Why are there four "Guinea" in the world

 　　On the world map, there are three countries with the suffix "Guinea" on the west side of the African continent, and even the recessed area is called the Gulf of Guinea, and there is another country in the distant Oceania called Papua New Guinea. These countries all have "Guinea" in their names. Is there any relationship between them?

　　On the world map, there are three countries with the suffix "Guinea" on the west side of the African continent, and the recessed area is even called the Gulf of Guinea. Although these countries have "Guinea" in their names, their official languages ​​are completely different. Guinea-Bissau in the north speaks Portuguese, Guinea speaks French, and Equatorial Guinea at the southern end speaks Spanish. There is also a country in distant Oceania called Papua New Guinea, where the official language is English. Does so much "Guinea" really matter?

　　The Portuguese discovered that

　　in the eleventh century AD in "Guinea" , the Murabite dynasty of Morocco emerged, which was a Muslim dynasty. In Europe, the Iberian Peninsula, which faces Morocco across the sea, is in deep water. Since the invasion of Islam, Muslims (believers of Islam) have been everywhere in the Ibia Peninsula, and Europeans of different beliefs have been clashing with Muslims. It was not until the thirteenth century that the Catholic Church restricted Islamic power to the small Granada (a city in southern Spain).

　　Although the Catholic country was torn apart at this time, on the Iberian Peninsula, Catholicism had defeated Islam. Before Muslims were completely driven out, several Catholic countries on the Peninsula had made trouble, and each country had a ghost. Aragon’s goal is in the East and wants to seek a position in the Mediterranean; Castile has no financial and material resources to support the voyage before regaining Granada, and can only find a way to start with Portugal; Portugal can only be in the boundless sea to the west and to the south. Choose one from the endless sea of ​​sand.

　　The conservative Portuguese did not choose to explore westward. In fact, the Portuguese just took a fancy to Morocco in North Africa and planned to invade North Africa. In contact with the Moroccans, the Portuguese gradually understood that "Billard Sultan" in Arabic refers to the area south of the Sahara, and the pronunciation of "Billard Sultan" among the local Berbers in Morocco. As "Guinea". Therefore, the Portuguese also call it "Guinea".

　　"Guinea" into the land of colonial

　　Portugal did not ultimately occupation of Morocco, but in 1415 captured the city near the Strait of Gibraltar Ceuta. The King of Portugal appointed his youngest son, Prince Henry, to be the governor of Ceuta, and this Prince Henry is the famous "Navigator Henry" in history.

　　At first, the Portuguese planned to cross Morocco and search for "Guinea" along the west coast. It is reasonable to say that they only need to be along the shore. But in fact, the Portuguese exploration was very slow. The Madeira Islands were discovered in 1418, but they did not exist until 1434. Over Cape Bojador.

　　It was not until 1444 that a navigator Diniz Dias arrived at the mouth of the Senegal River and met the local Negros. Although the Negros are influenced by Muslim culture, they are not Muslims themselves.

　　Diniz Dias captured several Nigros in order to prove to Henry that they had successfully crossed the Muslim-controlled desert and arrived in the legendary "Guinea". Then Portugal immediately announced that this area became Portuguese territory, which is now "Guinea-Bissau". Therefore, the geographical concept of "Guinea" represents the area surrounding the Senegal River.

　　From the current point of view, "Negro" has become a vocabulary for insulting blacks, and this group of "Negro" is the first order of the future black slave triangle trade.

　　Just as the Portuguese made a fortune from Guinea's rich gold and black slaves, Spain on the side became anxious. Although Spanish navigator Columbus discovered the mysterious and unknown American continent in 1492, it was not possible to fully develop the Americas in a short period of time. In particular, the Portuguese still monopolized the resources necessary to develop the Americas-black slaves. Spain immediately asked Portugal to set aside a piece of land in West Africa in order to participate in the slave trade.

　　However, Portugal believes that after Spain discovered the Americas, it only drew a line at fifty degrees west longitude, stipulating that a small area to the east belongs to Portugal, and now the whole of Guinea is in the east. How can such a rare monopoly trade be said? Give. In this way, the two sides have been arguing until the eighteenth century, when Portugal decided to cedicate the island of Bioco to Spain, at the cost of Spain's ceding of western Brazil to Portugal.

　　The Bioko Island ceded by Portugal is now in Equatorial Guinea, and Bioko Island will become the capital of Equatorial Guinea in the future. Therefore, there have been two Guinea countries in the world. According to the old saying, one is "Portuguese Guinea" and the other is "Spanish Guinea".

　　Carved up Africa, the Europeans define the border

　　with Western powers to deepen the level of understanding of Africa, "Guinea" this geographical concept gradually expanded to the west coast of Africa near the equator.

　　In 1881, at this time, the most powerful countries in the world were basically located in Europe. These powers developed and grew by plundering the resources of various colonies, especially Britain, which had colonies on almost every continent. Except for the American continent, South Africa's exploration has not stopped. Based on the principle of whoever finds it first, all countries are actively carrying out exploratory activities.

　　At that time, the various powers did not have a clear demarcation line in Africa. In order to establish a colony in Africa, King Leopold II of Belgium established the "International Association for Investigation and Development of China and Africa" ​​in 1876 to actively plan African expeditions. Bought an American explorer Henry Morton Stanley. Stanley "worked" for Leopold in Congo for 5 years, without the prior consent of Leopold II, no news was announced, and no report meeting was held.

　　However, when Stanley went deep into Africa, he discovered that other powers had already eaten Africa. At the end of 1881, when Stanley arrived in what is now Kinshasa, the city of Brazzaville on the other side of the Congo River was already occupied by France. Each of them has an imperialist government as the background, and they can't stand each other.

　　In fact, France has already started to develop Africa. Almost all of West Africa is under French control, and even "French West Africa" ​​is marked on the map, but the boundary is not clearly marked. According to the conflict that broke out in the Congo, the great powers began to unite to discuss the matter of sharing the spoils.

　　In 1884, the Berlin Conference led by Germany was held. None of the 15 participating countries were from Africa, but the conference was aimed at the division of African land. Putting aside the Congo issue, the former "Portuguese Guinea" still belongs to Portugal, and except for this area, it was all divided by France. This is the "Guinea" country bordering the south of "Guinea-Bezhao", formerly known as "French Guinea".

　　So far, the three Guineas in the African region have been completely divided and have nothing to do with each other.

　　However, when you open the map, there is also a "Guinea"-"Papua New Guinea" in distant Oceania. This place is actually the Oolong of the Portuguese. In 1511, the Portuguese arrived in Papua New Guinea. Because the native Papuans had curly hair, medium build and brown skin, they looked very similar to the Guineans, so they named them arbitrarily. As "New Guinea".

　　Nowadays, these "Guinea" regions still retain the habits of their former colonists. Unification is impossible, and only the name is left.