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Gulf of Guinea

Gulf of Guinea

1 4.6
A large bay off the west coast of Africa that is part of the Atlantic Ocean
  • proper noun
translation icon : Golfo de Guinea
  • The Gulf of Guinea is known for its rich marine biodiversity and is a crucial region for local fisheries.

Examples

  • For example, Nigeria and São Tomé and Príncipe established a large JDZ in the Gulf of Guinea.

    Academic text (2005)
  • The problems of the Niger Delta and the larger Gulf of Guinea region, where deep local grievances exist, cannot be solved by military means alone.

    Academic text (2009)
  • Located in the Gulf of Guinea off the West African coast.

    Academic text (2005)
  • Estimates of the annual cost of piracy to the Gulf of Guinea range from $565 million to two billion dollars.

    Academic text (2017)
  • In 2013, almost all of the estimated $10.2 billion worth of regional trade with the United Kingdom moving through the Gulf of Guinea was declared at risk of theft.

    Academic text (2017)
  • Under Africom, the US Navy conducts training operations designed to train African navies to police the Gulf of Guinea.

    Academic text (2010)
  • Economy: This nation enjoys oil reserves in the Gulf of Guinea and is transitioning from a cocoa-producing to a petroleum-producing nation.

    Blog text (20)
  • Their faunas are frequently highly threatened, and many have no protected areas at all (e.g., Principe Island in the Gulf of Guinea).

    Academic text (2004)
  • Hence, Ghana has joined the bloc of oil-producing countries in the Gulf of Guinea since the discovery of 'black gold' on its shores in 2007.

    Academic text (2018)
  • However, Sao Tome and Principe's central position in the Gulf of Guinea puts it less than a couple of hours from a vast emerging market of some 200 million consumers.

    Academic text (2010)

Surface Forms

Morphology

gulf + of + Guinea

The meaning is directly compositional: 'gulf' (a stretch of sea) + 'of' (indicating relation/location) + 'Guinea' (a place name) clearly denotes the gulf associated with Guinea. The 'gulf of X' pattern is a common, cross-linguistic locative construction, so a B1 learner who knows the parts will readily infer the MWE meaning.

Etymology

The name Gulf of Guinea may come from old European maps that called the nearby West African coast Guinea, a simple name for the people and lands there. So the gulf took that name and now refers to the large bay in the Atlantic off that coast.