Coordinates: 1°0′N, 4°0′E Map of Earth showing lines of latitude (horizontally) and longitude (vertically), Eckert VI projection; large version (pdf, 1. ...

This article does not cite any references or sources. (December 2007) Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed.

Map of the Gulf of Guinea, showing the chain of islands formed by the Cameroon line of volcanoes.

The Gulf of Guinea is the part of the Atlantic Ocean southwest of Africa. The intersection of the Equator and Prime Meridian (zero degrees latitude and longitude ) is in the gulf. According to the International Hydrographic Organization, the Gulf's oceanic border is the rhumb line that runs from Cape Palmas in Liberia to Cape Lopez in Gabon (IHO Special Publication 23, Limits of Oceans and Seas, 3rd ed. (1953), #34). Image File history File links Question_book-3. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (891x557, 155 KB) The Gulf of Guinea with English labels. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (891x557, 155 KB) The Gulf of Guinea with English labels. ... The Cameroon line is a geologic fault that runs northeast from the Atlantic Ocean into Cameroon. ... A world map showing the continent of Africa Africa is the worlds second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. ... World map showing the equator in red In tourist areas, the equator is often marked on the sides of roads The equator marked as it crosses Ilhéu das Rolas, in São Tomé and Príncipe. ... Location of the Prime Meridian Image:Prime Meridian. ... This article is about the geographical term. ... Longitude is the east-west geographic coordinate measurement most commonly utilized in cartography and global navigation. ... The International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) is an intergovernmental international organization established in 1921. ... Example of pole-to-pole loxodrome In navigation, a rhumb line (or loxodrome) is a line crossing all meridians at the same angle, i. ... Harper, also known as Cape Palmas, is the capital of Maryland County in Liberia. ... January 7 - President Harry S. Truman announces the United States has developed a hydrogen bomb. ...

The Gulf derives its name from the former names of the coasts of Africa. The south coast of West Africa, north of the Gulf of Guinea, was historically called "Upper Guinea." The west coast of Southern Africa, to the east, was historically called "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.  Western Africa (UN subregion)  Maghreb[1] West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of the African continent. ... Categories: Africa geography stubs | Southern Africa ... map of Melanesia Melanesia (from Greek: μέλας black, νῆσος island) is a subregion of Oceania extending from the western side of the West Pacific to the Arafura Sea, north and northeast of Australia. ...

Among the many rivers that drain into the Gulf of Guinea are the Niger and the Volta. The coastline on the gulf includes the Bight of Benin and the Bight of Bonny. For other uses, see River (disambiguation). ... The Adome bridge crosses the Volta river south of the Akosombo Dam The Volta is a river in central and western Africa that drains into the Gulf of Guinea. ... The Bight of Benin is a bay on the western African coast that extends eastward for about 400 miles (640 km) from Cape St. ... Map of the Gulf of Guinea showing the Bight of Bonny. ...

The Niger River in particular deposited organic sediments out to sea over millions of years which became crude oil. The Gulf of Guinea region, along with the Congo River delta and Angola further south, are expected to provide around a quarter of the United States' oil imports by 2015. This region is now regarded as one of the world's top oil and gas exploration hotspots.^{[citation needed]} Map of Niger River with Niger River basin in green The Niger River is the principal river of western Africa, extending over 2500 miles (about 4180 km). ... The Congo River (for a time known as Zaire River) is the largest river in Western Central Africa. ... Nile River delta, as seen from Earth orbit. ... For the video game developer, see 2015, Inc. ...

[edit] Name

The origin of the name Guinea is thought to be a corruption of an area in the region, although the specifics are disputed. Bovill (1995) gives a throrough description <http://journal.oraltradition.org/files/articles/12ii/2_Hale.pdf>

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 fellowcountryman in Sijilmasa [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 Djenne [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 de Mina (modern day Elmina), on the Gold Coast, 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. Sijilmasa (or Sijilmassa) was a mediaeval trade centre in the western Maghreb. ... The location of Djenné within Mali Djenné (also Dienné or Jenne) is a city on the Bani River in southern Mali with a population of about 12,000 (in 1987). ...