| Regions with significant populations |
|---|
| Bioko Island, São Tomé and Príncipe |
| Languages |
|
Fernando Poo Creole English, Krio, Pichinglis, Bube, Igbo, Equatoguinean Spanish, Spanish, French, Portuguese, English |
| Religion |
| Related ethnic groups |
|
Bubi, Krios, Emancipados, Saros, Americo-Liberian, African Americans, Black African, Mulattos, Creole people |
Named in reverence of the Portuguese explorer Fernão do Pó who is given credit for discovering their indigenous and adopted homelands, Fernandinos are creole, multi-ethnic or multi-race populations of Equatorial Guinea and former Spanish Guinea. Each population hails from a distinct ethnic, social, cultural and linguistic history. Members of these communities were responsible for building and expanding the cocoa farming industry on Fernando Po during the 1880s and 1890s.[1] The Fernandinos of Fernando Po were closely related to each other as well as to members of communities in Freetown, Cape Coast, and Lagos.[2] Eventually, these distinct groups integrated, and in present-day Bioko their differences barely exist.
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The indigenous group of Fernandinos or Los Fernandinos, were mixed race descendants of the pre-existing indigenous population of Spanish Guinea originating from the island of Fernando Pó (modern day Bioko Island), an island discovered by Fernão do Pó. This group consisted of mulattos of female Bubi and white male Spaniard parentage, and were part of the Emancipados social class. Incidentally, many offspring born to this type of union were not claimed by the father; however some couples did marry under Roman Catholic law. It was not uncommon for offspring of such unions to be accepted into the indigenous tribe, and identify as such.
Similarly, the Portuguese-Indigenous descended mulatto population of São Tomé and Príncipe, an island also discovered by explorer Fernão do Pó, were also referred to as Fernandinos at one point.
Native Fernandinos spoke Equatoguinean Spanish, French, Bube and a form of pidgin English called Pichinglis. Pichinglis was brought to Fernando Po by Efik settlers of Akwa Akpa State (known during colonial times as Calabar State) in Nigeria. The dialect was used in trade activities, and may have varied slightly per region. The dialect was stigmatized during the Franco regime.
Through the strong religious influence under Spanish colonial rule, mulatto Fernandinos were mainly Roman Catholic, as were most Bubi living on Bioko during this era.
The other Fernandinos of Equatorial Guinea descended from English speaking freed slaves of Sierra Leone and Liberia. Essentially, Krios are descendants of liberated Africans, as well as repatriated West Indians and African-Americans who immigrated back to Africa, Liberia, in the 1800s. Supported by the American Colonization Society, groups of free African-Americans emigrated primarily from Nova Scotia and England to Sierra Leone, Nigeria, and Bioko Island where they became a dominant force in the evolution of local society and economy, assisting America as well European empires in the colonial progression of these regions. They were initially discouraged from mingling with the local, less education and/or liberated indigenous people and more inclined to inter-marry with families of similar backgrounds. Krios eventually blended with the local populations, with Krio women and offspring taking on the surnames of indigenous families. They have contributed to the present-day existence of a very ethnically/racially mixed population that exists up and down the West Coast of Africa where the reality of such great heritage diversity, heavily influenced by the West, tends to be subdued.
The Krios arrived on the island of Fernando Po in 1827, a year after Great Britain leased the island of Fernando Po for fifty years. Thus the Krios joined an influx of several hundred freed Creole African descended immigrants from Cape Coast and other groups from British colonized Africa. The Krios began populating an area known as Clarence Cove - a harbor. The first inhabitants purchased dwellings for $3,000 to $5,000, with a handful of large plantation owners who'd engaged in cocoa and yam farming industry which was controlled by English and Spanish factory owners. Krios have been noted for their scholastic achievement and business acumen.[3]
Throughout the generations they have managed to maintain their own language, Fernando Poo Creole English. Krio Fernandinos are exclusively concentrated around Malabo. Although they comprise a distinct ethnic group in Equatorial Guinea, their pidgin dialect is spoken in only six communities (Musola, Las Palmas, Sampaca, Basupu, Fiston and Balveri de Cristo Rey). In 1998 it was estimated that the number of fluent Equatoguinean speakers of this language was at 5,000. For 1,000 of those 5,000 speakers this was their only language. Up to 70,000 EquatoGuineans may currently use it as a trade language.
Today, Fernando Poo Creole English and Pichinglis have long been fused into one dialect.
The majority of Krio Fernandinos are Christian.[4] Krios have contributed to the presence of the Protestant church in Bioko; however, many Krios are also Roman Catholic.