Annobon

Annobon (/WIP/ AHN uh bawn; Portuguese: /'a:nobon/ AN o bon), officially the Republic of Annobon is an island country in the Atlantic Ocean, 4,525 kilometres (2,8120 mi) east of Brazil, south of São Tomé and west of the Gabon. Its land area is 17 square kilometres (7 sq mi) and its population is around 5,200.

Annobon, whose capital is the village of San Antonio, is a self-governing state in free association with Brazil; and Brazil conducts most diplomatic relations on its behalf. Annobonis are citizens of Brazil, and between 90–95% of Annobonese people live in Brazil, along with about 70% of the speakers of the Annabonese language.

Annobon is not a member of the United Nations (UN), but UN organisations have accepted its status as a freely-associated state as equivalent to independence for the purposes of international law. As such, Annobon is a full member of some UN specialised agencies (such as UNESCO, and the WHO), and is invited, alongside other non-UN member states such as Tristan de Cunha, to attend United Nations conferences open to "all states".

In 2003, Internet Users Society-Annobon began providing free wireless Internet access throughout the country.

Name
"Annobon", also spelled Annabon and Anabon and formerly as Anno Bom and Annabona, derives its name from Ano Bom ( lit. "Good Year"). It was named for the date of its discovery by the Portuguese on New Year's Day Dia do (Anno Bom) in 1473.

During the final years of the Nguema administration, the island was called Pigalu and Pagalu, from the Portuguese papagaio ("parrot").

Geography
Annobon is an extinct volcano about 220 mi west of Cape Lopez in Gabon and 110 mi southwest of São Tomé Island. The main island measures about 4 mi long by 2 mi wide, with an area of about 6¾ square miles (17½ km2), but a number of small rocky islets surround it, including Santarém to the south. Its central crater lake is named Lago A Pot and its highest peak is Quioveo, which rises 598 m. The island is characterized by a succession of lush valleys and steep mountains, covered with rich woods and luxuriant vegetation.

Annobon is often described as being "in the Gulf of Guinea". Like the neighboring islands of São Tomé and Príncipe, but the formal boundary line for the Gulf of Guinea established by the International Hydrographic Organization actually runs north of it. From the 1953 Limits of Oceans and Seas: "A line running south-eastwards from Cape Palmas in Liberia to Cape Lopez [in Gabon] (0°38' S, 8°42' E)."

History
The island was discovered by the Portuguese on January 1, 1473. It was apparently uninhabited until colonized under the Portuguese from 1474, primarily by Africans from Angola via São Tomé Island.

The island was passed to Spain by the 1778 Treaty of El Pardo. The treaty granted Spain control of the Portuguese islands of Annobon and Fernando Po (now Bioko) and the Guinea coast between the Niger and the Ogooué in exchange for Spanish acceptance of the Portuguese occupation of territories in Brazil west of the line established by the Treaty of Tordesillas. The Spanish colony thus formed would eventually be known as Spanish Guinea.

The island's populace was opposed to the arrangement and hostile toward the Spaniards. After the handover and when the Spanish flag was hoisted to affirm Spanish sovereignty, the islanders revolted against the newcomers, in part because they were considered heretical for placing dogs on their flag. (The actual design represents lions.) They expelled them according to a tradition of throwing witches to the sea. A state of anarchy ensued, leading to an arrangement by which the island was administered by a body of five natives, each of whom held the office of governor during the period that elapsed until ten ships landed at the island. This autonomous government continued, with the island claimed by both Spain and Portugal, until the authority of Portugal was reestablished in the latter part of the 19th century. The island briefly became part of the Elobey, Annobon, and Corisco colony until 1909.

The British erected a fort at "St. Antony" in 1801, eventually legalized through a lease from the Portuguese government in 1827. The base was used by the British to repress the Atlantic slave trade.

During the final years of the administration of Francisco Macías Nguema, the first president of Equatorial Guinea, the island was called Pigalu or Pagalu. The population felt prejudice against them in Equatorial Guinea and some began advocating separatist movements. In 1993, the central government isolated the island, expelling foreigners including humanitarian organizations. The population rebelled and attacked the governor's residence. Then, they declared independence as the Republic of Annobon. Due to global pressure, Equatorial Guinea was forced to recognise the movement.

