João de Santarém (15th century) was a
Portuguese explorer
Portuguese maritime exploration resulted in the numerous territories and maritime routes recorded by the Portuguese as a result of their intensive maritime journeys during the 15th and 16th centuries. Portuguese sailors were at the vanguard of Eu ...
who discovered
São Tomé
São Tomé is the capital and largest city of the Central African island country of São Tomé and Príncipe. Its name is Portuguese for " Saint Thomas". Founded in the 15th century, it is one of Africa's oldest colonial cities.
History
Álvar ...
(in December 21, 1471),
Annobón
Annobón ( es, Provincia de Annobón; pt, Ano-Bom), and formerly as ''Anno Bom'' and ''Annabona'', is a province (smallest province in both area and population) of Equatorial Guinea consisting of the island of Annobón, formerly also Pigalu an ...
(in January 1472) and
Príncipe
Príncipe is the smaller, northern major island of the country of São Tomé and Príncipe lying off the west coast of Africa in the Gulf of Guinea. It has an area of (including offshore islets) and a population of 7,324 at the 2012 Census; (January 17, 1472). Together with
Pêro Escobar
Pedro Escobar, also known as Pêro Escobar, was a 15th-century Portuguese navigator who discovered São Tomé (December 21, 1471), Annobón (January 1, 1472), Príncipe (January 17, 1472) islands, together with João de Santarém c. 1470. He i ...
, he also encountered the town of
Sassandra
Sassandra is a town in southern Ivory Coast. It is a sub-prefecture of and the seat of Sassandra Department. It is also a commune and the seat of Gbôklé Region in Bas-Sassandra District.
Sassandra lies on the Gulf of Guinea at the mouth of th ...
in the
Ivory Coast
Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire, officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital is Yamoussoukro, in the centre of the country, while its largest city and economic centre i ...
in 1471 and 1472, explored the African land from
Ghana
Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and Tog ...
up to the
Niger Delta
The Niger Delta is the delta of the Niger River sitting directly on the Gulf of Guinea on the Atlantic Ocean in Nigeria. It is located within nine coastal southern Nigerian states, which include: all six states from the South South geopolitic ...
.
[Albertino Francisco, Nujoma Agostinho, ''Exorcising Devils from the Throne: São Tomé and Príncipe in the Chaos of Democratization'', p. 28, (2011) ] From 1484 he was captain of Alcatrazes (around Santiago or Brava) in
Cape Verde
, national_anthem = ()
, official_languages = Portuguese
, national_languages = Cape Verdean Creole
, capital = Praia
, coordinates =
, largest_city = capital
, demonym ...
.
In January 1471, João de Santarém and Pêro de Escobar discovered "the traffic of gold at the place we now call
Mina" (present-day Elmina).
See also
*
European exploration of Africa#Portuguese expeditions
References
External links
Article of João de Santarém at the Historical Dictionary
Year of birth unknown
Place of birth unknown
Year of death unknown
Place of death unknown
Portuguese explorers
15th-century explorers of Africa
Maritime history of Portugal
History of São Tomé and Príncipe
15th-century Portuguese people
Colonial heads of Cape Verde
Portuguese colonial governors and administrators
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