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Bioko (; ; ; historically known as Fernando Pó, ) is an island of Equatorial Guinea. It is located south of the coast of Cameroon, and northwest of the northernmost part of mainland Equatorial Guinea. Malabo, on the north coast of the island, is the capital city of Equatorial Guinea. Bioko's population was 335,048 at the 2015 census and it covers an area of , making it the fourth largest island in Africa (after Madagascar, Socotra and Tenerife). The island is part of the Cameroon line of volcanoes and is located off the Cameroon coast, in the Bight of Biafra portion of the Gulf of Guinea. Its geology is volcanic; its highest peak is Pico Basile at .
Bioko lies on the African continental shelf, separated from the African mainland by of water with a depth of only 60 metres. During the Pleistocene epoch Bioko was connected to the African mainland. Bioko separated from Africa around 10,000 years ago, at the end of the Last Glacial Period.
The fire skink, a species of lizard found on the island, carries the scientific name of Mochlus fernandi, derived from Fernando Pó, the former name of the island.Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press; , ("Fernand", p. 89).
The Bube language, with about 50,000 speakers, and various dialects, is the original language of the inhabitants of Bioko. However, given the numerous ethnic groups and peoples who operated on Bioko, a creole language developed, known as Pichinglis. It is based on English grammar, from the period when the British operated bases for their forces. It also incorporates West African languages from Nigeria and Liberia, as well as Portuguese vocabulary, which forms a considerable part of the Krio language, which had developed in Sierra Leone. Workers came to Bioko from all of these areas in the 19th through much of the 20th century.
In 1472, the Portuguese navigator Fernão do Pó was the first European to sight the island. He named it Formosa Flora ("beautiful flower"). In 1494 it was renamed Fernando Pó in his honour after being claimed as a colony by the Portuguese. The Portuguese developed the island for sugarcane crops, and while considered of poor quality, the refineries' output was such that Fernando Pó sugar briefly dominated the trade centres in Europe.
In 1642, the Dutch East India Company established trade bases on the island without Portuguese consent. It temporarily centralized from there its slave trade in the Gulf of Guinea. The Portuguese appeared again on the island in 1648, replacing the Dutch Company with one of their own, also dedicated to slave trading and established in its neighbour island Corisco.
Parallel with this establishment, the Bubi began the slow process of establishing the core of a new kingdom on the island, especially after the activity of some local chiefs such as Molambo (approx. 1700–1760). During a period when enslavement was increasing in the region, local clans abandoned their coastal settlements and settled in the safer hinterland.
Under the 1778 Treaty of El Pardo, Portugal ceded Fernando Po, Annobón, and the Guinea coast, Río Muni, to Spain, which together form modern Equatorial Guinea. The treaty was signed by Queen Mary I of Portugal and King Charles III of Spain, in exchange for territory on the American continent. Spain mounted an expedition to Fernando Po, led by the Conde de Argelejos, who stayed for four months. In October 1778, Spain installed a governor on the island who stayed until 1780, when the Spanish mission left the island.
Chief Molambo was succeeded by another local leader, Lorite (1760–1810), who was succeeded by Lopoa (1810–1842). After abolishing the British Atlantic slave trade, from 1827 to 1843 the British leased bases at Port Clarence (modern Malabo) and San Carlos for the African Slave Trade Patrol. The settlement at Port Clarence (named after the Duke of Clarence) was constructed under the supervision of William Fitzwilliam Owen. He had previously mapped most of the coasts of Africa and was a zealous abolitionism. During his three-year command, his forces detained 20 ships and liberated 2,500 slaves. The Mixed Commission Court was moved from Freetown, Sierra Leone, to Clarence to hasten the legal process of emancipating slaves liberated from slave ships.
In March 1843, Juan José Lerena planted the Spanish flag in Port Clarence (renamed Santa Isabel), starting the decline of British influence on the island. Spain revoked the British lease in 1855. Madabita (1842–1860) and Sepoko (1860–1875) were principal local chiefs during the period when Spain re-established its control of the island. A notable resident from 1861 to 1865 was the British explorer Richard Burton who served as the British consul, during which time he wrote several books about Africa. This period was also marked by Spain's transport deportation here of several hundred , as well as dozens of Spanish scholars and politicians considered politically undesirable. In addition Spain exiled 218 revolutionaries here from the Philippine Revolution, of whom only 94 survived for long.
In 1923–1930, the League of Nations investigated the transportation of contract migrant labour between Liberia and the Spanish colony of Fernando Po. Although the League concentrated its attention on arrangements in Liberia, a closer examination revealed that labour abuse arose from conditions on Fernando Po. In the last quarter of the 19th century, Krio planters on the island had shifted from palm oil trading to cocoa bean cultivation. Their dependence on migrant labour and increasing competition with Europeans resulted in an economic crisis in the first years of the twentieth century. Planters detained labour but failed to pay their contracts, resulting in a situation of de facto slavery. Liberia prohibited labour traders from contracting with their citizens.
In 1942 Fernando Pó was the scene of a secretive small scale British raid code named Operation Postmaster which was an action that sought to disrupt German U-boat resupply activities being conducted on the island.
During the Nigerian Civil War in the 20th century, relief agencies used the island as one of the bases for Biafran airlift flights into the secessionist Republic of Biafra.
In 2025, the island was designated as a biosphere reserve by UNESCO.
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