Pigalua, is an island that is part of Equatorial Guinea. • Bobowasi Island is an island off the west coast of Africa in the Gulf of Guinea that is part of the Western Region of Ghana. • Bioko is an island off the Ambazonian region of Cameroon in the Gulf of Guinea under the sovereignty of Equatorial Guinea. • Corisco is an island belonging to Equatorial Guinea, as are the two small islands of Elobey Grande and Elobey Chico. São Tomé and Príncipe (officially the Democratic Republic of São Tomé and Príncipe) is a Portuguese-speaking island nation in the Gulf of Guinea that became independent from Portugal in 1975. It is located off the western equatorial coast of Africa and consists of two islands, São Tomé and Príncipe. They are located about apart and about , respectively, off the northwestern coast of Gabon. Both islands are part of an extinct volcanic mountain range. São Tomé, the sizeable southern island, is situated just north of the Equator. == Maritime security ==

Maritime security in the Gulf of Guinea consists of 18 sovereign states. Multiple institutional mandates address maritime security in the Gulf of Guinea: the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS). Climate change has become a huge problem in the Gulf of Guinea and as a consequence has different Maritime security issues become more pressing. These maritime security crimes are characterized not only by piracy but by a myriad of maritime crimes despite piracy often dominating the conversation on maritime security. The other notable crimes in the Gulf of Guinea are illegal fishing, kidnapping for ransom, drug trafficking, and oil-bunkering. Illegal oil-bunkering consists of the attacking of vessels transporting oil and transferring the oil to the thieves’ own vessel, after which the oil is sold in local and international markets. About 92% of the hostage-taking and 73% of kidnappings happening in and around Africa are happening in the Gulf of Guinea. There is also a large issue of drug trafficking in the Gulf of Guinea and the region has over the last few years become a haven for drug trafficking mainly from South America into Europe. IUU consequently creates spillover problems to the social, economic, and environmental life in the Gulf of Guinea. It presents a direct threat to the national security of the coastal states in the Gulf of Guinea. IUU has been linked to multiple issues and forms of organized crime. Some of these crimes are arms trafficking, drug smuggling, forced labor, piracy and more. reports that through their studies they found that some fishermen and immigrant workers have been forced to work on fishing boats in the Gulf of Guinea for months at a time without access to land. Some of these workers were deployed to sea each day in canoes and in the night where they were forced to return to the mother ship to unload fish. Many illegal fishing boats have operated like such for many years and the workers are often contracted for two years at a time, with no chance to visit home or at times even land in general. Many workers are paid in boxes of what the EJF called "trash fish" -caught as by-catch- and then the way they would earn money was to further sell this fish. Other reports of forced labor on illegal fishing boats report poor and non-existent safety equipment. Little to no hygiene standards, poor accommodation standards, and very little food. Many pirate groups in the Gulf of Guinea often recruit unemployed and underemployed fishermen. This has become highly lucrative due to poor wages and little to no money going around. Often have these local fishermen been lured into the prospect of quick easy money and as a result sold their fishing boats to other pirates in the Gulf. Depleting fishing stocks encourages fishermen to engage in piracy and more violence in the region is occurring. ==See also==