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Bolama is the main town of Bolama Island and the capital of the Bolama Region. Though once the capital of
Portuguese Guinea Portuguese Guinea (), called the Overseas Province of Guinea from 1951 until 1972 and then State of Guinea from 1972 until 1974, was a Portuguese overseas province in West Africa from 1588 until 10 September 1974, when it gained independence as G ...
(now
Guinea-Bissau Guinea-Bissau, officially the Republic of Guinea-Bissau, is a country in West Africa that covers with an estimated population of 2,026,778. It borders Senegal to Guinea-Bissau–Senegal border, its north and Guinea to Guinea–Guinea-Bissau b ...
), it has a population of just 4,819 (2009 census) and much of its colonial era architecture is in a state of severe decay. The town is almost surrounded by
mangrove A mangrove is a shrub or tree that grows mainly in coastal saline water, saline or brackish water. Mangroves grow in an equatorial climate, typically along coastlines and tidal rivers. They have particular adaptations to take in extra oxygen a ...
swamp A swamp is a forested wetland.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p. Swamps are considered to be transition zones because both land and water play a role in ...
s and is now mostly known for its production of cashew nuts.


History

Although often visited by local people, the island was apparently uninhabited in 1792 when European colonists arrived. The Bulama Association, a philanthropic and financial organisation, hoped to create a colony that would remove the need for slave plantations in the Caribbean by resettling Black former slaves from the Americas on the island. The expedition, which consisted of two ships and two hundred and seventy-five colonists, set sail from England on 14 April 1792.
Philip Beaver Philip Beaver (28 February 1766 – 5 April 1813) was an officer of the Royal Navy, serving during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. He played a varied and active role in several notable engagements, and served under a num ...
, president of the council of the colonization society, was commander of HMS ''Hankey''; Richard Hancorn, vice-president, was commander of HMS ''Calypso''. Most of the settlers died and the survivors abandoned the colony in November 1793. Hancorn died on the island weeks after the other leaders had decided to return home, on 21 July 1792. Another colonisation attempt in 1814 also failed. Nonetheless, Britain continued to press its territorial claims to the town and island, hoping to annex the region to colonial possessions in Sierra Leone. Britain formally annexed the location, making it the capital of British Guinea. This gave rise to the so-called ''Bolama Question'', a diplomatic conflict initially raised at the Madrid conference of 1861, and dragging on until 1870 when it was eventually settled through an arbitration process overseen by United States President
Ulysses S. Grant Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant; April 27, 1822July 23, 1885) was the 18th president of the United States, serving from 1869 to 1877. In 1865, as Commanding General of the United States Army, commanding general, Grant led the Uni ...
. The Portuguese negotiator, António José de Ávila, was rewarded by being declared duke of Ávila and Bolama. In 1879, Bolama became the first
capital Capital and its variations may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** Capital region, a metropolitan region containing the capital ** List of national capitals * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Econom ...
of
Portuguese Guinea Portuguese Guinea (), called the Overseas Province of Guinea from 1951 until 1972 and then State of Guinea from 1972 until 1974, was a Portuguese overseas province in West Africa from 1588 until 10 September 1974, when it gained independence as G ...
and later became a logistical centre for
seaplane A seaplane is a powered fixed-wing aircraft capable of takeoff, taking off and water landing, landing (alighting) on water.Gunston, "The Cambridge Aerospace Dictionary", 2009. Seaplanes are usually divided into two categories based on their tech ...
transport. A seaplane crash in 1931 is commemorated by a statue in the town. However, a shortage of fresh water meant that Bolama could never hope to develop into a major city and on 6 December 1941 the colonial capital was moved to
Bissau Bissau () is the Capital (political), capital and largest city of Guinea-Bissau. it had a population of 492,004. Bissau is located on the Geba River estuary, off the Atlantic Ocean, and is Guinea-Bissau's largest city, major port, its administr ...
. Thereafter, the town of Bolama slowly fell into decay. Numerous abandoned houses now provide shelter for many thousands of enormous fruit eating bats. Every evening, these bats flock to the mainland, darkening the skies. The ruins, most notably that of the Bolama Governor's Palace, are something of a low key tourist attraction. The old colonial barracks are now used as a hospital. A fruit processing plant was built on Bolama shortly after independence of Guinea Bissau, with Dutch foreign aid. This plant produced canned juice and jelly from cashew fruit. However, it could not expand and had to shut down its operations, due to the shortage of fresh water on the island.


Ulysses Grant Connection

A metal statue of American President
Ulysses S. Grant Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant; April 27, 1822July 23, 1885) was the 18th president of the United States, serving from 1869 to 1877. In 1865, as Commanding General of the United States Army, commanding general, Grant led the Uni ...
stood in the town until August 2007 when it was broken up by scrap metal scavengers. Grant had chaired an international arbitration committee that, in 1870, granted Bolama to Portugal rather than to Great Britain. In gratitude, Grant's image was one of few colonial era statues to have survived into independence in the 1970s. The primary school in Bolama is still named the Ulisses Grant School in the president's honour.


Climate


Twin towns – sister cities

Bolama is twinned with: * Faro, Portugal


Gallery


Further reading

* The history of the English colonisation attempt in 1792 is chronicled in the first six chapters of the 2013 book, "The Ship of Death: The Voyage that Changed the Atlantic World" by (professor of history) Billy G. Smith.


References


External links


Abolition Gone Wrong
– article about the failed 1792 English settlement of Bolama {{Authority control Bolama region Populated places in Guinea-Bissau Populated places established in 1792 1792 establishments in the British Empire 1794 disestablishments in the British Empire 1830 establishments in Portuguese Guinea 1860 disestablishments in Portuguese Guinea 1860 establishments in the British Empire 1870 disestablishments in the British Empire 1870 establishments in Portuguese Guinea