Malabo, Equatorial Guinea

Malabo, Equatorial Guinea
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Malabo_a_13-oct-01.jpg
Author: Ipisking


Malabo is the capital of Equatorial Guinea. Malabo has a population of 160,000 people (2012 estimate). It is the second largest city in the country after Bata.

Malabo is located on the northern coast of the island of Bioko, which was formerly called the island of Fernando Pó, on the rim of a sunken volcano. It is closer to the coast of Cameroon than to mainland Equatorial Guinea.

Malabo was originally called Port Clarence. It was established by the British who lease the island of Fernando Pó from Spain. Slaves from the North America were freed here before the founding of Liberia as a colony specially created for freed slaves. The descendants of the freed slaves speak their own distinct dialect, an Afro-Portuguese pidgin that is different from the language of the indigenous Africans.

Cathedral of St Isabel, Malabo
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kathedrale_Santa_Isabel.jpg
Author: B.traeger


After the British lease on Fernando Pó expired, the island returned to Spain, and Port Clarence was renamed Santa Isabel. In 1969, it was chosen to be the capital of Equatorial Guinea in place of Bata.

In 1973, President Francisco Macías Nguema changed the name Santa Isabel to Malabo. A kleptocratic ruler, Macías Nguema led a brutal regime. He killed many of his opponents and led a genocide against the minority Bubi tribe, turning Equatorial Guinea into something of an Auschwitz of Africa. He was eventually overthrown and executed in 1979.

Houses in Malabo
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Residential_Area_Malabo_Dos_2013_4.jpg
Author: Denis Barthel

Visiting Malabo

Malabo's Saint Isabel Airport (SSG) receives flights from Addis Ababa, Bata, Cotonou, Douala, Frankfurt, Libreville, Lomé, Madrid and Nairobi.

Places of Interest in Malabo

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