Fernão do Pó

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Fernão do Pó (pron. IPA [fɨɾ'nɐ̃ũ du pɔ]), also Fernão Pó, Fernando Pó, Fernando Póo (15th century) was a Portuguese navigator and explorer of the West African coast. By tradition he is the discoverer, probably in 1472, of the island in the Gulf of Guinea which until recently bore a version of his name, Fernando Pó or Fernando Póo. (It is presently named Bioko and is part of Equatorial Guinea.) His name had been given to several other places in nearby Cameroon as well. About him or his life little is known. He was among a number of navigators who explored the Gulf of Guinea during this period on behalf of King Afonso V of Portugal.

Fernando Pó is credited as having introduced cocoa to the West African country of Ghana, having brought seedings with him from Fernando Pó island^{[citation needed]}.

[edit] References

• Liniger-Goumaz, Max. 1979. Historical dictionary of Equatorial Guinea. Metuchen, N.J. (USA): Scarecrow Press. ISBN 0810812304.
• Room, Adrian. 1994. African placenames. Jefferson, N.C. (USA): McFarland. ISBN 0899509436