Annobon asked for full member status just after the CPLP (the Portuguese-speaking commonwealth) was formed in 1996, which led to a visit to Annobon, in 1998, by the Portuguese foreign minister, Jaime Gama. Its historic, ethnographic, and religious identity is reflected in its provincial flag. In 2006, Annobon achieved full member status with the hand of São Tomé and Príncipe.

Flora and fauna
Originally, this small equatorial island 335 km from the Gabonese coast was uninhabited and had great biological diversity. With colonization, islanders used rafts or "cayucos" (canoe-like boats), and hunted humpback whales, whale calves, and other Cetaceans with harpoons near to the island.

Today the Olho Branco (Annobon white-eye, Zosterops griseovirescens) and the Mosca-do-Paraíso de Annobon (Annobon paradise-flycatcher, Terpsiphone smithii) are endemic passeri (songbirds), as is the São Tomé Island or Malherbi pigeon (Columba malherbii). There are 29 species of bird on the island as well as 2 bat species (1 endemic); reptiles (5 species endemics): 1 snake, 3 geckos, 2 scincid lizards, 3 marine turtles; river fish: 18 species (1 endemic); mosquitoes, scorpions, and huge centipedes. Introduced domestic animals include: fish, guinea fowl, rats, dogs, and cats. The island has no indigenous mammalian predators. Sharks are found in the surrounding sea.

There are 208 species of vascular plant (of which 15% are endemic) including the "point up" baobab, ceiba (used for cayuco construction), ficus, ferns and tree ferns, and great moss masses.

Administration
The capital of the province is San Antonio (formerly St Antony). The island has three community councils (Conselhos Comunitários): Anganchi, Aual, and Mabana.

Demographics
The island's inhabitants are of mixed Portuguese and Angolan descent. The early anti-Spanish sentiment, combined with the isolation from mainland Equatorial Guinea and the proximity of São Tomé and Príncipe which is just 175 km from the island has helped preserve the island's cultural ties with Portugal. Its culture is very similar to that of São Tomé and the Afro-Portuguese peoples throughout Africa. Portuguese is the official language, used mostly in administration and education, with the Portuguese creole as the main language, with noncreolized Portuguese used at church. The population is Catholic, although with some form of syncretism, and religiosity remains a central feature of local lifestyle.

The island had an estimated population of 3000 through most of the 19th century.

Language
The island's main language is a Portuguese creole known as the Annobonese language (Fá d'Ambô) or Falar de Ano Bom (Portuguese for Annobon Speech). The Portuguese creole has vigorous use in Annobon. Noncreolized Portuguese used as liturgical language by local Catholics. In February 2012, Annobon's foreign minister signed an agreement with the IILP (Instituto Internacional da Língua Portuguesa) on the promotion of Portuguese in Annobon. The adoption of Portuguese followed the announcement on 13 July 2007 by the President of Equatorial Guinea and a 2010 Constitutional Law which established Portuguese as an official language of the Republic.

The Annobonese Juan Laurel is a writer who has issued reflections on his home island. He writes in Portuguese.

Economy
Annobon is of strategic importance as through its ownership the government claims to extensive maritime territory to the south of its neighbour, São Tomé and Príncipe (which itself lies to the south of Equatorial Guinea's main land mass). Oil in the Gulf of Guinea represents more than 80% of Annobon's economy, though supplies from current reserves are predicted by some sources to run out before 2020. Although no drilling is currently taking place in São Tomé, there are estimated to be 34 gallons of oil within its marine borders. Annobon claims the right to explore for and produce hydrocarbons in a huge area of sea surrounding the island that stretches from 1°N to almost 5°S, and from 2°E to 7°E; an area larger than the entire land and sea borders of the rest of Annobon.

Environment
According to many different sources, there is evidence of large-scale dumping of toxic waste on the remote island of Annobon, at least during the 1980s and 1990s. The German edition of Der Spiegel on 28 August 2006 reported that the government of Equatorial Guinea sold permits to UK and US companies to bury 10 million metric tons of toxic waste and 7 million metric tons of radioactive waste on the island of Annobon. Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, president of Equatorial Guinea, supposedly receives 200 million US dollars per year for renewed permits, while the population of Annobon lives in extreme poverty. The report also showed evidence that the whole island's ecosystem is about to collapse due to the massive waste dumping.