Bight of Biafra

The Bight of Biafra, also known as the Bight of Bonny, is a bight off the west-central African coast, in the easternmost part of the Gulf of Guinea. It has also occasionally been referred to as the Bight of Africa because it is at this point where the direction of the Western coastline of the African continent most prominently changes from a north-south orientation to an east-west orientation.

The Bight of Biafra, between Cape Formosa and Cape Lopez, is the most eastern part of the Gulf of Guinea; it contains the islands Bioko (part of Equatorial Guinea), São Tomé and Príncipe. The name Biafra – as indicating the country – fell into disuse in the later part of the 19th century

A 1710 map indicates that the region known as "Biafar" was located in present-day Cameroon.

The Bight of Biafra extends east from the River Delta of the Niger in the north until it reaches Cape Lopez in Gabon. Besides the Niger River, other rivers reaching the bay are the Cross River, Calabar River, Ndian, Wouri, Sanaga, Nyong River, Ntem, Mbia, Mbini, Muni and Komo River.

The main islands in the Bay are Bioko and Príncipe; other important islands are Ilhéu Bom Bom, Ilhéu Caroço, Elobey Grande and Elobey Chico. Countries located on the Bight of Biafra are Cameroon, Nigeria, Equatorial Guinea (Bioko Island and Rio Muni), and Gabon

The Bight of Biafra accounted for an estimated 10.7% of all enslaved people that were transported to the Americas between 1519-1700.^{[citation needed]} Between 1701-1800, it accounted for an estimated 14.97%. Slaves purchased from the markets on the Bight of Biafra included Bamileke, Efik/Ibibio, Igbo, Tikar, Bakossi, Fang, Massa, Bubi and many more. These captured Africans arrived in what would become the United States and were sold in Virginia, which held 60% of all slaves on the eastern coast. Virginia and surrounding colonies held 30,000 slaves. Normally, enslaved people were cheaper when bought in Cameroon because they preferred to die rather than accept slavery.

By the middle of the eighteenth century, Bonny had emerged as the major slave trading port on the Bight of Biafra outpacing the earlier dominant slave ports at Elem Kalabari (also known then as New Calabar) and Old Calabar. These 3 ports together accounted for over 90% of the slave trade emanating from the Bight of Biafra.

Between 1525 and 1859, the British accounted for over two-thirds of slaves exported from the Bight of Biafra to the New World.