Main five oceans division: Further subdivision: The Gulf of Guinea (French: Golfe de Guinée; Spanish: Golfo de Guinea; Portuguese: Golfo da Guiné) is the northeasternmost part of the tropical Atlantic Ocean from Cape Lopez in Gabon, north and west to Cape Palmas in Liberia.

[1] Null Island, defined as the intersection of the Equator and Prime Meridian (zero degrees latitude and longitude), is in the gulf.

III, 822) points to Guinea having been a corrupt form of Jenne [2,000-year-old city in central Mali on Niger river], less famous than Ghana but nevertheless for many centuries famed in the Maghrib as a great market and a seat of learning.

called by the merchants of our nation Gheneoa, by the natural inhabitants thereof Genni and by the Portugals and other people of Europe Ghinea."

Different definitions of the geographic limits of the Gulf of Guinea are given; the International Hydrographic Organization defines the southwest extent of the Gulf of Guinea as "B line from Cap Lopez (0°37′S 8°43′E / 0.617°S 8.717°E / -0.617; 8.717), in Gabon, northwestward to Ihléu Gago Coutinho (Ilhéu das Rôlas) (0°01′S 6°32′E / 0.017°S 6.533°E / -0.017; 6.533); and thence a line from Ihléu Gago Coutinho northwestward to Cape Palmas (4°22′N 7°44′W / 4.367°N 7.733°W / 4.367; -7.733), in Liberia.

[1] The Gulf of Guinea contains a number of islands, the largest of which are in a southwest-northeast chain, forming part of the Cameroon line of volcanoes.

[4] There has been a 60% population growth in the Gulf of Guinea since 2000, which consequently leads people to resort to hijacking, kidnapping, robberies, and more due to food shortages.

[5] Climate change has become a huge problem in the Gulf of Guinea and as a consequence has different Maritime security issues become more pressing.

The other notable crimes in the Gulf of Guinea are illegal fishing, kidnapping for ransom, drug trafficking, and oil-bunkering.

[9] IUU consequently creates spillover problems to the social, economic, and environmental life in the Gulf of Guinea.

[8] IUU depletes fish stocks in the area and causes issues for fishermen and the local population food security.

The EJF[12] reports that through their studies they found that some fishermen and immigrant workers have been forced to work on fishing boats in the Gulf of Guinea for months at a time without access to land.

Some of these workers were deployed to sea each day in canoes and in the night where they were forced to return to the mother ship to unload fish.

Often have these local fishermen been lured into the prospect of quick easy money and as a result sold their fishing boats to other pirates in the Gulf.