Gulf of Guinea

The origin of the name Guinea is thought to be an area in the region, although the specifics are disputed. Bovill (1995) gives a thorough description:[3]

The name Guinea is usually said to have been a corrupt form of the name Ghana, picked up by the Portuguese in the Maghrib. The present writer finds this unacceptable. The name Guinea has been in use both in the Maghrib and in Europe long before Prince Henry's time. For example, on a map dated about 1320 by the Genoese cartographer Giovanni di Carignano, who got his information about Africa from a fellow-countryman in Sijilmassa [ancient trading city in North Africa], we find Gunuia, and in the Catalan atlas of 1375 as Ginyia. A passage in Leo [Africanus] (vol. III, 822) points to Guinea having been a corrupt form of Jenne [2,000-year-old city in central Mali on Niger river], less famous than Ghana but nevertheless for many centuries famed in the Maghrib as a great market and a seat of learning. The relevant passage reads: "The Kingdom of Ghinea . . . called by the merchants of our nation Gheneoa, by the natural inhabitants thereof Genni and by the Portugals and other people of Europe Ghinea." But it seems more probable that Guinea derives from aguinaou, the Berber for Negro. Marrakech [city in southeastern Morocco] has a gate, built in the twelfth century, called the Bab Aguinaou, the Gate of the Negro (Delafosse, Haut-Sénégal-Niger, II, 277-278). The modern application of the name Guinea to the coast dates only from 1481. In that year the Portuguese built a fort, São Jorge da Mina (modern day Elmina), on the Gold Coast region, and their king, John II, was permitted by the Pope [Sixtus II or Innocent VIII] to style himself Lord of Guinea, a title that survived until the recent extinction of the monarchy.

The name "Guinea" was also applied to south coast of West Africa, north of the Gulf of Guinea, which became known as "Upper Guinea", and the west coast of Southern Africa, to the east, which became known as "Lower Guinea". The name "Guinea" is still attached to the names of three countries in Africa: Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, and Equatorial Guinea, as well as New Guinea in Melanesia.

The main river dispersing 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 (0°37′S 8°43′E), in Gabon, northwestward to Ihléu Gago Coutinho (Ilhéu das Rôlas) (0°01′S 6°32′E); and thence a line from Ihléu Gago Coutinho northwestward to Cape Palmas (4°22′N 7°44′W), in Liberia.[1]

• 
  Old French map of the Gulf of Guinea
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  Different limits of the Gulf of Guinea
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  Satellite imagery of the Gulf of Guinea showing borders of states on its shores

Maritime security in the Gulf of Guinea consists of 18 sovereign states.[4] 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).[4] Additionally, maritime security in the Gulf of Guinea is also addressed by the Gulf of Guinea Commission (GGC).[4] Maritime security in the Gulf of Guinea is characterised not only by piracy but by a myriad of maritime crimes despite piracy often dominating the conversation on maritime security. According to the ‘Priority Paper for the Danish Efforts to Combat Piracy and Other Types of Maritime Crime 2019-2022’ piracy and maritime crime are defined as follows:

Piracy can be defined as any illegal act of violence, detention or depredation committed for private ends at high seas against another ship or aircraft.[5] Maritime crime may include armed robbery at sea, trafficking of humans or smuggling of illicit goods, drugs and weapons, illegal fishing, fuel theft and more.[5]

The other notable crimes in the Gulf of Guinea are illegal fishing, kidnap for ransom, drug trafficking and oil-bunkering.[6] 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.[4]

Kidnapping for ransom is one of the most prevalent maritime crimes in the region. Between 2018 and 2019, the number of crew members that were kidnapped in the Gulf of Guinea increased by 50%, leading the region to account for 90% of global kidnappings at sea.[7]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Gulf of Guinea.

• The Gulf of Guinea Commission – CGG – GGC (Archived 2018-09-23 at the Wayback Machine)